I am a big fan of the Ohio State Buckeyes and with the pre-season college football rankings just released – and OSU ranked number two in the nation – my hopes for the season are sky-high. Unfortunately, I’ve been burned so many times over the years that I try not to put too much weightRead… Read more »
Last week, JetBlue flight attendant Steven Slater had a very bad day at work when – after a conflict with a passenger – he activated the emergency evacuation chute, grabbed two beers, slid down the runway and headed home. While our bad days do not make the headlines, a lot of us have had conflictsRead… Read more »
Facebook recently marked the 500 million user milestone. With this accomplishment, the social networking website has more people than the populations of the United States, Indonesia and Brazil. In all of its amazing success, it’s easy to forget that Facebook is run by Mark Zuckerberg, a leader who is only 26 years old. Last week,Read… Read more »
This week I spoke with Director of the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services Alejandro Mayorkas. Immigrating to the United States from Havana at the age of one, Mayorkas now oversees the largest immigration service in the world. In our interview he talks about how his Cuban immigrant status has affected him as a leader ofRead… Read more »
For many people, top fears include spiders, heights, public speaking and crowds. For many government managers I speak to, it’s delivering criticism at performance time. It’s no wonder that delivering feedback — particularly feedback on improving — produces so much anxiety. Even under the best of circumstances, delivering feedback and coaching is difficult. But whenRead… Read more »
Attending the Next Generation in Government Summit last week highlighted that government 1) is full of young, driven and innovative employees; and 2) needs to make sure that it harnesses that passionate creativity and allows it to STAY AND GROW IN GOVERNMENT! I discussed this challenge in my column in the Washington Post this morning.Read… Read more »
Getting the opportunity to participate in the Next Generation in Government Summit this past Tuesday was truly a honor. I am sure I speak for everyone who attended the event in thanking GovLoop and YGL for putting together something so fun and valuable! Working at the Partnership for Public Service and conducting interviews for myRead… Read more »
In this week’s interview I talked with David McClure, the associate administrator of the General Services Administration’s Office of Citizen Services and Innovative Technologies, who leads the government’s outreach to the public through social networking tools and websites including USA.gov. My conversation with David covered topics ranging from what is his favorite government app toRead… Read more »
The other night, I asked my eight-year-old son which U.S. soccer player he wants to be. The answer wasn’t surprising: Landon Donovan. It got me thinking. Secretly, we all want to be Landon Donovan. Whether in our personal or professional lives, we want credit for our hard work and the respect of our co-workers, friendsRead… Read more »
This week I spoke with Dr. Lawrence Spinelli, who is acting president of the Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC) which helps U.S. businesses invest overseas, fosters economic development in new and emerging markets and supports U.S. foreign policy. Prior to assuming this position, Spinelli was OPIC’s public affairs director. He previously spent more than aRead… Read more »