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Added for You - 10 Tips for Creating a Public Sector Leadership Development Program
You say you want a new career, you say you want to start your own business, you say you'd love to be a freelance writer and travel more but are you serious? Can I really believe you? Are you investing in your dream?When you want something badly enough, you're willing to work hard, make sacrifices, and invest in your dream.Most people who've made a career change didn't have lots of money from which to draw. They simply made the choice to find the money they needed to make the change they always dreamed of making!To see if you are willing to do what it takes to do work you love, follow these steps:1. Ask yourself the following, "Am I willing to invest what I have in my dream job? Am I willing to change how I currently spend money so that I may have more of it to put toward my transition?" Yes or No? If you answered "no" to these, you’re not ready to move ahead with a career change. Give yourself a break and focus on something else that you feel more ready for at this point. If you answered "yes" to these, read on.2. Write down all of your expenses. Track every dollar you spend to have a clear picture of where your money is really going each month.3. Prioritize. Look at each expense and ask yourself, "Would I rather have this or a new career?" See what big and small sacrifices you can make. That salon brand shampoo is nice but would you rather it or a new career? The deluxe cable TV package provides great entertainment but is it worth more to you than a new career? It's ok if you choose the shampoo or cable channels over your dream. Just be honest with yourself. Stop spending money on what you could live without and start putting those funds toward the life you would REALLY like to have!Copyright 2005 Annemarie Segaric
The selection process you choose will depend upon the target audience for the program (entire workforce vs. middle managers). You may choose to use a written application, manager nomination, personal interviews, assessment centers, or other means by which participants compete for entrance into the program. Nevertheless, it is highly recommended that participants have a choice in whether or not they participate in your leadership development efforts.
Tip Three: Involve executives and elected officials in the development and implementation of the program.
It has been said in numerous articles about employee and leadership development that
You need to be aware of a significant career management danger. In this tough economy and job market, your professional expectations may be unmet. Whether it is job satisfaction, career development or job search success, things may not be going your way. When this happens, there is a natural tendency to disengage, to unplug. You go through the motions, but part of your mind is elsewhere; unfocused.You can instantly recognize people who are fully engaged. They are focused, working on what is most important at that time, and committed. And you can recognize those who are not. Which are you?Why your head should be in the gameHere is what happens when you aren’t fully engaged. Your efforts are scattered. You don’t do your best, which hurts you and hurts your employer, colleagues and clients. With one foot out the door and one in, you are dissatisfied which often negatively impacts your personal life. You are certainly not using your talents to their fullest. You are wasting your precious time and may be a productivity risk to your employer. You aren’t making a difference. In short, you are sabotaging your career.Certainly, we all have days when our motors just aren’t running at full speed. That’s fine. What you should be concerned with, however, is identifying if you are habitually disengaged, and if so, resolve to snap out of it.What can you do about it?1. Diagnose yourselfTake a page from Dr. Phil and accept reality. Is your head really in the game or not? Here are some statements to test yourself:* I am frequently or always dissatisfied with my work situation and I haven’t done anything concrete to resolve it* I tend to complain, put the blame on others, or I have developed a cynical attitude* I always have one foot out the door, keeping my options open,
Numerous agencies are incorporating leadership development as an element of their workforce planning efforts. Notable leadership development programs that have been documented include those implemented in San Diego County, CA; Henrico County, VA; Hennepin County, MN; City of Las Vegas, NV; City of Phoenix, AZ; and City of San Jose, CA. In my observation, many of the best practice elements in public sector leadership development are consistent between agencies. The purpose of this article is to share ten practices that appear to be common threads among agencies that are developing leaders internally to fill anticipated vacancies in the future.
The following tips are provided as guidance to public sector organizations that may be interested in developing their own leadership development programs.
Tip One: Base the program on a competency model.
Before any training or development activities can take place, it is critical to identify the skills and competencies that will be developed as a result of the effort. As discussed in the Public Personnel Journal, Winter 2004, Henrico County developed 20 core leadership competencies including communication, critical thinking and decision making, organizational astuteness, and personal integrity. These competencies provided the framework for their development efforts. Other agencies, including the County of San Diego base their leadership academy on the same model as the multi-rater, 360-feedback tool that is used in the program.
Whether your organization has an established competency model that is used throughout your human resource programming or not, it is critical to spend some time defining the skills that leadership program participants are expected to develop. For example, the City of San Jose conducted a survey of top managers, followed by round-table discussions to determine the competencies to be developed in their leadership program called The Art and Practice of Leadership.
Tip Two: Allow participants to self-select.
Each agency must determine for itself the best method for selecting leadership development program participants. Factors including collective bargaining influences, time, and the intended target audience may impact the process you use to identify participants. Some organizations are targeting potential future executives only while others are offering leadership development opportunities organization-wide.
In my experience, the highest levels of success in terms of participant commitment result from a competitive process where interested participants apply to be involved. By self-selecting, rather than by being appointed, participants are more likely to clarify their purpose for wanting to take part in the program. When participants are mandated to attend a leadership development program, they are often reluctant to commit the time and energy into their development, and oftentimes, they do not fully understand why they are being asked to participate.
