City of Bangor, Maine

Earlier this week, I had the opportunity to speak with incoming business students at the University of Maine about first impressions and personal brand. I shared a simple idea with them: Your brand isn’t something you announce. It’s something other people experience.

As I left that conversation, I kept thinking about how true that same principle is in public service.

Government has a brand, too.

For most people, that brand isn't shaped by a strategic plan, a press release, or what we say about ourselves. It is shaped by experience. It is the response someone receives when they cavll City Hall. It is whether a business owner feels welcomed when exploring an investment. It is whether a resident understands why a decision was made, even when they disagree with it. It is whether people feel heard before we ask them to trust us.

Those are our first impressions. And they matter.

I work in economic development, where relationships are at the center of almost everything we do. We work with developers, entrepreneurs, residents, community organizations, elected officials, businesses, and people who simply have an idea and don't know where to begin.

Not every conversation ends with a yes. It shouldn't.

Sometimes the answer is no. Sometimes it is not yet. Sometimes we need more information. Sometimes government simply cannot do what someone is asking us to do. But I've learned that trust isn't built by always giving people the answer they want. It is built by being clear, responsive, consistent, and human in how we get there.

That last part matters.

Putting People Before Process

Public leadership can become so focused on process that we forget the person experiencing the process. We know the acronyms. We understand the regulations. We know why something takes three meetings, two approvals, and a public hearing. The person sitting across from us may not.

Our job is not simply to know the system. Our job is to help people navigate it.

That philosophy also changes how I think about civic engagement. Engagement cannot begin only when government needs public input. Trust has to exist before the public hearing, before the controversial project, and before the difficult decision.

“Some of the most meaningful community engagement happens in spaces that don't feel like government at all. It happens when we create opportunities to sit together, share a meal, listen to one another, celebrate different cultures, or simply have a conversation without an agenda.”

Some of the most meaningful community engagement happens in spaces that don't feel like government at all. It happens when we create opportunities to sit together, share a meal, listen to one another, celebrate different cultures, or simply have a conversation without an agenda. Those moments may seem small, but they create relationships. And relationships create the foundation we need when the conversations become harder.

The same is true in economic development. A company considering your community is forming an impression long before a deal is on the table. Were we responsive? Did we listen? Did we understand their needs? Did we know our community well enough to connect them to the right people? Did we make them feel like their investment mattered?

Building Trust Through Every Interaction

People remember how an institution made them feel just as much as they remember what it did.

I told those students at the University of Maine that first impressions are not about pretending to be something you're not. They are about being intentional about how you show up.

Public leadership should be no different.

Every email, meeting, community event, business visit, public hearing, and difficult conversation is an opportunity to show people who we are and what they can expect from their government.

We don't get to tell our communities that we are trustworthy, accessible, collaborative, or responsive.

They decide that based on their experience with us.

That's our brand.

And we are building it every single day.