Being a chief executive these days can seem a bit of a chore. Attacks from government ministers, national and local press, the Taxpayers' Alliance and the public, seem to come with amazing regularity.
So, how should we respond?
Generally, there seem to be several schools of thought. Among them, there is the Churchillian ‘fight them on the beaches approach', which seems to result in conflict or arguments being run through the media...
There is the ‘ostrich in the sand – ignore everything and it will all go away approach', which can get the media or public believing we have something to hide...
Or we can also go out of our way to present a public view that is open or transparent as regards any information provided, which can lead to an enormous number of requests for more and more information.
Whatever way we choose to deal with the personal attacks we get, like leadership, in my view, we need a flexible approach. We have to be selective about the matters we respond to, and not lose focus on the things that really matter.
However, dealing with the knocks can be difficult when barbs are coming from all sides. And this is where personal resilience is always an essential requirement in our job.
We probably also need a warped sense of humour – being able to laugh at some of things said about chief executives does help to get through the day, together with some of the stupid things we come across in local government every day.
Defending ourselves against ill-informed and hurtful comments may give personal satisfaction, but how does it help our councils deal with the current financial situation, or help a resident receive the best public service they deserve?
Let's rise above any of these ridiculous statements that are being made about the merits of our roles, and do what we do best, namely, deliver good public services which help people access a better quality of life. As my old Mum used to say, in that most annoyingly-accurate way, ‘Principles don't put food on the table' or, ‘There's always someone worse off than you'!
