First, thank you to the many municipal leaders who came by the Municipal Information Network booth at the FCM Conference in Halifax. It was great to meet so many old and new friends, to hear your feedback on our new PERSPECTIVES e-magazine (thank you for the many nice comments!), and to chat about the important issues facing towns and cities across Canada. We value your ideas and hope some of you will share them with our readers in the magazine. Remember, it is very easy to reach us: perspectives@municipalinfonet.com

I need to apologize to the delegates in Halifax who came to the Municipal Information Network booth I simply sold out of all the books that I had brought. To those of you looking to acquire one of my books on local government (and maybe even chat for a while and have me autograph your copy), I am sorry. You can still order them online by going to www.gordhume.com. Just look for the "Books" page on my site.

Our issue this month focuses on leadership. It is an often-elusive concept, but one of the most important for voters and constituents. There are a number of elections in Canada in the next 18 months at the municipal, provincial and federal levels. These will help to shape our country for the next several years and longer.

That's why understanding leadership attributes is so important. In "The Leadership Crisis", the book I wrote a couple of years ago, I identified what I believe to be the 7Cs of great political leadership:

1. Competencies, including people, organizational, business and strategic.
    
2. Character, and its values and virtues; things like integrity.
    
3. Commitment, including aspiration, engagement, perseverance and sacrifice.
    
4. Charisma, that unquantifiable attribute that leaders either have or don't, but always want.
    
5. Communication, through effective messaging that inspires, informs and influences.
    
6. Context, an understanding of what's going on around them.
    
7. Culture, and how to develop, create, change and advance that culture inside city hall.

These seven traits were built upon original research from the Ivey School of Business. I asked the former Dean and co-author of their book on leadership to give us her perspective on these foundational ideas about leadership and how they relate to the political environment. To help us explore this crucial aspect of life in our city halls, we have articles from several really exceptional leaders:

Carol Stephenson is a former Canadian business leader, Dean of the Ivey School of Business, co-author of a book on leadership, serves on several corporate boards of directors, and is an officer of the Order of Canada. Her article, "Leadership is Hard Work", is an insightful look at how political and business leadership intertwine.

Dan Mathieson has served on Stratford, Ontario's City Council since 1995, and as Mayor since 2003. He has been a dynamic leader both in Stratford and in the Canadian municipal sector. He is highly respected for his leadership and innovation, and for making Stratford such a vigorous and attractive city.

Christina Benty served two terms as a councillor in Golden, BC, and then two terms as Mayor. As she says today, "You can quit your job but you can't quit your calling. I am passionate about policy governance, leadership development, asset management and community engagement with over 16 years of policy governance experience spanning from health care, government, information technology, and community planning." Christina is now a popular speaker and municipal consultant. Her article is an intensely personal reflection of public life; it is a must-read for all politicians and wanna-be mayors and councillors.

GORD HUME