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Four lessons that shaped my path to the Senior Executive Service
03/31/2021Leaders must take responsibility for people, money and things—how they do it makes all the difference and distinguishes between less-than-great and great public servants. I…
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Addressing the critical need for transformative federal mission support leaders
03/08/2021On the first day of the Mission Support Leadership Program I ask participants to get comfortable with being uncomfortable. “It established an atmosphere welcoming…
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How a new Partnership program helped one federal employee improve engagement at her agency
02/01/2021In 2020, the Partnership launched the Engagement Coordinator Collective, an eight-month program during which participants develop, design, execute and sustain employee…
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Let’s talk about the elephant in the room: failure
01/26/2021When I interviewed for my position at the Partnership for Public Service, I was asked to describe a time I failed and what I learned from it. I answered the question easily because I’ve failed a lot. I mean a…
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How you can use a ship battle from Pirates of the Caribbean as a metaphor for leadership training
01/04/2021Government agencies don’t determine success based on how many widgets they produce, but rather on how quickly and effectively they can make decisions on how best to provide services and implement…
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Providing feedback is critical to your employees’ personal and professional growth. Here’s how to do it well.
12/08/2020Glenn Gaffney, the former associate director of CIA for Talent, once said, “When you choose management, you choose people.” The larger conversation was about feedback,…
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Leading change in uncertain times
11/23/2020The saying “change is the only constant in life” is especially true for federal employees. As we approach the end of 2020, the federal workforce…
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Strategic planning during uncertain times
11/02/2020This year has made a mockery of every “Vision 2020” plan written in the last two decades. But if we’re honest with ourselves, this shouldn’t…
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How to build a results-oriented culture
10/28/2020I recently heard that an executive at a financially struggling organization issued staff bonuses based on effort, not results. Initially, I was puzzled. Then I…
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The benefits of taking a more structured approach to networking
10/19/2020If you were asked about your network, would you be able to describe it? Could you define the role each person in your network plays? For most of us, these are difficult questions because we haven’t analyzed…