There are four different generations working in government today—Traditionalists, Baby Boomers, Generation X, and Millennials. When approaching working outside of our own generation, we often have a tendency to rely on stereotypes (i.e. Traditionalists will never accept change and Millennials are unreliable job hoppers) and that can ruin great partnerships before they ever get started.Read… Read more »
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 »
Tire of interminable email threads that you’re not even sure you should be cc’d on, and tasks missed because no one realized they were responsible for them? When you’re trying to coordinate a large team, good communication is crucial for making projects run smoothly – but group emails and drive-by meetings can sometimes just lead toRead… Read more »
When speaking to a group last week, I was asked to share the best advice that I’ve received from mentors. Here is what I shared . . . Focus on asking the right question instead of having the right answer. A mentor told me this very early on in my career and it has stuckRead… Read more »
As a manager, your strength is in directing and guiding your team – yet it can be easy to fall into the trap of micromanaging. A few missed deadlines or sub-par results may have spurred you into paying closer attention to your team’s work, or maybe you’re just naturally someone who likes to be involved atRead… Read more »
This post is a follow-up to an unanswered question from GovLoop’s recent training, Critical Conversations. Want more topics and information like this? Make sure to register for the upcoming training summit in July, the Next Generation of Government Training Summit. There’s a skill I possess that you won’t find on my LinkedIn profile (go ahead andRead… Read more »
Leaders who accept their own limitations and find out what they don’t know demonstrate a sense of humanity and realness to others. People can see when leaders try their best and sincerely care about them. In return, the result is cooperation and comradery, further supporting the goals of the organization and making the workplace more… Read more »
The United States Office of Personnel Management has been working for awhile now to better enhance leadership development to keep qualified employees moving into management positions. This has included developing a training framework for future leaders, as well as defining performance metrics for the SES. Still, agencies have been given a fair amount of leeway when itRead… Read more »
The presidential transition is a year and a half away, and everyone is already talking about it. Who are the candidates? Who’s going to win? What policies will they bring to the table? Yet few raise the question: How will he/she actually implement the policies? What exactly does the President do when first getting toRead… Read more »