WHY ATTEND
Leading Together: The Mayor-CAO Leadership Forum is a two-day, retreat-style experience delivered by Strategic Steps and created specifically for Mayor-CAO pairs who want to strengthen how they work together. The Forum brings elected and administrative leaders into a focused, neutral setting away from daily pressures. The environment is intentional. It creates space for honest conversation, reflection, and practical work that is often hard to prioritize back home.
The Forum is led by Strategic Steps principals Ian McCormack and Craig Pollett, drawing on decades of experience supporting municipal councils and senior leadership teams across Canada. Discussions are facilitated, practical, and grounded in real municipal situations rather than theory.
Through a mix of guided conversations, real-world case examples, paired exercises, and structured reflection, participants work directly with one another to clarify roles, strengthen communication, and align on shared priorities.
Sessions address common governance challenges, including navigating the boundary between governance and management, building trust early in a term, handling conflict constructively, and sustaining alignment over time.
Attendance at Leading Together is as a Mayor-CAO pair. Every element of the Forum is designed around that partnership, not individual learning. The experience is intentionally small and curated to support meaningful dialogue, peer connection, and focused work.
This is not a traditional conference. It is an investment in how municipalities are led.
BENEFITS OF ATTENDING
Short-term
In the short term, Leading Together helps the Mayor and CAO align quickly and clearly. Councils benefit from more consistent advice, clearer roles between governance and administration, and smoother decision-making. Time is used more effectively, fewer issues escalate unnecessarily, and staff effort is better focused on council priorities rather than managing confusion or conflict.
This early alignment reduces inefficiencies that often lead to duplicated work, delayed decisions, or the need for external intervention.
Long-term
Over the longer term, investing in the Mayor-CAO relationship supports governance continuity and organizational stability. Clear alignment reduces the risk of leadership breakdowns, senior staff turnover, and council dysfunction, all of which carry significant financial costs. Strong leadership partnerships help municipalities avoid expensive outcomes such as prolonged governance disputes, third-party mediation, legal costs, recruitment expenses, and lost organizational momentum.
By investing upfront in how leadership works together, councils can reduce these downstream costs and protect the municipality’s financial and operational capacity over time.
MEET YOUR GUIDES
Ian McCormack and Craig Pollett will lead the forum through a series of expertly curated sessions and activities designed to build and strengthen the partnerships between Mayor and CAO.
IAN MCCORMACK
Strategic Steps
CRAIG POLLETT
Strategic Steps
