here - Satellite Beach

JOHN N. HELIN
TAB 5
highest possible quality of life to the citizens of the City. My role with the elected officials is to
ensure they have all of the information they need to form policy for the community and assist
them in that effort.
If the employees were asked to say something about me as a manager, I believe they would say
that (1) I hold them to high standards of performance, teamwork and customer service; (2) I
work hard to get them the resources they need to accomplish their departments mission and (3) I
empower them to do their jobs without micro-managing them. I expect them to be problem
solvers and when they bring me problems, I focus on solutions, not who is responsible for the
mistake or error.
I believe my elected officials would say that I provide them with well thought out and detailed
information and recommendations to assist them in making policy decisions for the community.
They would say that I work to represent the entire community when providing them information
and that I am available to them and the staff 24/7 and that I am fair and impartial in my dealings
with everyone.
While I constantly work on being better, I believe one of my strengths is that I am a good
leader. I b elieve t hat I am also a creative problem solver and a good steward of the
City's resources. I tell it like it is while still being respectful. I say what I mean and mean what I
say – if I can’t get something done, I will not mislead anyone to think that I can.
My staff would tell you that they think my weakness is that I sometimes oversimplify a problem
and its solution. When they bring me what they see as a complex problem, I tend to break it
down to basic issues and push them to see simplified solutions. I also believe that I have not
always acted as quickly as I should have to ensure we had the right people in the right position.
Execution of our annual budget and completing all of the projects and programs approved by the
Governing Body are the major indicators we use to determine how well the staff and the City is
performing as well as completion of annual goals established by the Governing Body and how
well we interact with our citizens and meet their needs.
I believe my biggest achievement is the current staff that I have formed into a very professional
and high performing team. While I have been part of many successes in the community, such as
new retail and residential development, construction and financing of a new library, Fire/EMS
station, aquatic park, wastewater treatment plant upgrades, all of this has been a result of a team
effort on the part of our staff. I have worked hard to lead, train, coach and mentor the staff in
order for us to provide the highest level of service to the citizens of our community.
I believe my biggest failure was keeping an underperforming employee too long. I have learned
the lesson contained in the book, "Good to Great", which is that it is vitally important to ensure
you have the "right people on the bus and the wrong people off the bus, and the right people in
the right seats.” The wrong person can undermine the mission of the entire organization and
create a negative image of the staff and the city that can take years to turn around.
Page 8 of 90