Archive for category Leadership Development
Good Leaders Versus Bad Leaders
Posted by Kristina Marzullo in Attitude, Direction, Leadership, Leadership Development, Morale, Motivation on May 5, 2011
Star leaders inspire great performance in others.
As I watch the daily news and read several articles about the recent announcement of Osama bin Laden’s capture and demise, I start to think about how people use or misuse the power of leadership in their lives. Osama clearly used his power as a leader within the terrorist network for evil and wrong doings and led his team to carry out heinous acts against our country. I have the fortunate opportunity to work for a leader that uses his incredible leadership skills to unleash the power and potential of people and organizations for the greater good. One of his recent messages to the company was so profound and brought to light how much leadership really does impact people’s behaviors.
“Last night as I watched President Obama’s announcement about the killing of Osama bin Laden, I really felt the sadness in his heart. You know, to actually give the orders to have to try to kill someone else. I just thought once again about the good wolf and the bad wolf and how we all have both of those and the one that wins is whichever one we feed, and unfortunately bin Laden chose to feed the bad wolf on an ongoing basis. It’s such a tough job being president of this country. I’m so glad he said that our war is not against Islam, it’s against people who are out to kill others and out to harm others—people who are really feeding the bad wolf.
So leadership really does make a difference. It can make a difference in a negative way and it can make a difference in a positive way. All of us are leaders—anytime you try to influence the thinking, beliefs, or development of someone else, you’re engaging in leadership. So which wolf are you feeding today? I want to feed the good wolf today. So take care of yourselves. Life is a very special occasion, particularly if you reach out and help someone else.” Ken Blanchard
What leadership techniques does your manager use to unleash your power and potential?
A Light at the End of the SES Tunnel
Posted by Kristina Marzullo in Direction, Employee Passion, Leadership, Leadership Development, Performance, Productivity, Roles on February 23, 2011
Senior Executive Service employees have had several changes take place regarding their roles and responsibilities over the past year but a recent memo delivered to the organization may be music to some folk’s ears. Senior Executives have been tasked with identifying poor –performing programs, eliminate some of the reporting requirements placed on agencies and maintain new requirements of the Government Performance and Results Act, all while seeing smaller pay raises. A recent study by the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) found SES members received an average 2.7 percent increase in pay, the lowest in the five years since a pay-for performance system began.
When people are empowered, their organizations benefit.
All this may push someone to throw in the towel. However, good news came in the form of a memo to SES members on Friday from Jeff Zients, Office of Management and Budget Deputy Director for Management and John Berry, Office of Personnel Management Director outlining proposals developed by the President’s Management Council to streamline the performance appraisal process and certification system, boost recruitment for SES jobs and improve executive engagement and career development opportunities.
Key initiatives include:
• Stronger links between employee appraisal systems and agency performance goals, as well as improved personnel performance planning, assessment and recognition.
• More engagement of senior agency leaders in SES issues through coordination with the PMC, the Chief Human Capital Officers Council and the Performance Improvement Council, along with agency-specific SES forums.
• Additional opportunities for SES career development, including a one-year onboarding program for new executives; government wide leadership development curricula and events; networking programs; and a pilot project offering rotational opportunities for upper-level GS employees.
• Improved recruitment for SES jobs through a resume-based hiring pilot project, external talent searches and a cross-agency effort to market and recruit for open positions.
Carol Bonosaro, president of the Senior Executive Association was very happy with the efforts of the organization to collaborate with the government on improving opportunities for SES employees. Such opportunities can increase employee passion and dedication to the organization. Scott Blanchard and Drea Zigarmi of the Ken Blanchard Companies conducted a study on what kind of leadership has the greatest impact on performance. The team discovered that employee success included things like employee satisfaction, employee loyalty, employee productivity, perceptions of one’s relationship with his or her manger and the team environment, and more tangible measures, like absenteeism, tardiness, and vandalism.
What are other positive results that can be created from this opportunity?
Find out what Blanchard believes are the 8 factors that lead to employee passion.
Who are the Net Generation Leaders?
Posted by Kristina Marzullo in Culture, Information Technology, Leadership, Leadership Development on October 27, 2010
We’ve all read about the “Next Generation” and issues the government will soon be facing with so many Boomers retiring. However, are you familiar with the “Net Generation?” This term is applied to those who have never known a time without the internet. These young workers fall into a group that have helped parents with their computers, are social network gurus, and are over 80 million strong. The Chief Information Officers Council issued a report describing the future of Information Technology in the government and the impending demand to recruit talent from the Net Generation.
The agencies hoping to recruit from this talent pool must keep in mind the balances that Net-Gener’s are looking for in the workplace. According to Don Tapscott author of The 8 N-Gen Norms: Characteristics of a Generation, there are eight patterns of behavior associated with this generation. The eight norms are:
- Freedom
- Customization
- Scrutinizers
- Integrity
- Collaboration
- Entertainment
- Speed
- Innovation
In addition to recruiting from this generation, agencies must also place important focus on on-boarding, training, and retention of the Net-Gener’s they hire. More than likely, it will be the Baby Boomers that will be training these new hires and handing down years of knowledge and expertise. Bringing people together from a wide variety of different backgrounds creates tremendous opportunities but also some challenges. Agencies can benefit from the new perspectives and possibilities that diversity brings if they are able to unite people with a common set of values and goals. If not, the result is misalignment and disorganized inefficiencies as people go off in different direction-based on their own individual backgrounds.
Read more about these critical leadership skills that can help retain the talent that agencies are searching for.
