Managing Yourself:
Creating Your Own
Coaching Program
Scott Ochoa, City Manager
City of Glendale
July 31st
MMASC 2014 Summer Session
 Breathe
 Focus and the Duality of Humankind
 On Acceptance and the Art of
Motorcycle Maintenance
 Going it Alone
 Don’t be an Asshole
 On the Nature of Miracles
 Excellence and Swagger
 Balance is a Means & an End
The Tao of Scott
 Try
not to get overwhelmed
◦ Discipline, Determination & Dedication
◦ Response vs. Reaction
 Stay
calm, but don’t be afraid of
emotions
◦ Yours or Theirs
 Enthusiasm is
 Be self-aware
cool
◦ Know the context
Breathe

Inward focus but not self-absorbed
◦ Management Philosophy, Leadership Style
Proud but not conceited
Confident but not cocky
Self-aware but mindful of
environs/context
 Taking care of #1 but empathetic toward
others
 Execution-focused but ethical and fair

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“And in the end, the love you take is equal
to the love you make” -Sir Paul McCartney
Focus on the Duality of
Humankind


Demand quality, but understand that quality
has different contexts
On MJ, Clausewitz, Marcus Aurelius, Murphy
& Pareto
◦ The world is an imperfect place

You cannot satisfy everyone
◦ Satisfy yourself that you are doing the right thing
for the right reason, in the right way

Your decisions will alienate you from others
◦ If you have to eat shit, take little bites
On Acceptance and the Art of
Motorcycle Maintenance

Be comfortable in your own skin
◦ Know who you are and what is important to you
◦ What hill will you die on?

Intellectual rigorousness and self assurance
◦ Challenge yourself and confront your beliefs
◦ Ask hard – but honest – questions
◦ “They are spoon-feeding Casanova…” -Bob Dylan,
Desolation Row
◦ If you want a friend, get a dog
“Well, when everyone is going one way, it’s
time to turn around and go that way, you
know?” -Breece DJ Pancake, The Honored Dead
Going it Alone

Laugh a little; no one says this can’t be fun
◦ Network; be a mench

Be positive
◦ Neither a Pollyanna nor a Gen. McClellan

Feel the pain of everyone, then feel nothing
◦ Hold people accountable
◦ Aristotelian application of anger

Throw the “People Boomerang”
◦ Love, trust, support all come back; occasionally
you’ll be let down but you will be happier
◦ Mentorship is important to learning and growth
Don’t be an Asshole

The world is a miraculous place
◦ For better and worse

“Bad miracles” = “bad luck”
◦ Mitigation versus avoidance
◦ A constructive role for Machiavelli, Hobbes

Good “miracles”
◦
◦
◦
◦
Fortune favors the prepared, intelligent
Allow people to surprise you (positively)
Faith and the “better angels” of our nature
Courage to be a True Believer
On the Nature of Miracles

You have to believe
◦ Thus, you have to know what you believe


Confidence and momentum are infectious
Attention to detail & “branding”
◦ Be memorable, original

Confluence of preparedness, pride and
determination
◦ Commit to professional excellence; be outstanding
◦ Instinct, acumen and timing
“It ain’t bragging if you can do it.”
-Muhammad Ali
Excellence and Swagger

What do you want?
◦ In dreams begin responsibilities

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Live balance, seek balance
Complexity is abundant and multileveraged
You can only run so far, so fast for so long
Be a Five-Tool Player
Make a list
What do you want?
Balance is a Means & an End
Managing Yourself:
Creating Your Own
Coaching Program
Scott Ochoa, City Manager
City of Glendale
July 31st
MMASC 2014 Summer Session