The Center for Public Integrity’s state corruption index has hit the news again this past week, giving most states terrible grades on transparency and accountability and suggesting that our states governments are corrupt. The study, completed in 2011, was put together by journalists in state capitals choosing 330 questions and was peer reviewed by manyRead… Read more »
Other bloggers have written some excellent articles on ways to improve government hiring practices including Donna Dyer’s excellent blogs. I see an issue regarding promoting people within the federal government and offer a suggestion for improvement from the state of California. Where’s the Promotion? On several occasions, my supervisor lamented the lack of easy, transparentRead… Read more »
In the first part of this series on professional use of social media in the public service, I talked about the two different approaches you can take. In part 2, I will try to untangle the issue of the social media disclaimer. It is a common sight to see social media accounts, particularly Twitter accounts,Read… Read more »
How have budget cuts affected your agency’s travel budget? Do you need travel to do your job effectively? Let’s face it: the budget climate is not pretty. I think it’s safe to say that most, if not all, of us have faced budgetary hardships over the last couple of years. While there have been aRead… Read more »
He who exercises government by means of his virtue may be compared to the north polar star, which keeps its place and all the stars turn towards it. Confucius (551 BC – 479 BC) The budget season of 2010 for local government was particularly brutal. Many localities were taking deep cuts and scaling back. DepartmentsRead… Read more »
It’s small, but mighty. If ignored, it gets worse. It can cause us to limp, stumble, and ultimately fail. What is it? It’s our “Achilles’ heel.” We have weaknesses. Some weaknesses, such as dishonesty, aggressiveness, or blatant disrespectfulness, are glaring. Others, though not as obvious, can be just as debilitating to a leader and theirRead… Read more »
If you want to know about major innovation in the public sector then look to NASA. The space agency is a crown jewel of government innovation and a global role model for groundbreaking scientific research and discovery. NASA serves as a reminder to America of what’s possible when Uncle Sam harnesses his full potential, asRead… Read more »
The Obama Administration has done wonders in terms of young, fresh talent entering the public sector. The Pathways Program Initiative was initiated in 2012 to improve the federal sector by hiring more recent graduates, streamlining the federal hiring process and hiring veterans. Essentially, the program has three main facets: hiring process, internship program and theRead… Read more »
There’s much a leader can gain from working on her listening skills: an encouraged and inspired team, an environment that fosters idea sharing, and closer relationships with colleagues and other professionals. Listening isn’t just about being polite. It’s about respect, humility, and growth. So often we treat listening like waiting for our turn up toRead… Read more »
Back in the day, before the recession, you could hitch your wagon to a rising star in your organization, create a mentoring relationship, and find career success. Nowadays, your mentor is not likely to be around for your whole career—voluntarily or involuntarily. The hot phrase among career coaches is “Personal Board of Directors”, but IRead… Read more »