Entrepreneurial leadership: Martin O’Malley on transparency and accountability

Directions with Stan Grant

Governor Martin O’Malley tackles crime and politics with his sleeves rolled-up

Imagine being elected mayor of a city declared one of America’s most violent and dysfunctional, with drug markets, criminal gangs, and murder rates all out of control.

That was the leadership challenge Martin O’Malley faced when he became mayor of Baltimore.

He knew the task at hand would require more than sheer determination. It would also require entrepreneurial guile backed by leading-edge tech to map, solve – and even predict – problems.

He’d need to show the electorate – and the criminals – he meant business.

Martin O'Malley was so successful in his technology-led approach that he went on to become the Governor of Maryland in the United States from 2007 to 2015 and even a democratic contender for the Presidential nomination.

He’s tackled many complex leadership issues in his political career, from being the first US leader to pass the marriage equality act to devising gun safety legislation.

“At the time people said, ‘Oh my goodness. It's going to be impossible. We're going to lose this part of our very religious-minded African American base. We're going to lose people over here and in the rural areas’.”

Martin O’Malley tells Stan Grant how he turned a city and a state around using innovative solutions and a commitment to transparent leadership.

Next episode: Linda Peters, global data strategist.

Directionspodcast.com

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Directions is a podcast hosted by award-winning journalist Stan Grant about how leaders use technology and innovation to solve problems and to shape our increasingly complex world.

This is a BGT Production created in partnership with Esri Australia.

Esri Australia is the nation's leading GIS technology and services provider and part of the BGT group