Curtis Cannon of the City of Oxnard – Three Important Leadership Skills You Need to Have

Curtis Cannon served in the City of Oxnard for 16 years and is an experienced change agent and key problem-solver for government and other agencies. He has served in leadership roles and has exhibited excellent leadership skills. Here are three important leadership skills every leader should have.

Be an Effective Listener

Effective listening is one of the most important skills every leader should have. Without proper listening skills, you will not be able to receive feedback from what your team members are working on. To be a good listener, you will have to maintain eye contact, respond appropriately, and avoid distractions. Communication is not just verbal but includes body language and gestures as well.

Motivator

John Quincy Adams said, “If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you are a leader.” As a leader, you should be able to influence and motivate people. When your team members or employees lose their focus, you should be able to motivate and encourage them. One of the best ways to motivate people is to appreciate them for what they do. Appreciate the work your employees do and let them have a feeling of being valuable to the company.

As a leader, it is your job to make sure that your team or employees don’t get tired of doing the same job over and over again. Recognition and appreciation for what they do will help in keeping them motivated.

Curtis Cannon City of Oxnard has worked in the City of Oxnard for 16 years.

​

Curtis Cannon of the City of Oxnard – Three Important Qualities Every Leader Should Have

Curtis Cannon served in the City of Oxnard for 16 years. He is a highly skilled individual who has been in the public sector for over 24 years. During his tenure at the City of Oxnard, he led a team and prepared and maintained budgets between $750,000 and $5,000,000. He also oversaw Economic Development Projects and Programs, Redevelopment, Affordable Housing Community Outreach, and Research and Development. He has excellent leadership and marketing skills. Here are three important skills every leader should have.

Leaders Inspire Engagement

As a leader, it is your utmost responsibility to make sure that all employees in your organization are engaged and interested in the work that is being done. It is crucial that they have a feeling of value. Some people can work for several years in an organization without creating any value, just because they are not engaged in what they are doing. As a leader, it is up to you to inspire your employees so that they have a sense of value working for the organization.

Develop Personal Adaptability

Leaders need to understand the constant change that is taking place within the organization and the business world and adapt. Things that worked perfectly in the past, might not necessarily work the same again. They need to look at things with a fresh insight and vision and seize valuable opportunities that arise.

Cultivate Learning Agility

Most people struggle with maintaining a learning agility. As business strategies constantly evolve, leaders should as well. Experienced leaders take the initiative in looking for opportunities through which they can learn new things. They are open to experimenting with new approaches and take the time to reflect on their experiences, learning from their failures and successes.

Curtis Cannon was the lead negotiator for the Wagon Wheel Development Project during his time as Community Development Director at the City of Oxnard.

​

Curtis Cannon of the City of Oxnard – The Importance of Economic Development

Curtis Cannon is the former Community Development Director in the City of Oxnard. He is a visionary and a change agent who has built up a reputation for himself as an experienced professional in the public sector. Curtis Cannon served in the City of Oxnard for 16 years and has an interest in economic development. He has provided professional and technical oversight in the development and implementation of city-wide projects within the Public Works Department.

According to Paul Peterson, “local governments are primarily interested in maintaining the economic vitality of the area for which they are responsible.” Firstly, economic development is important for both cities and states, and can be competitive in the earnings per capita it offers its residents. Local and state policies should take into account the goal of economic development as it has a direct effect on the quality of life provided to its residents. It provides avenues to analyze public sector goals so that they are pursued with strong development plans.

Secondly, economic development provides better job opportunities to local residents. Most residents have strong ties to the places and people in their community; however, they will move to another location in search of greater economic success if need be. Economic development provides better jobs in the community and helps local residents increase their earnings while at the same time preserving ties to the local community. Economist Paul Courant believes that having a place in the local community is a valuable asset, which is often labeled as “a sense of place”. Economist Roger Bolton says, “A sense of place [is] a concept widely used by geographers, architects, and planners. It refers to a complex of intangible characteristics of a place that makes it attractive to actual and potential residents.”

