About GovLeaders.org
Leading in government is hard.
This site can help you along the way.
This site was developed by and for government managers in recognition of the fact that we often face greater challenges than our private sector counterparts with respect to budgetary constraints, bureaucracy, inflexible hiring and firing practices, and external stakeholders. These constraints have made many government employees believe that real change is not possible.
It is our view that employees at all levels of government--whether they be political appointees, career executives, managers, supervisors, or front-line employees--have the ability to play an important role in transforming their organizations.
Managers and supervisors have a central role as catalysts in promoting change. The work of government is done by people, so no effort to improve an agency’s performance is likely to amount to much if managers and supervisors at all levels are not doing everything possible to inspire, develop, and empower their charges. Government managers and supervisors must be especially resilient, optimistic, and creative in order to overcome all the obstacles.
On the other hand, managers who are either cynical or poor leaders tend to foster a vicious cycle of cynicism and learned helplessness. This can crush the motivation of highly talented employees--if not drive them away entirely--and serves as a poor model for those who stay and may later move up to become managers.
In making a special site for government managers we do not mean to imply that leadership techniques that work in the private sector do not work in government. They do. Leadership is ultimately about tapping into human nature. We simply believe that public sector managers need additional tools and inspiration in order to overcome the cynicism and bureaucratic paralysis they encounter on a daily basis. This site pulls together stories and information about leadership practices that have proven highly successful in government.
Our basic belief is that the government can only be truly effective if front-line employees are motivated and fully engaged in the process of implementing and fine-tuning their agencies' programs. No one has a greater impact on an employee's motivation and engagement than their immediate supervisors, so an essential ingredient for any reform effort is to ensure that managers and supervisors at all levels have the skills needed to create an environment in which their employees can thrive and do great work in service to the public.
This site is a free resource to help them develop those skills.
GovLeaders.org was founded in 2002 by Don Jacobson, a career member of the Senior Foreign Service.
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© GovLeaders.org 2002-2021