After reflecting on my Machiavelli post, it suddenly occurred to me that the perfect example of the differing leadership styles was encapsulated in an episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation. (Oh yeah, we’re gonna put the geek in Geek Chick.) In a two-part episode entitled “Chain of Command,” Captain Picard is reassigned to aRead… Read more »
Just joined GovLoop at the recommendation of Steve Kelman! Looks like this is a long-needed forum for public sector employees and I’m interested in helping bring both content and connections. The IBM Center for The Business of Government offers thought leadereship resources for government managers on a wide range of topics. It commissions research fromRead… Read more »
I was pleasantly surprised to see the results of the most recent bi-weekly GovLoop poll: “How did you get your first job with the government?” The results were: 30.8% Student Internship 7.7% Leadership Programs (such as PMF) 30.8% USAJOBS 0.0% Job Fair 30.8% Referral From Friend I think this poll is good information for thoseRead… Read more »
There comes a time in your career when you must decide what sort of role you will occupy in your company or agency. Will you be worker bee, one who focuses on the tasks at hand and keeps the wheels turning? Will you be a bean counter, making sure all the I’s are dotted andRead… Read more »
newsletter_ july08.pdf Forest Service Chief Gail Kimbell has mandated that the agency green up its operations. It’s now part of our official mission to make our operations more sustainable — by reducing our carbon footprint, by reducing our waste stream, and by managing the forests to help mitigate climate change. It’s so refreshing to seeRead… Read more »
Looking at the residence listings of GovLoop members made me feel a bit of an outsider; so many are from what I would consider the “DC Area.” It made me wonder how valuable GovLoop would be for me, as a Washington Outsider. But then I got to thinking: what, if any, are the real differences?Read… Read more »
Ahhh… The life of the 2008 government worker. Full of hours on Outlook (except you poor Lotus lovers) reading, writing, and loving email. And then there is managing email on the Blackberry. If you don’t watch yourself, you can end up spending all day on email. As such, you need a system to manage emails.Read… Read more »
I just got back from two days at the Management of Change Conference in Norfolk, Virginia. There were a number of speakers there but the standout was Daniel Pink , a well-known business author whose recent book is A Whole New Mind. The theme of the book is the rise of right-brain thinking in theRead… Read more »
When you are early in your career, mentors have often told me “you should take risks” and “if you aren’t failing, you aren’t trying.” While I understand their advice, it is still really hard to fail for the perfectionists out there. One of the best talks I’ve been to recently was Karen Evans from OMBRead… Read more »
The night before last – and in the night – Birmingham City Council without much fanfare switched over to its rejigged website. Within moments the twittersphere was alight. It was crashing, it had obvious faults and it looked terrible. Over the next 36 hours reviewer after reviewer found fault after fault. This would not beRead… Read more »