Federal agencies are required to develop strategies, implement and report on projects, and continuously improve their processes as a model for the country. The Executive Order significantly increased the visibility of sustainability as a strategic imperative for the federal government and beyond, while potentially saving energy and taxpayer money. Given the somewhat broad and vague definitions of sustainability, some agencies may check the compliance box rather than take advantage of the full array of potentially cost-saving and performance-increasing benefits.
Applying power in all its forms to secure the present and future is ultimately a leadership challenge. That challenge is especially complex in the current century when the forms and patterns of security are changing in so many ways at an accelerated pace than ever before. The capabilities required to threaten a nation, region, or even global stability are available to both rich and impoverished nation states, as well as small networks of people who can and do operate relatively independent of any nation state. There is more data available than ever before to make sense of this era.
The publication of this report is particularly timely. The summer of 2011 was dominated by negotiations between Congress and the president concerning the deficit of the United States and the need to dramatically reduce federal spending in the decade ahead. There is little doubt that agencies across government will need to cut costs while maintaining, if not improving, the performance of their operations.
Batting average isn’t the best way to determine the effectiveness of a hitter. The Oakland Athletics learned that while doing statistical analyses of players and trying to build a winning team during their 2002 season. “They took everything that happened on the baseball field and sliced it and diced it to its most elemental parts,” Michael Lewis, author of the book, “Moneyball,” said in a radio interview. The A’s surprised just about everyone with their new-found success on the field, besting teams that had millions more to spend on recruiting top players.
Periodically the IBM Center staff steps back and reflects on the insights provided by its authors of more than 300 research reports and by some 300 senior government executives interviewed over the past 13 years. Through our research and interviews, we identified several broad societal trends that we believe are changing the game for successful leadership at all levels of government.
Under the leadership of National Academy Fellow Don Kettl and National Academy President Jennifer Dorn, the National Academy of Public Administration convened a roundtable of government leaders, business leaders, researchers and other experts to discuss governance issues related to the government's response to the financial crisis. Seven strategic questions related to governance emerged from the discussion held earlier this year, which was moderated by Don Kettl.
This report includes two previously published Center reports (Leaders Growing Leaders: Preparing the Next Generation of Public Service Executives and Organizations Growing Leaders: Best Practices and Principles of Public Service) in one volume. In both reports, addresses the crucial question of how well the federal government is developing its next generaiton of leaders. hhs, health and human services, ssa, social security, va, veterans, coast guardHuman Capital ManagementLeadership
This report consists of a series of in-depth interviews with senior executives in government who have been identified as outstanding leaders. The study attempts to determine the characteristics that have most centrally contributed to the success of these senior executives. Leadership
Will the federal government be able to recruit and retain employees with the qualities needed for leaders in the future? To help answer that question, the IBM Center for The Business of Government surveyed career and noncareer members of the federal Senior Executive Service (SES). Survey results showed that federal executives have a new vision of leadership and think that changes in current leadership systems will help make the vision a reality. Human Capital ManagementLeadership
