Leadership

Career, Leadership, Project Management

GovExpert: Dr. Kathryn Newcomer, Director of the Trachtenberg School for Public Policy and Public Administration

Dr. Kathryn Newcomer is the current Director of the Trachtenberg School of Public Policy and Public Administration at the George Washington University and a foremost authority on program evaluation (see full bio below). Why is the knowledge of program evaluation so important to a government employee? Program evaluation entails the application of social science analyticalRead… Read more »

Human Resources, Leadership, Tech

Daily Dose: USAJobs.gov 3.0 Experience, A Rocky Road for Most

According to an article in the Washington Post, users of USAJobs.gov 3.0 have had a hard time using the “new and improved” site. Several glitches have prevented users from submitting applications, and performing other functions, on time. Although the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) sends out daily updates and boasts about successful cases, many usersRead… Read more »

Career, Communications, Leadership, Project Management

Recruitment 411: Lessons of Leadership Part 2 – Overcoming Obstacles

Our guest blogger today is Jon, a recruiter in California working for the IRS Recruitment Office. He just finished a temporary assignment as acting manager over one branch of our office. Going through the IRS training program for future managers has been an exciting journey for me. I started the program by attending a oneRead… Read more »

Leadership, Miscellaneous, Tech

As Canada Searches for its Open Government Partnership Commitments: A Proposal

Just before its launch in New York on September 20th, the Canadian Government agreed to be a signatory of the Open Government Partnership (OGP). Composed of over 40 countries the OGP signatories are required to create a list of commitments they promise to implement. Because Canada signed on just before the deadline it has notRead… Read more »

Leadership, Project Management

Like Steve Jobs, Government can “Think Different”

The following is the original version of a shorter post originally published on GPO’s Government BookTalk blog on October 11, 2011. On October 5, 2011, we lost one of America’s great geniuses of innovation, Apple’s founder and CEO, Steve Jobs. From the beginning, Steve Jobs seemed to “Think Different” than everyone else, which made Apple’sRead… Read more »

Leadership, Miscellaneous, Project Management, Tech

Full Life-Cycle Learning

Learning is Doing. It’s not just cracking the books, it’s making something new. Making new makes learning stick. Research and study are tools to get to the doing part. Learning conductors do a better job when they conduct from concept to completion. Shipping provides lessons that are not to be missed, that retroactively change understandingRead… Read more »

Leadership, Miscellaneous

Strategic Alignment: Getting your people going in the same direction

One of the hardest roles anyone has in a corporation today is that of leadership. Like Peter Drucker and Henry Mintzberg, I separate leadership from management. Leadership suggests strategy and change, while management focuses on operational excellence –doing what others are doing , may be a little better—think best practices. What brought upon the insightsRead… Read more »

Acquisition, Leadership, Project Management, Tech

The Dog That Caught The Bus – GSA Administrator Martha Johnson

I’m at ACT/IAC Executive Leadership Council where 800 gov’t IT leaders are congregating. Keynote is entitled “The Dog That Caught The Bus” by Martha Johnson, GSA Administrator GSA’s mission is everything for everyone everywhere. To federal, state, local, executive, legislative branches. Change is happening-Previously – budgets were squeezed. We were put on a diet-Today ourRead… Read more »