Housing and Community Development Director Alexis Steger featured in bizTimesCity of Dubuque
City Council Meeting
Consent Items # 23.
Copyrighted
July 19, 2021
ITEM TITLE:
Housing and Community Development Director Alexis Steger featured in
bizTimes
SUMMARY:
City Manager providing a copy of the July 2021 issue of bizTimes in
which Housing and Community Development Director Alexis Steger is
featured.
SUGGESTED
Suggested Disposition: Receive and File
DISPOSITION:
ATTACHMENTS:
Description Type
Alexis Steger Article Supporting Documentation
OPT
MEET A LOCAL LEADER
bizTimes.biz, Dubuque, Iowa, July 2021
Alox
ySte er
City of Dubuque Housing and
Community Development director
NORTHEAST IOWA
CO tiff U'%'1TY COLLF.GF.
lexis Steger and her spouse
have a couple of children
who create a ton of adventure
in her everyday life.
)he started her career in Dubuque
an intern with the Dubuque Police
lepartment. She moved out of law
nforcement, obtained her master's
iegree and became a certified public
accountant.
After auditing for a few years, Ste-
ger started working for the city of
Dubuque in 2013 on the Bee Branch
Creek Restoration Project. She
eventually moved into her current
position as the Housing and Com-
mity Development director.
)u'U find her enjoying the outdoors,
aping and swimming in the summer,
i hibernating inside by a fire in the
ter reading Federal Regulations.
bizTimes.biz, Dubuque, Iowa, July 2021
City of Dubuque Housing and Community Development
Director Alexis Steger signs paperwork at the desk of
Gina Hodgson.
in her words
Every leader should have the ability to
inspire; inspire their employees, inspire
other leaders, inspire communities/
industries to innovate, appreciate and
be generous in their successes. They
should be able to inspire others to work
through failures, and to try again
Can you name a person who
has had a tremendous impact on
you as a leader?
Police Chief Mark Dalsing has
had a tremendous impact on me
as a leader. His ability to commu-
nicate and encourage the com-
munity through humor/fun was
something I strived to emulate as
a leader. Being relatable and open
to all members in the community
is extremely important to tackling
difficult community issues togeth-
er.
Additionally, Dalsing showed
me how important it was to take
breaks, relieve stress and put fam-
ily first. He taught me how to come
to work rested and ready to guide
an amazing group of employees.
This might seem small, but the
strategies he taught me for stress
relief helped me tackle big projects
that take a lot of energy and long
hours at work.
What are the most important
decisions you make as a leader
of your organization?
People looking at my job from
the outside might say my most
important decisions are related to
managing millions of dollars for
our community, or deciding how
we ensure safe housing. These type
of decisions are made with collec-
tive input so I don't see them as
the most important for me indi-
vidually.
Instead, my decision to speak up
for those that might not be heard,
and putting my employees needs
first, are some of the more import-
ant decisions I can make each day.
If each of my employees feels im-
portant and empowered to make a
difference in our community, my
impact is larger through them. I
have an amazing team, that makes
it easy to lead.
As an organization gets larger,
there can be a tendency for the
"institution" to dampen the "in-
spiration." How do you keep this
from happening?
I like to form teams of employ-
ees to tackle specific issues to keep
the inspiration. This allows the
team to see success quickly with
each change, instead of feeling as
if there is no end to the number of
issues to be addressed since we are
such a large institution. COVID-19
made this more difficult, and as
a leader I am looking for unique
ways to continue to inspire as we
work through the pandemic.
Which is more important to
your organization - mission, core
values or vision?
I don't believe one can be more
important than another. The vision
must drive the mission and core
values will mirror the other two if
the organization truly believes in
the vision/mission.
What is one characteristic that
you believe every leader should
possess?
Every leader should have the
ability to inspire; inspire their em-
ployees, inspire other leaders, in-
spire communities/industries to
innovate, appreciate and be gener-
ous in their successes. They should
be able to inspire others to work
through failures, and to try again.
What advice to you have for fu-
tureleaders?
Find the strengths/abilities of
those around you to do amazing
things. No one can be good at
everything; we are better people
when we can work together.
What lessons can leaders take
away from the current pandem-
ic?
Be ready to adapt and change at
a moment's notice. Being a lead-
er means you have to be prepared
to make tough decisions, and to
adjust when your decisions don't
produce the outcome needed.
An example; we identified that
we lost our ability to "group think"
without being physically in a meet-
ing together. It is hard to interrupt
others on a virtual call or throw out
new ideas. As a leader you have to
think about those big picture is-
sues and ask others how you can
solve them. My teams decided to
use Microsoft Teams Chats to get
back the ability to "group think!
What are two or three of the
best things about being a leader?
You can make a significant, pos-
itive impact in the community,
and it is fun to watch those around
you expand their leadership roles
to create amazing outcomes you
never expected.
BY KEN BROWN • PHOTOS BY STEPHEN GASSMAN
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