Leadership

7 Ways to Make Your Meetings More Exciting

Meetings compose a large amount of your work time, but are they time well spent? Efficiency can be increased or decimated by the timing and structure of meetings. Think about the impact multiplier for each participant. Starting an eight person meeting 15 minutes late wastes two hours of work for the organization. Bad meetings areRead… Read more »

Let’s Get Technical

A while back I had an opportunity to participate in a lunch and learn about this topic and thought these big take-aways would be great to share. Today’s workforce is a blend of Ernest Hemingway’s “Lost Generation,” Jack Kerouac’s “Beat Generation,” Timothy Leary’s Vietnam-era Generation and Generation Y (I couldn’t quite decide what literary workRead… Read more »

Here’s Looking at You, Kid – You’re a Government Rock Star

In high school, I was a cheerleader. Pom poms and football games were my Friday night. That might not sound like a good time for many, but for me, it was the ultimate. Why? Because I honestly believe that people perform better when their good work is recognized – and I loved rooting for othersRead… Read more »

Lessons from Jill Abramson’s Departure

The firing of Jill Abramson, former executive editor for the New York Times, is still making headlines a week later mainly because she is a female executive who might have been ousted for being pushy and brusque. She also may have gotten a bad rap for questioning why her compensation was less than her maleRead… Read more »

VA Official Resigns Over Growing Patient Care Scandal – Plus the 7 Gov Stories

On GovLoop Insights’ DorobekINSIDER: How did your retirement fare in the first quarter of the year? Should you be changing your TSP password? We take a look at your retirement in our interview with the TSP Board’s Kim Weaver. You can find all of our programs online: DorobekINSIDER.com and GovLoop Insights at http://insights.govloop.com. The SEVENRead… Read more »

A Recipe for Change

We have all heard the phrase “Change is Good.” But is it? Change can be good; however, making a change without regard for those affected by it, is a recipe for trouble. When a leader tells employees about a change instead of involving them in the change, a team’s work quality, morale, and motivation suffers,Read… Read more »

Life Lessons Applicable to the Public Sector

Collectivism is a core concept in public service. In my last post, I introduced the concept of leading without a title (insert hyperlink to that blog post). So much of our personal development happens outside the office. Our life experiences, personal lives and hobbies paint a picture of our values, ethics and interests. Reflection isRead… Read more »

Looking Inside the Maple Leaf – How Canada Does Transparency

How many potholes have been filled this spring in your city? Are buses arriving on time this weekend? What’s the number of business licenses granted in the past month? How fast are emergency vehicles responding on-scene to accidents? These are just examples of questions citizens ask their local government on an everyday basis. Frequently, findingRead… Read more »