As a career counselor, I get a lot of eye-rolls when I talk about self-assessment as a part of the career development planning process. And yet, when I ask my graduate students what they do best, they don’t have very descriptive words. “Multitasking” or “problem-solving” or “building strategies”—interesting concepts but not particularly useful in jobRead… Read more »
Leaders (and everyone reading this is a leader irrespective of title or duties): sweat the small stuff. Notice details and pay attention to the invisible dynamics around you. In our ever-evolving world, yesterday’s intern could be your future boss. Chuckle at your peril… Much has been written about situational leadership, including the excellent theory positedRead… Read more »
“I believe we need to attract a new generation of the best and brightest to public service and I believe that government can be a source of inspiration, not degradation.” Andrew Cuomo There is a lot of evidence that diversity in the workforce enables lots of great things like problem solving, communications, and the abilityRead… Read more »
By Mike Bajit, PMP After the excitement of a newly awarded contract, comes the implementation of the winning proposal. Part of that is building the team to execute the plan and satisfy the contract requirements. But what if the whole team isn’t available on Day One, or the team is new to the sector? ARead… Read more »
Is telecommuting right for you and your agency? When Marissa Mayer took the reins of Yahoo! and announced that the cutting-edge tech giant was pulling back on its policy of employee telecommuting, shock waves reverberated throughout the American workplace. The discussion that followed had people taking sides based on an all-or-nothing view of telecommuting (orRead… Read more »
Maybe Steve Ressler’s discussion about how long you should stay in one position got you thinking. (Catherine Andrews sums the main points up nicely here.) Maybe you’ve been daydreaming about moving on for the past year – or maybe you already have another offer on the table. However you’ve gotten to this point, you knowRead… Read more »
Shutdown, furloughs, pay cuts – oh my! Last year was basically Groundhog Day for feds, each day an endless cycle of bad news – at least, that’s what it felt like. But how bad was it, really? A new survey tries to capture the data. In the new report, “Embracing Change: CHCOs Rising to theRead… Read more »
Adding on to my last post on the Women’s Empowerment (WE) initiative in Kansas City, Missouri, we are looking closely at our internal practices to build a more inclusive, diverse city government. As a woman, a new mom, and coming from the male-dominated profession of architecture, I am acutely aware of some of the barriersRead… Read more »
Professionalism in the workplace is a hot topic. Being a “professional” portrays various images based on your perception of its definition. So, what’s your perception? We often think of a suited-up individual with a briefcase. Professionalism is often associated with competence and skill. However, being a skilled employee is not the same as being aRead… Read more »
There is a perception within the federal government that HR offices in most agencies are the place where people are placed when there’s no place else to put them. I have heard over the years that HR is the location where the “problem” people land. It’s often viewed that all HR employees do is processRead… Read more »