Leadership

But in reality, the success of a leader depends on the context, or environment, in which they work – the deck they’ve been dealt. Even the heroes. 

But as the context – the workplace, the workers, and the work – change (because we are in more of a knowledge-based economy) -- a different type of leader tends to be more successful, especially when the challenge is cross-agency and/or cross-sector. The “lone hero” isn’t always the most effective leader in this new world.  In fact, the best leaders tend to share leadership in any large-scale change effort.  For example: 

So this was an opportunity for me to reflect on my experiences and observations over my career.

Leadership can be a difficult topic about which to convey anything meaningful.  There is so much written about the topic and it either feels like conceptual theory or platitudes, or you wind up narrating personal war stories.  I’m no Tom Fox, who writes thoughtfully about this topic weekly for the Washington Post!

MEMORANDUM FOR THE HEADS OF EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENTS AND AGENCIES

SUBJECT: Leadership

MEMORANDUM FOR THE HEADS OF EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENTS AND AGENCIES

SUBJECT: People

Achieving your goals will depend on the hundreds, if not thousands, of people in your organization. While it has become a cliché to say that an organization’s most valuable resource is its people, the statement is true.

The workplace is undergoing a significant transition that presents unchartered territory and tremendous opportunity. This transformation includes a workforce that now includes four generations.

Over the past 15 years, the IBM Center for The Business of Government has sought to connect public management research with practice.

An article in the September issue of Harvard Business Review by Nick Lovegrove and Matthew Thomas tries to explain why.  They examine the careers of leaders who have been successful in addressing complex challenges requiring collaboration across a wide range of stakeholders. They cite Harvard Kennedy School professor Joseph Nye, who says that these kinds of leaders have the ability to “engage and collaborate across the private, public, and social sectors.”

Most agencies in the U.S. government rely on products—goods and services—acquired through contracts to perform core functions, pursue agency objectives, and achieve mission success. In FY12, the federal government acquired $517 billion worth of products through contracts.

This week marks the 8th annual National Health IT Week --a virtual event offering all healthcare stakeholders an opportunity to unite under one banner, expressing the benefits that health information technology (IT) brings to U.S.

The Center’s new report is the result of multiple interviews with government leaders, an assessment of research and reports on challenges and opportunities from the Center and many other sources; and a roundtable involving key government, academic, and industry officials last May.  

Governments today face serious, seemingly intractable public management issues that go to the core of effective governance and leadership -- testing the very form, structure, and capacity required to meet these problems head-on.