Career Zone: Vision, culture and values set stage for leadership durability

In the water sector, progress flows at a different pace than in other industries. Projects stretch across decades, leadership transitions ripple through agencies, and community expectations rise like the tide. In such an environment, leadership durability — the ability to sustain effectiveness and purpose over time — is not optional. It is essential.

Lasting success in building durability begins with three interlocking commitments: setting a shared vision, fostering a values-driven culture, and embracing adaptability and innovation.

Set a shared vision

Every successful agency starts with clarity about where it is going and why. A shared vision aligns a board, management, and staff behind common, long-term goals in an industry where timelines are measured in decades, not quarters.

Yet vision alone is not enough; it must be co-created, not imposed. The most durable leaders are those who know that collective ownership creates endurance and commitment throughout the organization. When all voices feel heard in shaping the mission, that mission becomes resilient to turnover, elections, or shifting external pressures.

Leaders who take the time to translate technical plans into narratives of public value — safe, reliable, and sustainable water for the next generation — build understanding and purpose across internal and external audiences. This alignment allows agencies to navigate short-term crises without losing sight of their long-term horizon. A shared vision serves as both compass and anchor, guiding action and providing stability through disruption.

Foster a values-driven culture

If vision defines where an organization is going, and mission crystallizes purpose, values shape how to get there. Core values express the agency’s identity, or its ethical ground and operational character. They are the filter or “gut check” that influences everything from daily decision-making to how an agency responds under stress. Leaders who embed values deeply in the culture create consistency in behavior, even as staff or circumstances change.

A values-driven culture does not emerge through slogans but through daily demonstration. Integrity, transparency, and commitment to service must be modeled by leadership at every level. When employees see their leaders living the agency’s values, trust grows, and so does accountability. Values also serve as a steady force during turbulence. In times of drought, flood, budget strain, or public scrutiny, shared values maintain cohesion and confidence.

Sharing your values publicly also allows external audiences, including future employees, to understand who you are as an organization and potential employer.

Embrace adaptability and innovation

The third foundation of leadership durability is in adaptability. Water agencies face unprecedented shifts — climate volatility, technological disruption, workforce transitions, and evolving community expectations and needs. Durable leaders accept that adaptability is not a trait of the moment but a continuous practice.

A culture that embraces innovation recognizes that agility and stability can coexist. Investing in research, testing new technologies, and empowering teams to pilot creative solutions keeps agencies responsive without sacrificing continuity. Adaptability also requires humility: the willingness to learn, unlearn, admit mistakes and recalibrate in response to new knowledge.

Durable leaders bridge tradition and transformation, honoring institutional knowledge while inviting fresh ideas and ensuring the organization thrives across generations.

Jennifer Persike, president/founder of Jennifer Persike & Company, is an innovative strategist and visionary leader with more than 30 years of experience with California water and energy utilities, statewide associations, nonprofits and corporations. See her previous piece on leadership durability here.