What To Look for

Alone in a crowd can have several meanings, for me – it is the result of maintaining personal distance. The reasons are sound, becoming too friendly with subordinates leads to favoritism, too friendly with council members results in unequal information distribution, to friendly with vendors leads to purchasing issues, contractors and bid awards, etc. In a small city, the practice may be consider aloofness, worse is arrogance.
The Rotary Club expects you to ask city vendors and contractors to make donations and press employees to buy raffle tickets. All now expect a favor in return. A business makes a large investment in the city and expects certain codes, regulations and inspections to be reviewed favorably. Council members are willing to use special information to distinguish themselves from other members. Even members of your church will expect special consideration during special assessments or condition use actions.
Ultimately the criticism begins to weigh heavy on your soul, they don’t really want to know you – they want to use you. Finding the person that can be your friend and appreciate your job in a small city is a special gift.