“You Better Listen to Me Because I Pay Your Salary!”

If you’ve been employed by a government entity, the odds are that you have been assaulted by hurtful or simply ridiculous remarks. Especially when someone at a party or gathering learns for the first time that you are ‘one of them’: ‘the lazy drains on society and their personal pocketbook’. Well, I’m about to giveRead… Read more »

Keep Up the Good Work

Greetings all, This is my first post (like, ever) so be kind. I was tempted to write up a piece on how resolutions are mostly meaningless without well thought-out objectives and milestones.  I’d make a clever connection to how organizations often make the same mistake when taking on major change management or training initiatives.  AsRead… Read more »

Avoiding the “Jaded Fed” Syndrome

We all know them – the long (or short) term career bureaucrat, counting down the days (months, decades) to retirement, seething in negativity and boredom. These employees contribute to poor public perception, engage in bristly customer service and their negativity can bring others down with them, creating a toxic work environment. Here are some tipsRead… Read more »

New Year’s Resolutions: Let’s Be SMART (or CLEAR)

Hello! Let me be the first (or more likely, the 181st) person to welcome you to a new year! Let’s just all agree that 2015 is going to be a good one despite the crushing disappointment of not having hoverboards like Back to the Future II promised us, okay? As we all get back toRead… Read more »

Know Your Limitations and Live Within Them – Part 1

Originally posted on Salient Federal Solutions The best way to crush personal motivation is to set goals that are too big or unachievable. The result is frustration and little ambition to move on further if (and all too often when) you don’t reach them. A personal life philosophy of mine is to know my limitationsRead… Read more »

2015 — The Year of Performance Management for Federal Agencies?

Now that all the Year in Review and Year in Pictures articles have concluded, it’s time to move on to the predictions for the coming year. I’m by no means an “official” prognosticator. Yet I see a trend that has been building over the last several months in the federal HR space – a renewedRead… Read more »

The Bias in All of Us

I hear it all the time in cubicles, in the cafeteria, in the restroom and around the water cooler: • I don’t have a biased bone in my body. • I am not biased, I have two American Indian friends. • I don’t need diversity and inclusion training, I am unbiased toward everyone. • BiasRead… Read more »