Finding your true north: Leadership Principles for Agencies

We get it, being in government is tough and it’s only getting tougher with budget cuts and sequestration. But one way to weather the storm is to cling tight to your leadership core principles.

Tom Fox is the Vice President for Leadership and Innovation at the Partnership for Public Service.

He told Chris Dorobek on the DorobekINSIDER program that finding your leadership true north is the real way to succeed.

What Are Your Core Principals?

Intellectually curious — Being a leader is partially about understanding your environment and
your place in it. You can’t understand your environment unless you’re willing to understand
what comprises it and how it works.

Mentally tough — The world is a complex place. You must be willing to put in the time and
effort to understand how things interrelate and what they mean in the grand scheme, especially in
a world where what’s going on its not always obvious.

Critical thinkers — Acquire experience and reason to develop insights and understanding.
Don’t rely on authority just because it’s authority. Evaluate the world with a critical eye.

Flexible — The universe is full of surprises. Be open to the novelty that is required for dealing
with a dynamically changing environment.

Results-oriented — No matter how good you are at conceiving and planning, if it doesn’t get
done, it doesn’t exist.

Imaginative — If you can’t conceive of the future, you’ll never be able the use the other five
qualities to get there. After all, how can you get to a place that you can’t even conceive exists?

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