The Washoe Leadership Academy: Ego Management 101

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We almost let out a sigh of relief when Washoe County Manager Eric Brown packed up and rode off into retirement. Not because we're ungrateful (well, maybe a little), but because we thought one particular pet project might quietly fade into the bureaucratic sunset: the Washoe Leadership Academy.

You remember it — the program dusted off and rebranded under Brown’s watch, pumped full of self-congratulatory rhetoric and framed as the next great investment in “leadership.” A noble idea on its surface, sure. But let’s not kid ourselves — this thing wasn’t designed to nurture leaders so much as to cultivate admirers, and it would seem you need to be a graduate of the academy in order to be appointed to a county board of commission.

Now that Brown is gone, you’d expect the academy to quietly vanish, right? Nope. It's alive, well-funded, and apparently the highlight of county staff calendars. Funny, considering these same staffers routinely bemoan the time and effort required to support Citizen Advisory Boards — you know, the ones that give regular residents a voice in their own government.

CABs, we’re told, are just too labor-intensive. Staff are overwhelmed. Resources are stretched. But cue the whimsical music and watch those same staffers skip merrily into the latest Leadership Academy session, ready to “build capacity” and bond over vague PowerPoints and group exercises that would make any corporate HR consultant beam with pride.

So let’s do the math. The County is staring down a $27 million deficit — yes, million with an M — but still finds room in the budget for this ego-fluffing experiment. Are we training leaders or polishing reputations?

And more to the point: whose ego is being fed now?

Because it’s certainly not the taxpayers’. We’re the ones being told there's no money for core services, no support for grassroots civic input, and no room at the table unless we’re wearing a laminated badge from the “Leadership” club.

In tough times, governments talk a lot about priorities. The continued funding and promotion of the Washoe Leadership Academy tells us all we need to know about this administration’s priorities. Community input? A burden. Budget responsibility? Optional. But performative leadership theater? Always worth the price of admission.

If the County really wants to lead, maybe start by listening. Try bringing back meaningful citizen engagement. And if that sounds too labor-intensive, maybe it’s time to reexamine what “leadership” really means — and whose interests it’s actually serving.