Blog

Last week, I had the honor of speaking to the students at my high school alma mater as part of a Hall of Fame induction ceremony. Four other distinguished alumni and I were being honored for our accomplishments. As I flew to my hometown in Tennessee from Washington, DC, I turned through the pages of […]

One of my recent blogs was about why it’s important for government executives to develop organizational and motivational acumen. For some readers these may be unfamiliar terms, so I’ll explain in more detail.   People who have mastered organizational acumen exhibit an understanding of how their organizations work and how different elements influence or interact with […]

Government Executive asked me to share some of my findings on improving individual, team and enterprise performance in the public sector.  The inquiry is timely as federal executives are reporting record levels of employee disengagement throughout their organizations.  I took the opportunity to share the seven behaviors proven to take leaders to new peaks of […]

Recently, I delivered a keynote address to a large group of senior government acquisition and procurement executives at a summit focused on taking their workforce to the next level. I started by defining acumen as the ability to think, decide and act effectively, and I detailed four types of acumen that are critical to success: […]

I’m pleased to announce that my new book, Energized Enterprise: Leading Your Workforce to New Peaks of Performance in the Public Sector and Beyond, will hit shelves September 15th. Energized Enterprise is all about motivational acumen and gives leaders guidance on how to put both the human element and the total enterprise at the forefront […]

EFFECTIVE LEADERS understand human nature, and they create connections even in difficult situations. For example, when promoted to lead an organization, one of our colleagues named Ellen inherited an adversarial culture. In this new job, she would lead and manage brilliant scientists who were working on different research projects, and each research group was very […]

Eva is my favorite waitress at my favorite restaurant where I sometimes meet my favorite colleagues for business dinners. I know I can trust Eva for consistent, attentive, and quiet service. But it was the night when everything fell apart that my regard for Eva’s work ethic was tested. That night might have been a […]

Turbulent waters of uncertainty have threatened our government’s workforce for some time. Now, the problem is exacerbated by federal budget cuts. With everything that’s happening, many government executives realize they can’t afford to go another day without attending to the human potential within their enterprises. Decision makers want and need to know how to energize […]

Many years ago when I was an emerging leader working for a different company, I was part of a team that actively recruited a young, brilliant social scientist. Recruitment of Vivian (aka Viv) took place over three years during the time when she completed multiple summer internships. At the point Viv was ready to graduate […]

My colleague, Ron, was the associate commissioner of a federal agency at a time when the government was undergoing extensive cuts and downsizing. As a leader, one of the things in Ron’s domain of responsibility was a production line in which information was gathered by one person and passed on to others for processing. If […]