All Blog Posts Tagged 'leadership' (4,730)

The other day at the next marina, there was a 32-foot cabin cruiser attempting to tie up to the dock. The captain was having a difficult time bringing the boat near the dock – very entertaining for the observers in our marina.…

Hundreds of unread emails, regulatory requirements, acquisition holdups, antiquated technology - in the government it seems there is always something to complain about. But that endless cycle of…

Everyone has been on a conference call in their work lives. For many people, they have at least one a week. For others, 2-3 a day.…

Last week’s revelation that the person behind the leaking of classified NSA information was a young government contractor got me thinking: Should we expect to see more whistleblowing and leaks in the future? And…

Like him or loathe him, many people have strongly held views about former government contractor Eric Snowden, who spilled some of America’s most sensitive…

Did you know that today marks the 238th birthday of the United States Army?

Military service to America is one of the most honorable types of federal service – if not…

We are experiencing a time of change - big change, fast change – in business, employment, markets, government. No new news here.

The nature of a job has changed as well...what do you do each day now?

How about this for a model:

20 sits (meetings) per month – to learn, share, sell, or get;

2…

The Air Force is the single largest consumer of energy in the federal government. Last year alone the Air Force spent more than $9 billion on fuel and electricity. The energy bill constitutes more than 8 percent of the Air Force budget. But it could of been much higher.…

On GovLoop Insights’ DorobekINSIDER:

• 10 years ago the role of the Chief Information Officer was radically different than it is today. Consider this, in 2013 the federal government will spend more than $80 billion on IT. That's no easy task. So how do they do it effectively? And is the role going to continue to evolve? …

10 years ago the role of the Chief Information Officer was radically different than it is today. Consider this, in 2013 the federal government will spend more than $80 billion on IT. And in the last 8 years they've spent more than $500 billion. The CIO must now oversee the most…

Carl Friedrich and Herman Finer debate the most effective way to ensure accountability of public officials

In the Public Administration world, this question is almost always referred to as the…

Solving problems takes creativity, especially in an era of diminished resources and evaporating budgets. One of the most creative people you have ever met is you – a few decades ago. Thinking like a kid can spur innovation, uncover unexpected solutions and make the most mundane work…

No one doubted that Oprah Winfrey would wow Harvard University in our nation’s springtime tradition of commencement addresses by celebrities of various stripes and vocations.  True to any speech that resonates with audiences it is not only the truths with dustings of humor, it is the glimpses of the people delivering them that keeps us captivated.  In this, Oprah once again proved a remarkable ability to share her soft spots and the resiliency that has made her the success she is…

How many times have we told ourselves that this summer would be a great time to take that long awaited vacation only to remember all of the things that we have going on in the office. Even contemplating a long weekend can be frustrating when we think of all of the things that would need to be completed before we walked out the door. Or even more daunting - what we might return to!



But the fact is that small…

Many Americans are not aware that the standard railroad gauge in the U.S. (the distance between the two metal rails) is 4 feet, 8.5 inches.  Why the heck did our government leaders ever establish such an odd size for spacing the tracks when building our nation's first rail lines?

Well, that is because, when our government and business leaders decided to construct our first rail system, they relied mainly on British…

In order for a project, program, department, agency or the entire government to function properly, you first need trust. But cultivating and growing that trust can be difficult, especially within large organizations.

Tim McManus is the Vice President for Education and Outreach at the Partnership for Public Service. Earlier this week the Partnership hosted author Stephen…

The Big Bang Theory is the most popular comedy on television. More than 20 million people each week sit down to watch Sheldon Cooper and his group of brainiacs search for answers to life's most challenging puzzles. Those big brains are just what the government needs to stay on the front lines of research and innovation.

But how do you recruit the brains to the federal…

Performance Measurement, Program Evaluation, Or Both; plus the importance of data in evaluation.

The government is pushing evaluation, especially President Obama and the OMB. However, not many people have a clear understanding of the difference between performance measurement and program evaluation. Below, I outline the differences and discuss the importance of data.

Performance Measurement: Performance measurement (PM) is the term used to describe activities…

One of my favorite movies was on the other day -- "Enemy of the State" with Will Smith. In the end of course Will Smith the individual wins out. He is better than the bureaucratic machine and its All-Seeing Eye.



We are in the midst of a national and international freakout over privacy. But we long ago accepted that privacy was dead. We signed that agreement when we signed up for Facebook, Google, LinkedIn and all those other sites that collect our information and keep it in some…