Posts By Paul Wolf

6 Ways To Build Public Trust In Government

On a regular basis polling shows the American public has very little trust/faith in the ability of government. G. Edward DeSeve has a great post on Governing.com expressing his thoughts on six factors that are important for the public to regain trust in government. Excerpts from his post are below: Honesty: Ethical behavior is oftenRead… Read more »

A Case Study Of How To Reinvent A Government Agency

Tom Suehs through his great leadership skills reinvented a government agency that can serve as a lesson for others. As Melissa Maynard, Stateline Staff Writer reports: Two years ago the Texas Health and Human Services Commission was the worst state agency in the country at performing a straightforward task: giving food stamp applicants a yesRead… Read more »

Leadership Road Sign

The impact of poor performing schools on a city are huge. A poor performing school district drives families out of the city and discourages new families from moving in. In an era when jobs are hard to come by, dismal graduation rates have an impact on the economy and government services for generations to come.Read… Read more »

Is Creativity The Number 1 Leadership Skill Needed Today?

A study by IBM of 1,500 Chief Executive Officers (CEOs) from different size organizations, 60 countries and 33 industries determined creativity to be the number 1 leadership skill needed by CEOs managing companies today. As one CEO stated “We need to find, recognize and reward creativity.” The seeds of creativity must be spread throughout anRead… Read more »

Innovation and Accountability in Fighting Poverty

In 2006 New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg created the Center for Economic Opportunity (CEO). The purpose of CEO is to implement innovative ways to reduce poverty in New York City. With access to a $100 million innovation fund, CEO has financed 40 targeted performance based initiatives. The CEO operates out of the Mayor’s office,Read… Read more »

Encouraging Transparency, Accountability And Confidence In Government

Beginning in 2009, the city of Collinsville, Illinois, (pop. 26,000; in southern Illinois near St. Louis) implemented a performance management system that allows it to evaluate what programs are and are not working. A cross-functional group of employees from every city department, has worked over the past two years to build the foundation for theirRead… Read more »

the_trap_screenshot

Robert Behn, a lecturer at Harvard University’s John F. Kenndey School of Government writes an interesting Performance Leadership Report on a monthly basis. In his most recent report Behn offers advice from Tony Williams who served as Mayor of Washington , D.C. for two terms and prior to that as the District’s Chief Financial OfficerRead… Read more »

Elected Officials Should Avoid The Reorganization Trap

Robert Behn, a lecturer at Harvard University’s John F. Kenndey School of Government writes an interesting Performance Leadership Report on a monthly basis. In his most recent report Behn offers advice from Tony Williams who served as Mayor of Washington , D.C. for two terms and prior to that as the District’s Chief Financial OfficerRead… Read more »

Do We Have To Provide Public Information?

When Lackawanna, New York resident Faith Gordon requested that the Lackawanna City Council post full agendas of Council meetings on-line the response she received from Councilman Francis J. Kulczyk, as reported in the Buffalo News was: “Why do we have to put it on the website? I don’t understand,” said 3rd Ward Councilman Francis J.Read… Read more »