Mayor Ben Walsh; City of Syracuse

*Note: The following text is the output of transcribing from an audio recording. Although the transcription is largely accurate, in some cases it is incomplete or inaccurate due to inaudible passages or transcription errors.

Bill Berthel:
Welcome to another episode of Driving Leadership. Today, we’re not going to get in the car . Today, we’re not driving, but we have a really special guest, Mayor Ben Walsh, City Mayor of Syracuse, New York. And here we are right in front of City Hall Today we’re going to get to have a conversation to understand, a little bit more about political leadership in a small city in Central New York. His love and desire for this community, and really, well, what makes the Mayor tick, as far as his motives and his desire to be a leader in Central New York. He’s a great guy. Gonna love the conversation. Come on, let’s go. Mayor Walsh, thank you so much for this time. I really appreciate it.

Mayor Ben Walsh:
Sure thing.

Bill Berthel:
I don’t think you’re a priest, but I want to confess to you, I don’t get to work with a lot of political leaders. So in our work of working with leaders focused in Syracuse and Central New York, organizational leaders, I’m curious, maybe you could talk about leadership in politics and how that works, in the community and what you maybe see in organizations. What are the similarities and what are the unique differences, perhaps?

Mayor Ben Walsh:
Yeah, I think there’s more similarities than differences. Relationships are critically important. That’s one of my most important rules, is you have to build and maintain and nurture relationships. And I think that perhaps, in the world of politics, that can be more challenging because of whether it’s political party dynamics or the need to get reelected. It’s just another layer of a relationship, that you have to manage. But the rest of it, I think, is largely the same from, surrounding yourself with good people, being willing and able to make difficult decisions, but also, listening to different perspectives, making sure you’re aware of your blind spots. Things, again, I think that transcend industry when it comes to leadership.

Bill Berthel:
Yeah, I love that. I love that. From a community relationship building perspective, what have you found that’s really worked well for you?

Mayor Ben Walsh:
You know, when I first ran for office, one of the things that I took a lot of pride in is that most of the places that I was walking into, whether it was a community center or a neighborhood, were places that I had been before.

Bill Berthel:
Yeah. So, cool.

Mayor Ben Walsh:
And because of that, and that was through the fact that I’ve lived most of my life here, that I’ve done a lot of volunteering, I’ve had different jobs in different industries, that allowed me to be able to, to have a network, of people, representing different constituencies that were credible messengers within those constituencies that could say, yeah, I’ve seen this guy before. He’s not just showing up here because he wants to be mayor. He’s been here before. He cares, and I’m willing to vouch for him.

Bill Berthel:
I love that. That familiarity is a really strong starting point for relationships. So what got you in this space of leadership to begin with? Like, why this path?

Mayor Ben Walsh:
Yeah, some have suggested it’s a genetic defect, because, actually,

Bill Berthel:
I think I’ve seen those things.

Mayor Ben Walsh:
It is in the family. People talk when they refer to my family, oftentimes, they’ll say that I came from a political family, and I’ll talk about that history. I like to say that I come from a family of public servants, because while my father was in politics, he served on the Syracuse Common Council. He served in Congress for 20 years. His father was mayor as well, back in the sixties and served in Congress. But if you look beyond those two very high-profile family members, you’ll find hospital administrators, social workers, teachers, lawyers, judges, all, different types of service. And so when you grow up surrounded by people like that, I think I mentioned blind spots. I think one of my blind spots was that I didn’t even know that it was an option to come across a problem in the community or. Or a problem in general and just be able to ignore it. I grew up being surrounded by people that if they saw something that was wrong, they fixed it, or they tried to fix it. And so that was just ingrained in me. That’s the genetic part. That just, was always a part of me. And so I grew up looking around my community and my surroundings with a discerning eye to say what’s working, what’s not, and how can I be a part of helping to address what’s not working? I say that right now, as mayor, this is the best opportunity that I have to do the most good in the community right now. But it’s not the only opportunity, and that’s true for everyone. I encourage everyone to just, wherever you are, how can you do the most good? and then wherever you want to go, take that next step with an eye towards, again, how can I help? I’m term limited. I’m done in a year and a half. So my next objective is to figure out where else can I do good. But this is a great place to do it, and I enjoy it very much.

Bill Berthel:
So we’re really interested in getting more people to see that they could potentially Lead. And not everyone sees that. Someone might look at the mayor’s office as like this, you know?

