I’m so sick of happy hour being the universally acceptable way to socialize with your co-workers. I’ve had more than my share of experiences with Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde over the years and I’m so tired of being a spectator of this transformation. Alcohol (even the tiniest bit) can change a person’s personality andRead… Read more »
Do a quick google search for the strongest brands in the world and you’ll find Google, IBM, and Apple near the top. All three of these companies demonstrate how a good brand can go a long way towards building up a lifetime of goodwill with customers. So it made me wonder: Are agencies missing anRead… Read more »
I am in the process of re-writing an interviewing training class. I looked on the EEOC’s website for accurate numbers for 2010 settlements and was a bit surprised to see ADEA out of court settlements at $93,600,000. Age Discrimination settlements come as the second highest dollar amount after Title VII. Yet age discrimination is muchRead… Read more »
Around this time, various IT and professional web sites list what they consider the top skills for the coming year. It’s interesting to look back and see what skills stay on the lists, what skills fall off the list, and the new skills that appear. I haven’t seen such a list for government workers soRead… Read more »
The White House announced today that President Obama will be hosting the first “official Presidential Google Hangout” today at 5:30 Eastern. Using a combination of the White House’s YouTube channel to take in questions and Google Hangout for a live conversation with selected participants, this event will mark a digital first for those have servedRead… Read more »
We’ve all been there. There’s someone on the team or on the project that’s juuuuust not quite cutting it. And wouldn’t it be great if we could all work under the Zappo’s employement philosophy: Hire slowly, Fire quickly. But how often do you have complete control over everyone working on your projects? You’ve likely gotRead… Read more »
I have found this to be true in my own experience. The way to really engage teams and get them motivated to do great things is to empower them, build trust with them, and help them recognize they are awesome and doing awesome things. I got a bonus in my paycheck this year. Meh. ItRead… Read more »
One of my favorite “war” stories is about the first job offer I received after moving to Washington, DC. It went something like this: HR Manager: Paul, we are excited to offer you the program assistant position. The starting salary is $22,000. Me: This is great. Thank you so much. Is the salary negotiable? ForRead… Read more »
Recently in my coaching sessions with several government managers, I found a reluctance to engage in conversations that would open up and potentially deal with sensitive, difficult issues. This is a common problem I see with managers and is part of learning how to effectively manage up. Part of the fear of having these conversationsRead… Read more »
Greetings GovLoopers (GovLoopies?): In an effort to get the conversations flowing about leadership strategies that work, at work, from time to time we’ll post a ‘hypothetical’ leadership challenge here on this discussion board. Our goal is to ask what would you do as Government Leaders in a given situation. As with all things leadership, thisRead… Read more »