The selection process you choose will depend upon the target audience for the program (entire workforce vs. middle managers). You may choose to use a written application, manager nomination, personal interviews, assessment centers, or other means by which participants compete for entrance into the program. Nevertheless, it is highly recommended that participants have a choice in whether or not they participate in your leadership development efforts.
Tip Three: Involve executives and elected officials in the development and implementation of the program.
It has been said in numerous articles about employee and leadership development that w
Not too long ago I was booked into a hotel which treated the guests as though they should be grateful to be able to stay there. The service left much to be desired, despite their great Citizen's Charter which was paraded everywhere and I made a mental note, as well as passing the word along, about not staying there in the future. Stuck in my room feeling cross and unhappy, I suddenly remembered a wonderful summer I spent in Stratford, Canada, a few years before and the warm cosy atmosphere of the guest house I stayed in; a quaint little house where the towels were big, the toothpaste my favourite brand and the tissues were really fluffy. Mind you, it was not all roses when I arrived.Being a theatre reviewer, I was scheduled to review the matinee performance of a Shakespearean play and was late in arriving in Toronto. Wishing to dispose of my bags first before rushing to the theatre, I instructed the taxi to call at the guest house on the way. I dashed up the steps and rang the bell impatiently. A puzzled, small, wiry man with greying hair gingerly opened the door and gazed incredulously at me. Breathlessly, I explained who I was and that a room had been booked.The man looked quite flustered by now as he muttered uncomfortably, "You must be mistaken. We are not expecting you."Disbelief turned to panic as the minutes ticked by relentlessly. I hastily explained that I hadn't booked it myself, it was done by my newspaper, and this was the address I had been given. "Are you sure you have no knowledge of me?" I asked, with more than a hint of exasperation.The man was not pleased that I dared to doubt his knowledge. "Yes, I am," he answered firmly. "Maybe they haven't informed us yet," he added to placate me, as his eyes took in my person with dazed bewilderment. He was trying very hard to retain his
The following tips are provided as guidance to public sector organizations that may be interested in developing their own leadership development programs.
Tip One: Base the program on a competency model.
Before any training or development activities can take place, it is critical to identify the skills and competencies that will be developed as a result of the effort. As discussed in the Public Personnel Journal, Winter 2004, Henrico County developed 20 core leadership competencies including communication, critical thinking and decision making, organizational astuteness, and personal integrity. These competencies provided the framework for their development efforts. Other agencies, including the County of San Diego base their leadership academy on the same model as the multi-rater, 360-feedback tool that is used in the program.
Whether your organization has an established competency model that is used throughout your human resource programming or not, it is critical to spend some time defining the skills that leadership program participants are expected to develop. For example, the City of San Jose conducted a survey of top managers, followed by round-table discussions to determine the competencies to be developed in their leadership program called The Art and Practice of Leadership.
Tip Two: Allow participants to self-select.
Each agency must determine for itself the best method for selecting leadership development program participants. Factors including collective bargaining influences, time, and the intended target audience may impact the process you use to identify participants. Some organizations are targeting potential future executives only while others are offering leadership development opportunities organization-wide.
In my experience, the highest levels of success in terms of participant commitment result from a competitive process where interested participants apply to be involved. By self-selecting, rather than by being appointed, participants are more likely to clarify their purpose for wanting to take part in the program. When participants are mandated to attend a leadership development program, they are often reluctant to commit the time and energy into their development, and oftentimes, they do not fully understand why they are being asked to participate.
The selection process you choose will depend upon the target audience for the program (entire workforce vs. middle managers). You may choose to use a written application, manager nomination, personal interviews, assessment centers, or other means by which participants compete for entrance into the program. Nevertheless, it is highly recommended that participants have a choice in whether or not they participate in your leadership development efforts.
Tip Three: Involve executives and elected officials in the development and implementation of the program.
It has been said in numerous articles about employee and leadership development that
What is keeping a business through outsourcing successful? There is no specific answer to this question but it is proper to say that there are a lot of different ways where outsourcing and success is clasped together. However, it should be noted that the way to successful outsourcing is not done on an easy basis, it takes time and mastery for business to grow and develop the way it is wanted.However, when speaking of ways to battle off barriers in outsourcing process, one thing remains definite---- there are general steps that should be taken into notice.There are points shared by experts regarding getting a successful outsourcing output. Getting a good bargain of great services at a lower cost is only met when there is knowledge on the right thing to do at a certain situation.Observance and analysis in business is one important factor on keeping track on success. Problems occurring in the operation of outsourcing should be dealt with on a matter of "preventing the hole into getting any bigger".According to the article of Dwayne Phillips on "How People Drive the Outsourcing Process", the usual problem encountered on outsourcing is miscommunication."Outsourcing projects have an additional set of people--- the outsource developers. More people mean more lines of communications, more opportunities in miscommunication, and more misunderstandings and mistakes", Phillips wrote.In order to smooth out or at least lessen this kind of problem, it is better to clear things out from the very beginning, before outsourcing gets matters complicated.Any projects in outsourcing should be completed and written fully to avoid any miscommunications among the parties involved within the process.In addition, agreements between the vendor and buyer should also be clear in order to avoid pr
Whether your organization has an established competency model that is used throughout your human resource programming or not, it is critical to spend some time defining the skills that leadership program participants are expected to develop. For example, the City of San Jose conducted a survey of top managers, followed by round-table discussions to determine the competencies to be developed in their leadership program called The Art and Practice of Leadership.
