Who do you call when the going gets tough? How are you going to mentally and emotionally survive in this increasingly disruptive local government environment? During my long city management career, I persevered mostly alone through the challenging times. That is, until the opportunity arose to join a small group of trusted friends and colleagues in an intentionally supportive environment where we could share our professional and personal stories and collaborate on expanding our leadership skills.

Over the past two years as ICMA Midwest regional director, I have been greatly impacted by the number of stories from local government leaders struggling to find joy in their work because of their political and disruptive climates. They are searching for meaningful and ongoing support to help navigate rough waters and provide reaffirmation on the critical role they have as a leader in local government.

This article is intended to share information about the peer support group I found in Minnesota. It has continued to grow and is a very successful example of what can be achieved on this important topic. I sat down with Craig Rapp, co-founder of Compass Peer Groups, to discuss how this innovative organization is addressing the critical needs of local government leaders through facilitated peer support and professional development.

Matt Fulton: Craig, Compass Peer Groups has been operating for over a decade now. What prompted you and Dr. James Lynn to start this organization?

Craig Rapp: The genesis of Compass Peer Groups came from our collective experience in local government and organizational development. I spent years as a city manager and then as director of consulting for ICMA, while Jim brought his experience as a psychologist and organizational consultant who coached CEOs. We recognized a shared outlook on leadership, education, and supporting emotionally healthy executives.

The catalyst was an ICMA member survey in 2007 that identified peer support and leadership development as the top two needs of local government leaders. Concurrently, I had been delivering an ICMA workshop, “Managing in Difficult Political Environments,” based on my experiences being fired and under duress in a city with a celebrity mayor. We had already been discussing the concept of local government peer groups. The survey and reactions to my workshop confirmed what we suspected: leaders needed a space to connect with others who truly understand their world.

The peer group model has been in the corporate world for decades. Why do you think it took longer to establish in local government?

My educated guess is that the corporate sector has long recognized the value/ROI of peer support and is willing (and able) to pay thousands of dollars annually to get it.

Local governments typically have greater budget constraints, a culture that sometimes values self-sufficiency over collaboration, and a lack of programs tailored to the unique challenges of public service. At Compass, our pricing is accessible while ensuring high-quality facilitation and content designed for local government leaders.

The question that inspired us was simple yet profound: “When was the last time you admitted you were overwhelmed or shared a personal problem with your peers?” Local government executives face unique challenges—navigating political landscapes, managing public scrutiny, balancing community needs with limited resources—most often in isolation.

You and Dr. Lynn both have backgrounds in quality improvement methodologies. How has that influenced your approach?

Jim and I are Baldrige Quality and Lean Six Sigma proponents. In fact, we developed ICMA workshops on both subjects as far back as 20 years ago. This background shaped the structuring of Compass Peer Groups, and the focus of our early content.

We operate on a simple model: forum, framework, and facilitation.

• Forum is the peer group itself.

• Framework provides structure for our discussions, covering essential leadership areas from governance and strategy to operations and personal development.

• Facilitation ensures conversations remain safe, productive, and focused.

This systematic approach means we’re not just providing networking opportunities—we’re creating a comprehensive development experience that builds on itself over time.

Can you walk us through what the program looks like in practice? What exactly do members experience?

Absolutely. Our approach centers on monthly three-hour sessions. These sessions bring together 10 to 12 CAOs/senior executives in a confidential, structured environment facilitated by professionals with decades of local government experience.

Each session is divided into two parts: half the time is dedicated to facilitated peer support, where members discuss current challenges, share experiences, and provide mutual guidance. The remaining time focuses on professional development, exploring specific management concepts, best practices, or emerging trends relevant to local government leadership. One caveat is that we will dispense with the leadership topic and devote the entire session to support and member problem-solving if the need presents itself.

Beyond the monthly meetings, members are provided a private Microsoft Teams site to engage in secure messaging and chat with their peers. Our reference library contains professional development resources specific to local government, and members receive a Personality/Style Assessment and help developing personal growth plans.

Your organization has grown substantially since that first meeting in December 2011. Can you share some numbers that illustrate this growth?

We started with just two groups in 2011–2012, and today we serve 100 active members across multiple cohorts — 61 city managers across six groups, 27 assistant city managers across three groups, and 12 in one department head group. Over our history, we’ve had 141 members participate and facilitated discussions on over 100 different leadership topics.

How do you determine what leadership topics to focus on in any given year?

Our topic selection reflects perennial leadership challenges and emerging issues. Looking at our calendar from 2016 through 2024, you’ll see we’ve addressed such topics as work-life balance, managing in difficult political environments, race equity, COVID-19 response, and polarized communities.

The topics emerge from three sources: member input about their most pressing challenges, my assessment of emerging trends in local government, and feedback from our annual retreats. The ability to be responsive to current issues while maintaining focus on leadership and personal growth principles is a strength of our model.

I understand that participation in Compass Peer Groups counts toward ICMA credentialing requirements. How did you structure the program to align with these professional standards?

We’ve deliberately structured our program to align with ICMA’s credentialing requirements, which means participation counts toward maintaining professional certification. This was important because we wanted to ensure that the time executives invest with us contributes to their professional development.

In your experience, what have been the most significant benefits for members of Compass Peer Groups?

The most profound benefit is breaking the isolation that so many local government leaders experience. It may be cliché, but we truly believe it when we say, “It’s lonely at the top.” This resonates deeply with our members.

We’ve seen CAOs struggling with burnout find new strategies and accountability through their peer group. Others have successfully navigated politically charged situations by workshopping approaches with colleagues who have faced similar challenges. And many have formed lasting professional relationships that extend well beyond our formal sessions.

One of the most powerful questions we ask is, “Where do you go for answers and support?” Before joining Compass, many CAOs had no good answer to that question. Now they do.

One final question: What would you say to a local government leader who’s on the fence about joining a peer group?

I go back to the previous question—“Where do you go for answers and support?”—but just as importantly I ask, “When was the last time you claimed your brilliance?” Many public service leaders are so focused on solving problems that they rarely acknowledge their successes or leverage their strengths.

What they receive through Compass is transformative: a confidential forum where they can admit challenges, share innovations, and receive honest feedback; structured professional development aligned with ICMA credentialing requirements; and perhaps most importantly, a group of peers who have “walked in their shoes” and understand the unique pressures of local government leadership.

In a profession where leadership decisions impact entire communities, the value of guided peer learning cannot be overstated. Our peer groups help leaders create more balanced, effective, and fulfilled lives while becoming better equipped to serve their communities.

MATT FULTON is ICMA Midwest regional director and a former city manager.
CRAIG RAPP is founder and president of Compass Peer Groups and the Rapp Consulting Group.