Tag: Government Executive

Degree candidates in the Master of Science in Leadership program do more than just study how to successfully lead change and solve problems and conflicts in the workplace – they are public sector leaders who believe in making a difference, every day.

Government work is not simple. It entails making a series of trade-offs. A typical MS-Leadership candidate wrestles with a series of challenges on a daily basis. However, with the right set of tools, learned in MS-Leadership program, and knowledge of when to apply them, the MS-Leadership candidate is better prepared to respond to leadership challenges.

Let’s take a peek into a typical day of a MS-Leadership candidate…

6AM At the door, already running late. “Where did he leave my coat? Oh, I’m getting mad. I don’t have time for this! … Wait, wait, be a STAR. Stop. Think. Act. Reflect. Maybe he didn’t misplace it. Maybe I forgot it in the car! I love Leading Thinking!
Instruction from: Vision and Leading Change

7AM In the office. Preparing for 8AM meeting. “Think about negotiation lessons… and don’t forget, should conflict arise among stakeholders, remain calm and employ conflict resolution tools.”
Lessons learned from: Strategies for Conflict Resolution

12PM Walking back to the office. “That meeting was far too long and disorganized! Mental note, I want to be a role model and mentor to my subordinates and rising stars in the organization. I want to set a better example.”
Insight from: Leaders Growing Leaders

2PM Budget meeting. “How can I explain the results and benefits of this program? We were able to measure success; now I need to convey this information to my boss.”
Tools from: Accountability for Results

3PM “Meeting a direct report today. I want to inspire a connection to our agency’s mission.”
Instruction from: Motivation, Service, and Public Leadership

Senior Leader mentors employee on how to be a resilient individual.

4:30PM “Budgets – again! Boss says we need to be creative about how we respond to more mandatory cuts. Creativity and budgets, that’s an oxymoron”

Tools and tips from: Inspiring Creativity in Organizations

6PM In traffic. “That jerk just cut me off! How dare he! Hold on and think about impulse control.
Relax and remember: Resilience in Leadership

7PM Walking through the door. “Honey, I was a STAR today!”

8PM Checking work email for the last moment issues. “I need a better solution for my team. We need to reformulate the problem at hand.”
Methodology from: Strategic Thinking

10PM Dreaming. “I should sign up for the next course on ….”

Professor Jackson Nickerson offers advice for managers faced with unmotivated employees during times of budget cutbacks, salary freezes and fiscal uncertainty in his new column in Government Executive magazine.

Neil Schoenherr reports:

As the financial crisis in America persists, government positions are being cut, experienced and productive government workers are leaving for the private sector and work is being reassigned to an increasingly overloaded workforce, causing motivation to spiral downward.

What is different in the current crisis is that some say fiscal pressure may persist for a decade or more. How can worker motivation in government positions not hit bottom?
Jackson Nickerson, PhD, the Frahm Family Professor of Organization and Strategy at Washington University’s Olin Business School, suggests employee motivation comes from three different sources: economic, social and emotional, and ideological.

“To be sure, keeping your workforce motivated to deliver first class service must seem like being between a rock and a hard place,” says Nickerson, associate dean and director of Brookings Executive Education, in a recent forum in Government Executive magazine.

“Yet through your imagination and creativity you can make headway on retaining your high performing workforce by leveraging these three sources of motivation. With the importance of intelligence analysis, our nation depends on it.”
Nickerson’s column is available at Government Exectuive magazine.

Jackson Nickerson is the Frahm Family Professor of Organization and Strategy at the Olin Business School at Washington University in St. Louis, the Associate Dean and Director of the Brookings Executive Education, and a Senior Scholar in Governance Studies at the Brookings Institution. An award winning researcher and teacher, Jackson specializes in leadership, strategic and critical thinking, leading change, and innovation. While in a prior life he worked for NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, he now advises government agencies, not-for profits, and for-profit businesses on ways to improve performance. He is the author of Leading Change in a Web 2.1 World.