Mayor Ben Walsh:
Yeah.

Bill Berthel:
Just grounded advice you think would help folks understand maybe path to leadership or their potential. What would you want to share?

Mayor Ben Walsh:
Yeah, well, I think leadership comes in a lot of different forms, and I think people would be surprised to find out that, they may already be leaders in their own right.

Bill Berthel:
Love it.

Mayor Ben Walsh:
It may not be in the traditional sense. It may be, you know, that they are, leading, a Bible study group, or, maybe they’re, kind of the informal de facto block captain or mayor of their own street that kind of takes care of people. So I would encourage people to think about, look inward and think about what are the things that you do, in your life, where leadership is an aspect of it. Maybe you hadn’t thought about that before.

Bill Berthel:
A little bit of like, start where you are.

Mayor Ben Walsh:
Exactly. Exactly. Because I suspect, again, most people would find that somewhere, and then think about how you can, whatever skills, that you bring to. The table, that are helping you to lead in whatever way you’re leading. How can you apply those to other things and maybe and push yourself? One of the things, when I ran for mayor, I was 38, I think 39. A lot of people questioned that maybe I was too young, maybe I didn’t have enough experience, and undoubtedly, I had some of those, my own doubts about that, and I still do. But I really believe in pushing yourself out of your comfort zone, in order to really test yourself. But that’s how you grow, too. And I think people assume that in order to be in a leadership position, you have to bring all of those skills, you have to bring all your leadership qualities to the table on day one. It’s impossible. Any leader, any good leader will tell you they learn and they grow every day. So you don’t have to have it all figured out. You just have to, like you said, start where you are, and then push yourself to build upon that.

Bill Berthel:
I think it’s so important. And that really helps demystify leadership. So many folks think you need all the answers. You have to have the expertise in everything. It sounds like it’s relationships, it’s connection, it’s, I don’t say this wrong, but really utilizing the skills of people around you. And your own.

Mayor Ben Walsh:
Absolutely, you cannot. People that think that they have to have all the answers, you don’t. And people who think they have all the answers, they don’t. It’s cliche to say, surround yourself with good people, but I’m a big believer in that. Not just because there are a lot of people that are. That are smarter than me, that know more about certain subject matters than me, but also people see the world and see problems and see leadership through different lenses.

Bill Berthel:
Absolutely.

Mayor Ben Walsh:
Depending on their own life experience. And inevitably, you have blind spots. And so if you can surround yourself with people that cover some of those blind spots that, have experience that you don’t have, it’s only going to make you a better leader. And I firmly believe that a critical key to leadership is acknowledging and being willing to admit when you don’t know something, or when you need help. And I do that every day.

Bill Berthel:
You got to admit your fallibility. You got to admit what you don’t know in that space. What are you doing to grow and develop yourself as a leader? What do you actively do?

Mayor Ben Walsh:
Well, I, continue to push myself out of my comfort zone. You think in this job that it’s, You know, that, it comes easily. it doesn’t.

Bill Berthel:
Somebody could think you arrived like, you’re done.

Mayor Ben Walsh:
Right.

Bill Berthel:
But you don’t take it that way.

Mayor Ben Walsh:
No. No, not at all. And I do, maybe to a fault. I take, things personally, and so if I’m, you know, I mentioned going down the street and seeing things that are wrong.

Bill Berthel:
Yeah.

Mayor Ben Walsh:
I feel responsible. And so, that keeps the fire lit inside of me to continue to try to do more. So, again, I think it’s the same thing that, I did when I started, which was just to push myself, to grow. And I just believe that every experience you have, positive or negative, is a growth experience and ultimately helps you to become a. A better leader. So, for me, it’s just never getting comfortable, never getting, you know, overconfident, always. you know, it is important to acknowledge the successes and to give yourself some grace. but I think it’s also important to really push yourself.

Bill Berthel:
I love it. I love it. So I could sit here all day with you. Let’s take a little bit of walk outside around the community a little bit.

Mayor Ben Walsh:
Beautiful.

Bill Berthel:
Is that good?

Mayor Ben Walsh:
Yeah. I might see some problems that need fixing.

Bill Berthel:
Let’s talk about them, see if you do. All right. Awesome. What is it about Syracuse and the uniqueness of leading in the town that you love and the place you grew up in for you?

