IBM Center for The Business of Government

One former senior level political appointee, Linda Springer, recently observed that a common set of successful characteristics private sector – being decisive, directive, and a risk taker – could actually undermine success in the public sector.  So what works best in the public sector?

Here’s my list of seven characteristics I see as the foundation for a personal commitment to being an effective public sector leader. These characteristics hold true for effective managers, as well:

How can governments at all levels engage their citizens in ways that are more meaningful – and fun -- to both the citizens and their community? A series of pioneering initiatives hold new promise that this now can be done on a much wider scale.

Leading Can Be Lonely.  Senior leaders can feel lonely when they have significant responsibilities and oftentimes little authority or control over a situation, and they have no one they can turn to.  I’ve seen several approaches to addressing this. 

In my last post on emerging trends, I wrote about online identity management and how it could benefit individuals, governments, and the economy.  For this post, I want to concentrate on how a more complete identity management scheme would benefit government managers in the three ways that have been the focus of this series: Real-time data collection and analysis to drive decision-making; efficient use of physical  and communication networks; and managing citizen participation in agency activities.