Local economic development creates more and better jobs for the local community and allows residents to live better lives, enhancing the “sense of place” – an important component of human well-being.

Curtis Cannon City of Oxnard, former Community Development Director in the City of Oxnard holds a Master’s Degree in Public Administration from California State University, Northridge.

Source: ​http://investinginkids.net/2010/12/16/why-local-economic-development-is-important/

​

Curtis Cannon, Former City of Oxnard, California, Community Development Director – Improve Your Technical Writing

Curtis Cannon, formerly a City of Oxnard, California, Community Development Director, has led teams that required technical writers several times during his decades of experience in public sector work. To succeed in teams like the ones Curtis Cannon has led for organizations like the City of Oxnard, technical writers must strive to improve their writing skills. Even if you do not have much experience with technical writing, the following tips will make the task easier:

• Be concise. Don’t use too many words. If you can express something in fewer words, do it. Redundant mentions of words and pointless phrases will make a quality document unprofessional and sloppy.
• Eliminate jargon. Unless you’re writing specifically to a technical team, using jargon will make your writing confusing. Consider your audience. Consider what words they are familiar with. Do not use words that they would need to look up to understand.
• Be clear. Do not add unclarified statements to your writing. Instead of writing “the new energy technology increases plant energy output by a notable degree,” write “the solar panels increase energy output by 30%.” This prevents questions, confusion and wasted time.
• Use active voice. Active voice refers to something or someone acting instead of having an action done to them. You can use fewer words with active voice and you’ll answer questions for the readers instead of leaving them wondering. For example, instead of writing “mistakes were made that caused the project’s progress to slow,” write “we made mistakes that hindered project progress.”

Though Curtis Cannon City of Oxnard was not a technical writer during his time at the City of Oxnard, experienced managers like him know good technical writing when they read it. These tips will help you produce content that professionals like Cannon will approve of.

​

Curtis Cannon of the City of Oxnard – Different Roles of a Change Agent

Curtis Cannon served as the Community Development Director in the City of Oxnard for several years. He graduated with honors with a Bachelor’s Degree in Public Administration from the University of La Verne, La Verne, California. A change agent who seeks to implement organizational change has to wear various hats. They need to demonstrate extraordinary flexibility and possess a broad range of skills. Here are some of the roles a change agent will be expected to play in an organization.

Detective

Implementing changes in an organization is not as straightforward as other executive activities. The change agent has to deal with the attitudes and behaviors of different people, which usually requires digging below the surface to properly understand the dynamics of the company or organization. The change agent will have to look for signs that show what is preventing the organization for changing so that he can help remove obstacles and hindrances and bring about change. The change agent has to be observant and analytical in order to come up with steps that can help the organization change.

Advocate

Every organizational change agent has to play the role of an advocate and speak in favor of the changes that are required to be implemented. They will need to gain support from key players in the organization to implement the necessary changes. The change agent will need to be persistent with the elements of change.

Counselor

The change agent will need to encourage and counsel individuals to change their behaviors, attitudes, and activities. Change always creates mixed emotions, and the change agent has to work with individuals to stabilize their emotions and help them move out of their comfort zones. He will have to take into consideration personal implications of those who are involved. The change agent acts as a counselor who listens and encourages.

Facilitator

The change agent is a facilitator and is experienced in finding ways to help individuals change. They are experienced in clarifying the change and making it easier to implement it. As a facilitator, the change agent will need to design forms, tools, systems, and enable individuals to change and succeed. He will have to be creative and helpful to facilitate an easy transition in implementing change.

Curtis Cannon, former City of Oxnard, Community Development Director has had several years’ experience in being a change agent for various government and other organizations.

Curtis Cannon, Former City of Oxnard, California, Community Development Director – Project Management Development Phase

Curtis Cannon, formerly a City of Oxnard, California, Community Development Director, is an experienced project management and public sector professional. During his decades in the industry and 16 years for the City of Oxnard, Curtis Cannon has honed his project management skills and built a reputation for himself as an efficient and organized leader. If you’re new to project management, building a name for yourself as Cannon has might sound impossible, but it’s a matter of following phases and exercising careful management.