Mayor Ben Walsh:
Yeah. Well, a few things come to mind. Number one, it keeps you humble because you run into people that have known you for your entire life. Long before you were Mayor. And they’ll be quick to remind you.

Bill Berthel:
You’ll be people that change your diapers.

Mayor Ben Walsh:
Exactly. No doubt about it. And so, I love that about being Mayor in my hometown. but I think what I love most about this town, you look around and it has such beautiful architecture, it has such amazing history. there’s so much to build on. But part of that history is, tough. When you look back in recent decades, our community has gone through a lot of economic trauma. Industry, has left. People have lost jobs. Poverty rate is unacceptably high. And in that trauma, in that loss, there’s a lot of toughness and resiliency that our community has that. I just love it. The grittiness, the realness, the authenticity, of the town and of the people, is just something I haven’t had seen or found anywhere else. And, there’s no other place I’d like to be.

Bill Berthel:
Oh, I love that. I think. I mean, I don’t know if this resonates with you, but I think it’s Salt City for some reason, Right? It’s a little salty.

Mayor Ben Walsh:
Yeah, absolutely. No doubt about it.

Bill Berthel:
There’s a little bit of a hard shell, but the gooey center.

Mayor Ben Walsh:
Oh, yeah.

Bill Berthel:
It’s just like warm and amazing.

Mayor Ben Walsh:
Hearts of gold. Yeah. Yeah, for sure.

Bill Berthel:
It’s really cool. Take a little walk.

Mayor Ben Walsh:
Yeah, let’s walk.

Bill Berthel:
Yeah. I mean, because it is beautiful. Beautiful day.

Mayor Ben Walsh:
Yeah.

Bill Berthel:
I don’t know. I’m m one of those guys who actually. Middle of January, it’s gray and snowing. It’s a beautiful day, too.

Mayor Ben Walsh:
I agree.

Bill Berthel:
I mean, it’s. You got to Syracuse, Right?

Mayor Ben Walsh:
That’s Right. I tell people that complain about the winter. You pick Syracuse, you’re here. Make the most of it. and so, And, yeah, I say that some of the prettiest days in Syracuse are the days when there’s a fresh coat of snow on the ground. So, Yeah.

Bill Berthel:
Really, if you don’t like the weather. Wait a minute.

Bill Berthel:
It’s going to change.

Mayor Ben Walsh:
No doubt about it.

Bill Berthel:
Pretty quick to change.

Mayor Ben Walsh:
It is. We got a good one today, though. For sure.

Bill Berthel:
It’s beautiful. It’s absolutely beautiful. Yeah.

Mayor Ben Walsh:
So, yeah, we’re on Montgomery Street here. one of the fun things about this job is being able to see how things have changed. And I go back to my previous job in neighborhood business development. I was involved in helping Recess get open. I was helpful in getting The Beer Garden open. and so, you know, in those moments where I get frustrated about certain parts of the city and things that aren’t done. I try to remind myself of how many parts of the city have changed so dramatically over a relatively short period of time. I was just recently I was looking, at a social media post that had, historic pictures of downtown, in the eighties. downtown was rough in the eighties. I think most people, when they think about downtown in the past, they think about the fifties and sixties, which is really, you know, those were, that was our boom town era, downtown. But then people forget that there was this huge gap where things were really rough. And when you walk around now, it’s hard to find a building that, isn’t fully occupied. The amount of residents that are down here now has grown exponentially. It, really is a neighborhood and it feels like it.

Bill Berthel:
Tell me how you, I’m gonna use the word balance. I don’t think that’s the right word. How do you manage that? How do you balance that? How do you manage that? How do you remind yourself you’re doing great things?

Mayor Ben Walsh:
Yeah. well, I mentioned, you know, I mentioned being surrounded by people that I’ve grown up with that are good at keeping me humble. My friends, I went out to dinner the other night with some good friends from high school, that, you know, we just had a lot of laughs. And, you just. I do things that, I’ve done for my entire life. Hang out with friends, spend time with family, and just be myself. And that’s what got me to this point. And what I found is when there are times when I’ve gotten away from who I am as a person, my core values, those are the times when I’m not at my best and when I’m being myself. that’s what got me here and that’s why I feel like I’ve been successful, as mayor.

Bill Berthel:
That’s awesome. That’s awesome. Your core values, stay grounded to those, relationships, community.

Mayor Ben Walsh:
Yeah.

Bill Berthel:
What else is in your equation for your success? What do you think people need to understand about leadership to be successful?

