With four generations spanning our government workforce, many have asked- how can we level all generations and skills to build successful teams and make government better? Leaders in government, young and old, come from all walks of life. Government’s challenge is to harness the diverse skillset, listen to all perspectives, and help generations work together.Read… Read more »
We expect a lot from our government. Despite frequent funding constraints, we still expect agencies to deliver quality results to the public. High expectations externally drive high ones internally. As a result, government agencies are incredibly mission-driven. So when employees in the public sector act, their managers expect those actions to directly align with theRead… Read more »
Could the federal government’s COOs be managing agencies better? Ron Sanders, Vice President at Booz Allen Hamilton and the firm’s first fellow, sought to answer this question. In collaboration with the Partnership for Public Service, he and his company surveyed federal COOs to pinpoint the problems that COOs across the public sector frequently encounter inRead… Read more »
Effective leaders want to be challenged to expand their own skillset. They team with other experts who will challenge their ideas, pushing them to grow. They strive to be good role models to support and uplift their team members as well as recruit other experts into their organization. People that are the best want to… Read more »
What is one thing managers can do to increase creativity, productivity, and commitment by their employees? A recent study by two psychologists, Teresa Amabile and Steven Kramer, concludes: “If you focus on supporting the daily progress of people working in your organization, you will not only foster the success of the organization but also enrichRead… Read more »
There are a lot of stereotypes about people who work in government. Meet real government employees though and you quickly realize that most of the negative stereotypes are unfair. No matter where in government you work, and whether it’s at the local, regional, or national level, chances are that you’ve got coworkers that fit one ofRead… Read more »
When managers can successfully delegate duties within their team, the entire organization benefits. The art of leadership rewards managers so they don’t have to do it all. Synergy makes the group stronger and more meaningful to the individuals comprising the team, including the manager. Leaders want to work with other leaders, not micromanagers who hoard… Read more »
Change is constant. The best government leaders know how to make it an expectation, rather than something to be feared.
It’s amazing how many professional insights we can gain just from a presidential transition. Last week, we discussed measuring the drapes before getting to the office and the importance of planning management and administration tactics ahead of time. This time, let’s put ourselves in the shoes of the people lined up to take our placeRead… Read more »
This nontechnical riddle took me a while to figure out. This saying floats around in the halls and offices of every building. For me, it resounds on all occasions when I have met with management. Agencies’ management is whipsawed between necessary compromise to face budget cuts and changing priorities at the same time. Compromise, inRead… Read more »