Publications

Through his published articles and book, Lew has built a distinguished reputation for providing insightful perspectives and rigorous analysis on the issues confronting local government teams. 

Published

Articles and Publications

Published articles by Lewis Bender, Ph.D. are available by clicking on links below.

ARE YOU GOOD ENOUGH?

Is it time to change your recruiting message?

“It doesn’t matter whether the public works operation is large or small, urban or rural, or specializing in roads, water, parks, or wastewater. The same complaints resonate across the profession. How can we meet rising demands and attract and retain qualified people?…”

STOP WASTING YOUR TIME:

Create Performance Appraisals that Make Sense!

“Everyone who enjoys doing performance appraisals, please stand up.” It never fails. Whenever I start the workshop on performance appraisals at the Michigan Public Service Institute (MPSI) with that question, nobody stands!…

TRAINING and SUPERVISING

You are not training and supervising you.

“They have no common sense!  They have no respect for authority.  They think they know it all and don’t want to learn.  They are constantly on their electronic devices and don’t pay attention to the work…”

FINDING YOUR SERENITY:

Successful Approaches for Dealing with Problem Employees

“Do not despair! There is hope. It is also apparent, based on all these years of research, that the vast majority of problem employee behaviors are predictable…”

WHICH WAY DO YOU WANT TO GO?

Is Your Council Ready to Answer that Question?

“So, why did you run for city or village council? What makes running for elected office worth the time, effort, and personal risk?…”

EXPANDING ACCOUNTABILITY
IN YOUR ORGANIZATION:

Things You Need To Know and Do

“Lack of accountability. If there is one thing that drives us up a wall-it is lack of accountability. It doesn’t matter who does it or what position they hold…”

YOUR WORLD -THEN

Your World – Now

“So, public works leader-supervisor, as you drove to work this morning, yesterday, or whenever, how many times did you say to yourself…”

Michigan Municipal League

The Review
July-Aug 2022

“So, why did you run for city or village council? What makes running for elected office worth the time, effort, and personal risk?”

Begin your team development with our training programs.

Discover key tools and strategies for your team to tackle challenges and succeed in a changing environment.

Successfully Leading
Local Government Teams
Order your copy today!

New book by Lewis Bender Ph.D. and Mary Bender!

Successfully Leading Local Government Teams is a collection of stories that describe the unique challenges facing public sector teams that their private-sector counterparts do not face.

It contains stories that describe the struggles, victories, defeats, and challenges of local public-sector service organizations.

The focus is on how problem people impact leaders and team members and how to handle their games. Each of the stories in this book reflects events and situations that happened.

Names, places, and many contributing factors have been changed to protect the guilty and the innocent people described in these stories.

Solution based consulting for: Results, Workplace Conflict, Effective Communication, and Teamwork

Get ready to see TEAM WORK at it’s best!

Contact

Lewis Bender, Ph.D.

P.O. Box 330

LeRoy, MI 49655-0330

618-792-6103

lewbender@aol.com

© 2025 LewBender