Mayor Ben Walsh:
Yeah, I think faith is important. and, I think everyone has their own unique earth journey. And so mine has certainly been that it’s, you know, maybe not the most traditional, but, you know, being able to have, have those conversations at the end of the night, and know that, that, the world, in the universe is much bigger than me. And what happens, in the city, grounds me. Yeah. And, ah, again, I think keeps me humble. but, yeah, I think otherwise, we covered it again. Surrounding myself with good people at home and at work. See, we’re probably gonna have to trim these branches. There’s a great,

Bill Berthel:
There’s an opportunity. Right.

Mayor Ben Walsh:
But you’ll see if you spend enough time with me as I take my phone out.

Bill Berthel:
Yeah, yeah.

Mayor Ben Walsh:
And one of the, one of my, one of the things I’m proudest of that people would think is silly is creating this seer city line app. I didn’t create it, but we, it’s basically for years. you could call city line, and call in, you know, service request problems. now. There’s an app for that. And so I can literally. We’re going to do it live.

Bill Berthel:
We’re going to drop a link to this in the.

Mayor Ben Walsh:
So low hanging branches. So we’re going to take a picture of them. I’m going to hit use photo. Yeah.

Bill Berthel:
Oh, look at it. Drops a pin.

Mayor Ben Walsh:
Kind of where it drops a pin. It’s usually pretty close.

Bill Berthel:
Yeah.

Mayor Ben Walsh:
Actually very close. Yeah. So. So we’re on, we’re on water right now. So this is close enough. So we’ll sit next. then we’re going to punch in. Tree tree care and removal. Select answer. We’re going to just request a little pruning. We want the tree here. Just a little pruning.

Bill Berthel:
Oh, gotcha. Oh, well, look at that.

Mayor Ben Walsh:
You can decide if you want to be anonymous or not. I don’t. Because when they see my name next to it, hopefully they’ll.

Bill Berthel:
It’ll get done.

Mayor Ben Walsh:
They’ll be motivated to get it done quickly. And boom, we’re done.

Bill Berthel:
Look at that.

Mayor Ben Walsh:
You don’t have to know anybody. You download SYR City Line. You can do that. You can do it for potholes. You can do it for, almost anything you want help with the city for. There’s an app.

Bill Berthel:
You’re gonna regret you showing me that. That’s not a game for me.

Mayor Ben Walsh:
Oh, I am a super. I’m a super user. Trust me. My staff will painfully, attest to that. No, I encourage people to. We can’t be everywhere.

Bill Berthel:
Yeah, right, right.

Mayor Ben Walsh:
Think about that. The force multiplier of all of our constituents being their own code inspectors and, you know, DPW inspectors and look, I can point to a lot of great things in this community. I can point to a lot of problems. same with everybody else. And they can help us identify the problems that maybe we haven’t found in.

Bill Berthel:
My language, that’s leadership, empowering the community, powering people, really, to take care of the business and take care of the community.

Mayor Ben Walsh:
We have internal dashboards. Someday they might be external dashboards. We have internal dashboards. you may have noticed when you walked into the, into City Hall right in the Mayor’s Suite we have a screen that rotates through all of our, city service dashboards. So we have service, level agreements. Basically. that say, okay, when we get a pothole complaint, we have to fill it. I think our service level agreement is within three days. So we track that, for every request. And I have monthly meetings with department heads where we look at where we are. Make, sure we’re largely meeting, that benchmark. If we’re not, we talk about why. And so, it’s also all of the data that’s being captured in here, is helping to ensure we’re holding ourselves accountable and our constituents.

Bill Berthel:
It’s just that. Right. It’s an accountability metric.

Mayor Ben Walsh:
Exactly.

Bill Berthel:
There’s a process in place. That’s awesome.

Mayor Ben Walsh:
Yeah. And it breaks down barriers, too. Again, you don’t need to know the Mayor or, you know, or reach out to my office to demand, a pothole be filled.

Bill Berthel:
Right.

Mayor Ben Walsh:
Put it on City Line We’ll have it done within a few days.

Bill Berthel:
That’s awesome.

Mayor Ben Walsh:
Yeah, I think so.

Bill Berthel:
Mayor, thank you so much.

Mayor Ben Walsh:
Thank you.

Bill Berthel:
Really appreciate it.

Mayor Ben Walsh:
My pleasure.