Could Luke Skywalker harness his abilities without Yoda’s wisdom? Would the Banks family learn the importance of family without Mary Poppins? There are no shortage of mentor-mentee relationships in cinema. In these examples, the mentors provide insight to bring out the best in the mentees. Similarly, we can leverage the advantages of mentorships to get ahead and avoidRead… Read more »
Bureaucracy – it’s not a word that inspires a whole lot of positive feelings these days. To the public, it can symbolize government inefficiency and unresponsiveness. To the federal worker, it often represents a rigid structure that stifles their agency’s agility. Bureaucracy can be overwhelming, even painful, but it doesn’t have to be. And forRead… Read more »
I recently had the distinct pleasure of interviewing one of my favorite public servants, the Director of the Division of Community Service and Nonprofit Support at the Arkansas Department of Human Services, Sherry Middleton. With over 32 years of experience in public service through both government and nonprofit work, Sherry is a respected, influential, andRead… Read more »
“So, what exactly do you do at City Hall?” This question is always asked at conferences, events, or at parties. Usually as a precursor or follow-up to my elevator pitch — “I’m a civic innovator, I bring best practices and new ways of thinking to City Hall operations. I work on special projects relating toRead… Read more »
This week I spent a day of Leadership Development Program discussing resiliency. Resiliency is the ability to carry on in the face of adversity, similar to grit, and, as an earlier blog pointed out, resiliency is the antidote to stress. Personal resiliency can lead to professional resiliency, which then leads to a resilient organization – an organizationRead… Read more »
We all heard about the recent and disastrous cyber breaches in federal government. In April, the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) discovered that the personnel data of 4.2 million current and former Federal government employees had been stolen. Birthdays, home addresses, and Social Security numbers all were affected. One of the biggest problems that BethRead… Read more »
Stephen Warren, who has served as the deputy chief information officer for the Department of Veterans Affairs for more than seven years, will step down from that post later this month, GovLoop’s DorobekINSIDER has learned. LaVerne Council, the new VA CIO, made the announcement in an e-mail to staff on Thursday. Warren is known forRead… Read more »
This blog post is an excerpt from GovLoop’s recent guide, the Open Data Playbook for Government. Download the full guide here. Imagine you’ve been named Chief Data Officer at your organization. You’re now charged with ensuring data is accurate, current and properly managed. It’s also your job to ensure that data is available on demandRead… Read more »
As if giving a compelling presentation isn’t challenge enough, what do you do in a situation that makes it even harder for your presentation to be a success? You might have to present first thing in the morning or at the end of a long day. You unexpectedly have a lot less time than you plannedRead… Read more »
The Federal Transit Administration (FTA) is turning storms into ingenuity and inspiration through its grant programs. This spark of ingenuity came from a place of hardship for Americans. We all remember the devastation that followed Superstorm Sandy. The 2012 hurricane triggered one of the worst public transportation disasters in US history, flooding and damaging railRead… Read more »