News at the School of Government
Commissioner Mary Accor
Cleveland County, North Carolina
Striving to be a Strategic Leader
A Passion for Local Government
When Mary Accor was a middle school teacher, she asked for the students that no one else wanted to teach. “If I got those kids through to the end of the year,” she says, “I felt I had made a considerable difference.” That desire to make a contribution – to children, to her school, and to her community – has been a driving force in her life.
It is not unexpected that education would also be important to Accor – her students’ and her own. When she became a principal, Accor attended the Principals’ Executive Program, which was then based at the School of Government. “That course gave me an understanding of what to expect, a solid foundation of strategies, and a network of contacts,” she says. Accor currently serves as a human resources director for Cleveland County Schools, and says she still keeps that course book on her shelf.
First appointed as a county commissioner in 1995, Accor has been elected to three subsequent terms. “My appreciation for county government grew by leaps and bounds while serving that first term,” she says. “It became a passion for me.” Accor attended the School of Government’s Essentials of County Government training for newly elected commissioners.
A Belief in Partnership
Now an experienced public servant, Accor is president-elect of the North Carolina Association of County Commissioners (NCACC) and serves on the steering committee for the new Local Elected Leaders Academy (LELA), which is a partnership among the NCACC, the North Carolina League of Municipalities, and the School of Government. Accor attended the Academy’s inaugural session, A Strategic LeaderShop for Navigating Regional Challenges, in early 2008. Referring to courses offered through the Leaders Academy, she says, “This is the best education available for the work we do. This is it. I have gone to college, but if I want to be better at strategically leading my county, I go to the Local Elected Leaders Academy.”
Accor says good leadership involves good partnerships. She talks about effective collaboration among Cleveland County’s officials at every level, and she talks about the collaborative effort that brought LELA into being. “LELA promotes productive partnerships and better communication throughout the state. It promotes empathy for officials doing work separate from mine, but whose work is impacted by decisions that I make. The Leaders Academy broadens our perspective on what it takes to be a good leader. All I can say is—we got it right.”
Current economic challenges only reinforce that belief. “With an economy in crisis, the challenges of being an elected official have increased dramatically,” says Accor. “Having the necessary training makes dealing with these challenges less cumbersome. The Association's partnership with the School of Government gives us the assistance we need for resolving critical issues impacting county governments."
A Concern for Citizens
Accor says there is a lot riding on running county government well. “Today I am worrying about a couple of people in my community. Did they get that pipe run to their home? Are those children going to have food on the table tonight? If you’re doing your job right, those issues will always be on your mind,” she says. “In many cases, our citizens’ livelihoods depend on the decisions we make. The Leaders Academy helps us make better decisions.”
Find out more about programs, webinars, and other resources through the School of Government's Local Elected Leaders Academy at www.lela.unc.edu.