Promoting the Next Generation of Leaders
Posted by Kristina Marzullo in Change, Leadership Development, Management on September 9, 2010
According to the Office of Personnel Management, 57 percent of Federal employees eligible to retire, will do so through FY 2014. A study by the U.S. Merit Systems Protection Board (MSPB) reports that since a majority of supervisors tend to be older and have more years of service, they will be the first to retire before non-supervisory positions. Agencies need to determine how they are going to fill this supervisory void now rather than later.
Agencies are facing a surge in Baby Boomer retirement.
This opens a plethora of doors for the next generation of government leaders. Earlier this year, Young Government Leaders (YGL) and GovLoop, a social media site for government employees, wrapped up the first-ever Summit dedicated to young rising stars in the federal, state, and local government. The event was an opportunity for first-time leaders to connect and share ideas, develop leadership skills, and learn from current government officials.
What changes will the next generation of government leaders bring to the work environment?
Agencies will have a mix of four or five generations working together in the next ten years. Each generation brings different backgrounds, educations, and work/life experiences to the workplace. Changes are evident. Virtual training, teleworking, and more flexibility will be requirements. What is important now is how agencies are preparing for the needs of new government leaders. According to the book, Generations at Work, organizations that have successfully leveraged the strengths of an intergenerational workforce have applied five critical operating principles into their workplace. If you would like to read more about these operating principles, you can access the white paper here.
How are you and your agency preparing for the “retirement tsunami?”
My Agency is the BEST!
Posted by Kristina Marzullo in Attitude, Commitment, Employee Engagement, Employee Passion, Engagement, Leadership, Leadership Development, Management, Morale, Productivity, Results on September 2, 2010
The Best Places to Work results were posted today and topping the charts is the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Following the NRC, in the 2nd and 3rd best place to work in the federal government, is the Government Accountability Office and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.
Employee satisfaction increased in 68% of federal organizations.
The survey, conducted by the Partnership for Public Service and American University’s Institute for the Study of Public Policy Implementation (ISPPI), was sent to over 263,000 civil servants to determine employee satisfaction and commitment across 290 federal agencies. The agencies are scored in a number of categories including training and development, effective leadership, teamwork, and strategic management.
An analysis of the results showed that, for the fifth time in a row, leadership was the main reason why many of the agencies’ overall scores greatly improved. The results from the leadership category reflect how much importance employees place on having effective leadership throughout the agency.
How can agencies improve an individual’s commitment and performance within an organization? A whitepaper on employee passion published by The Ken Blanchard Companies includes eight factors that reflect on what employees need to create a positive emotional state of mind.
So how is your agency improving passion in the workplace?
Attracting the Next Generation of Federal Leaders
Posted by Dominic Giammarinaro in Federal Agency, Government, Ken Blanchard, Leadership, Leadership Development, Management on July 1, 2010
The Senior Executive Association (SEA) in partnership with Avue Technologies Corporation recently conducted a survey that reveals attractors and detractors to serving in executive positions within the Federal government. This survey was prompted by reports that capable GS-14s and GS-15s do not aspire to serve in career Senior Executive Service or equivalent positions.
The issue the government faces is being able to attract “high-potential” executives to fill these senior-level positions.
Some of the findings of this study included:
- A large number of respondents have not attended an executive education or SES candidate development program.
- Many respondents said they lack clear and accessible information about SES and Senior Professional positions, including the differences between these positions and those under the General Schedule, development opportunities for these positions, and ways to positions oneself to apply for and succeed in these positions.
- One of the main detractors cited was the potential negative impact on the balance of work and family responsibilities.
- Only a small percentage of respondents said they received supervisor encouragement to follow a senior level position.
SEA President Carol Bonosaro said, “The career executive corps is critical to high performing government and key to implementing any Administration’s political and management agenda. We must continue to attract the best and the brightest to these positions, but this report demonstrates that the detractors to serving are substantial and require action by Congress and the Administrations.”
The big question is how do we attract the best and the brightest to these senior level positions?
Many respondents stated they have never attended an executive education or SES candidate development program. One opportunity for the Federal government is to actively pursue and develop the “high potential” talent within their agency by creating an Executive Development program that focuses on growth opportunities for these executives. Including cohort-based action learning that is applicable to their future career aspirations makes it relevant for participants.
The April issue of Talent Management discusses the importance of Executive Development and explains how cohort-based action learning must link strategically to current and future organizational challenges to be successful.
Catching your rising stars early and grooming them to be your next SES leaders can no longer be something you’d like-to-do, it’s something you have-to-do.
Here is a link to the full report Taking the Helm: Attracting the Next Generation of Federal Leaders.
The Leadership-Purpose Chain
Posted by Dominic Giammarinaro in Employee Passion, Government, Leadership, Leadership Development, Management, Performance, Productivity on June 10, 2010
Earlier today The Ken Blanchard Companies hosted a Government Executive Briefing in Washington, DC, entitled Infusing Employee Passion into the Government Workplace. At this briefing, Blanchard released a new white paper, The Leadership-Purpose Chain.
Infusing Employee Passion into the Government Workplace
This white paper explores several areas including:
· The similarities and differences between the public and private sectors
· The leadership challenges facing the public sector
· A proposed structure for organizations to consider when attempting to maximize performance
· Implications for leadership and leadership behaviors
The Leadership-Purpose Chain also discusses the five fundamental elements that all leaders in profit and nonprofit organizations must understand and use to be effective:
· Organizational Vitality
· Constituent Respect
· Employee Work Passion
· Strategic Leadership
· Operational Leadership
Click here to read The Leadership-Purpose Chain.
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