Basic project management is broken down into six phases. These phases include initiation, definition, design, development, implementation and follow-up. The initiation, definition and development phases will handle the project’s outline and concepts, and once they are finished, it is time for the development phase. During the development phase, you’ll arrange everything needed to construct and implement your project.

Arranging the development phase usually includes some or all of the following steps:

• Order materials and tools required to develop the project.
• Contact or contract necessary suppliers and subcontractors.
• Make a comprehensive development schedule.
• Issue instructions to team members.

The development phase is completed when the team members have everything needed to construct the project result. Hold a meeting with all involved team members to ensure everyone is ready to move on from the development phase.

Some small projects do not need a large development phase, but cutting corners and eliminating the phase entirely is not the way to a well-run project. Even if the development phase only lasts for a single meeting, include it in your plans to ensure your project is well-orchestrated. This thorough manner of management is how professionals such as Curtis Cannon achieve high-ranking positions in large organizations like the City of Oxnard.

​

Curtis Cannon, Former City of Oxnard, California, Community Development Director – A Healthy Community

Curtis Cannon is a former City of Oxnard, California, Community Development Director and a public sector professional with decades of experience in community improvement projects. Though many citizens are aware that professionals like Cannon exist, few understand what these professionals work toward. A primary goal of professionals like Curtis Cannon, and organizations like the City of Oxnard, is to create healthy communities.

A healthy community must be livable and sustainable. This typically requires affordable, updated housing that the average family can live in long-term. A community with livable, sustainable housing is strengthened by financial security, educational stability and a lower risk of homeless populations. A healthy community must also provide safety for citizens, thus improving educational potential and the aforementioned livability.

A healthy community should also have a caring and creative environment with citizen involvement and job accessibility. This creates the foundation for quality life within the community and, as a result, helps keep the community sustainable and livable. Communities without citizen involvement and a caring, creative environment often have a fast resident turnover and, thus, decreased stability.

On an individual level, a safe community should encourage personal development, positive action and community participation for each citizen. This improves learning and engagement, which helps further the community’s potential, thus increasing wealth, stability and growth.

Though it might seem that communities with these traits happen by chance, the truth is that professionals like Curtis Cannon City of Oxnard and organizations like the City of Oxnard are integral for their development. These organizations craft their community projects based on models that support and promote healthy community traits. Whether it’s through redevelopment or public outreach projects, professionals are working behind the scenes every day to create the communities that citizens love.

​

Curtis Cannon, Former City of Oxnard, California, Community Development Director – Characteristics of a Change Agent

Curtis Cannon is a former City of Oxnard, California, Community Development Director, and he has served as a change agent for several government and public organizations. As a change agent, Cannon’s role is to be the catalyst for change, and he does this by leading and applying his professional characteristics that he has fostered over the past several years. Curtis Cannon developed many of these skills during his 16 years with the City of Oxnard, California, but others are natural characteristics. Common characteristics required in change agents include:

• Vision – Change agents do not always need to be in management or leadership positions to do their work, but they do need a clear vision of the situation. You must have a clear view of the situation at hand, the possible methods of improvement and all current issues. In addition to a clear vision, you need to be able to communicate your vision to others.
• Strategic – Change agents need to see the steps required to change a situation and then develop a clear strategy to follow through with them. You must also strategically plan when to take these steps for the best outcome for the organization that you’re working with. In applying strategy, you also decide when to call it quits on a failing project.
• Bold – Change agents must be bold enough to ask the tough questions. Your sole job as a change agent isn’t to develop strategy, but also to help an organization grow from within. You must have the courage to ask an organization leader what is best and to help them come to conclusions, even if the questions are uncomfortable or harsh.

Whether you’re Curtis Cannon City of Oxnard, working with the City of Oxnard, or Jane Smith, working with a local elementary school, these traits will help you become a better change agent.