MEET THE 2022 LEADERSHIP TRAILBLAZER TOP 10 FINALISTS

Today’s Trailblazer: Terry Tieman

The League caught up with Top 10 Finalist, Terry Tieman, Assistant Town Manager, Bethany Beach, Delaware to talk about being named a Leadership Trailblazer and having a career in public service:

Q: Congratulations on being named a finalist for the Leadership Trailblazer Award. What does it mean to you to be nominated? 

I am very honored and astounded to be a finalist and to be recognized in this manner.

It has been an honor to serve four different communities during my career.  In addition to my work, I have been fortunate to support our profession as the president of the City Manager’s Association of Delaware for many years.  This role introduced me to other organizations in Delaware and allowed me to be mentored and mentor others. Being president afforded me the opportunity to work with three other Delaware en managers in founding the Delaware chapter of Women Leading Government.  This has been an incredible way for women in Delaware to network, assist, and support each other.  I am so proud of that part of my career, and I have benefited from knowing these women.

Delaware is rare in that most municipal managers are women.  These women are my peers and we have learned so many things from one another.  We have guided one another through our life challenges, navigating career opportunities and obstacles, and celebrated our achievements.  Being recognized by my peers for this work is beyond incredible and something that I will cherish forever.

Q: What led you to a career in public service? 

It was quite by accident that I came to a career in public service.  I was working in sales and had just earned an MBA.  An advertisement for an Administrative Services Director for the City of Dover, Delaware appeared in the local newspaper. It seemed tailored to me.  I applied and they hired me.  Initially, I was the only woman in the room at department head meetings.  There were challenges at first, but that changed when a woman was hired a year later as the assistant city manager.  She opened many opportunities for me in the city. I thrived there and learned what it means to serve a community.  It has been thirty-four years and four communities since then, and I have continued to learn.  Hopefully, I have helped others to learn along the way too.

Q: Who were your mentor(s) or advocate(s) in your career? 

The first mentor I ever had was my mother.  My mother taught me to believe that I could be whatever I wanted to be and not to let anyone tell me I could not do something because I was a woman.  Ahead of her time, my mother wanted me to be well educated and self-reliant and not to be dependent on anyone but myself.

My first professional mentor was Robert Bartolotta, the City Manager that hired me for my first job in local government.  He gave me a chance and hired me as one of the first female department heads in the City of Dover.  Alicia Swain soon became the Assistant City Manager, and she made sure that many opportunities came my way in the city.  These two individuals more than any helped to shape my values and teach me what serving a community was all about. They taught me the art of exercising diplomacy, the importance of ethics, and providing excellent customer service to our community.

As my career progressed and I became a CAO, there were many other mentors that included mayors, councilmembers fellow city managers, and colleagues.  They were all there to assist and guide me as a new manager, helping me to navigate council-manager relationships, state, and county bureaucracy.  These experiences helped to shape my belief that when you work in local government you are not only serving your community, but the greater community – your county, your state, and your region.  We are all in this together. Relationship building is so very important to success in local government.

Q: What is the most important lesson you learned while coming up in your career?   

There are so many important lessons in a public service career, but if I had to pick one it would be to develop relationships.  You must be able to work with people of every type and on every level.  Accept and be open to new and different ideas.

During the 2021 ICMA Distinguished Service Awards, Daniel Fitzpatrick issued some advice by quoting Hubie Blake.  The quote is “Be grateful for luck. Pay the thunder no mind – listen to the birds. And don’t hate nobody” To me, this sums up the lessons of my career.  I would not be honest with myself if I did not believe luck played some part.  No matter what you do in a community, there will be some who do not like it.  Just know if it is the right thing to do keep going.  Take time for yourself so you can think with a clear mind and make better decisions. Above all, the people who oppose you and the obstacles that you face will always be there.  Persevere. Sometimes those obstacles make you better and provide lessons to be learned.

Q: What advice do you have for women just beginning their careers who would like to be an executive in local government someday?   

Every few years, some of us from the Delaware Chapter of WLG speak to municipal clerks’ classes about women in local government. What I tell young women today is don’t be afraid to take risks, apply for jobs you think you like even if you are not 100% qualified; the journey to the top is more like a jungle gym instead of a ladder; get involved by volunteering on a board or committee, network and develop professional relationships with other women, but also men.  I know a lot of women believe that having a career means giving up a family or having a family means giving up a career.  I have encouraged those young women not to jump to that conclusion, by not quitting before they have to, and looking for flexibility in their work and their life.  Lastly, I have advised them to never stop learning and building new skill sets.

Q: What do you hope to leave as your legacy in local government when your career comes to an end?

I hope my legacy in local government is that I left things better.  I hope the communities I served are better for me being there.  I hope that I am remembered by my colleagues as someone who represented the local government management profession in a kind and ethical way.  I hope that other women in our profession remember me as someone who set an example for them by supporting other women.  I am so lucky to have worked in this profession with such great people.