Tip Two: Allow participants to self-select.
Each agency must determine for itself the best method for selecting leadership development program participants. Factors including collective bargaining influences, time, and the intended target audience may impact the process you use to identify participants. Some organizations are targeting potential future executives only while others are offering leadership development opportunities organization-wide.
In my experience, the highest levels of success in terms of participant commitment result from a competitive process where interested participants apply to be involved. By self-selecting, rather than by being appointed, participants are more likely to clarify their purpose for wanting to take part in the program. When participants are mandated to attend a leadership development program, they are often reluctant to commit the time and energy into their development, and oftentimes, they do not fully understand why they are being asked to participate.
The selection process you choose will depend upon the target audience for the program (entire workforce vs. middle managers). You may choose to use a written application, manager nomination, personal interviews, assessment centers, or other means by which participants compete for entrance into the program. Nevertheless, it is highly recommended that participants have a choice in whether or not they participate in your leadership development efforts.
Tip Three: Involve executives and elected officials in the development and implementation of the program.
It has been said in numerous articles about employee and leadership development that
Over the years, I have observed many salespeople and their routines – daily, weekly, monthly and yearly. It is my belief that many salespeople waste a great deal of time. Some of the common time wasters are (there are many others, this is just a quick list):·poor prospecting ·spending too much time with poor prospects ·not having a clear plan for their day/week/month/year/life ·starting too late in the day/ending too soon ·redundant time habits (this would take a book to cover) ·not concentrating on a task at hand ·lacking focusI am not suggesting that you work 18 hour days, take work home with you on weekends, ignore your family and have no fun. I have been selling for over 35 years and have worked very few 18 hour days. I have worked (writing) several 24 hour marathons, but it is difficult to find someone to sell to at 3:00 AM.I am suggesting you look at your personal work habits to see where you could be a little busier – not in busy work – but productive sales activities. My guess is that most salespeople don’t work that hard (hours). I can hear a few of you screaming now, “Are you nuts? I hustle every day all week long.” Great, I am not talking to you, but to those who could benefit from a little extra effort each day /week /month. And, you know who you are, don’t’ you?Hustle is not about working longer or harder for the sake of work.1. It is about getting to a prospect before your competitor does.2. It is about spending time in self-help books rather than in front of the TV every night.3. It is about getting up an hour earlier every day to plan. It is about having breakfast/lunch/dinner with a client or prospect rather than eating alone.4. It is about creating balance in your life so you have the will, energy and desire to put in
Tip Two: Allow participants to self-select.
Each agency must determine for itself the best method for selecting leadership development program participants. Factors including collective bargaining influences, time, and the intended target audience may impact the process you use to identify participants. Some organizations are targeting potential future executives only while others are offering leadership development opportunities organization-wide.
In my experience, the highest levels of success in terms of participant commitment result from a competitive process where interested participants apply to be involved. By self-selecting, rather than by being appointed, participants are more likely to clarify their purpose for wanting to take part in the program. When participants are mandated to attend a leadership development program, they are often reluctant to commit the time and energy into their development, and oftentimes, they do not fully understand why they are being asked to participate.
The selection process you choose will depend upon the target audience for the program (entire workforce vs. middle managers). You may choose to use a written application, manager nomination, personal interviews, assessment centers, or other means by which participants compete for entrance into the program. Nevertheless, it is highly recommended that participants have a choice in whether or not they participate in your leadership development efforts.
Tip Three: Involve executives and elected officials in the development and implementation of the program.
It has been said in numerous articles about employee and leadership development that
An e-mail arrived with a fragmentary phrase that absolutely caught my attention. The writer referred to many upset customers being 'spring-loaded in the pissed-off position'.What a phrase! And what an observation.Ever noticed how quickly you get triggered when the service you receive goes bad? Ever noticed how short the fuse can be on the customers around you?I decided to try the opposite approach and see what happens. I've been traveling a lot lately, and whenever I've needed personal service, I put myself in an intentionally good mood: 'spring-loaded in the appreciative position'.Guess what happened?I met friendly waiters, chatty taxi drivers and airline check-in agents who went out of their way to help me. I got telephone assistance way beyond expectations and found sales staff who were polite and eager to please. Everywhere I turned, service providers gladly went above and beyond the normal call of duty.I wonder why? Was it something in the water? Something in the air? Or something more fundamental - about me? Key Learning Point -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Service is a two-way street. Life is, too. Want good service? What you send out comes right back to you. Action Steps -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Make the decision to get great service from today. It's easy! Just get yourself `spring-loaded in the appreciative position'.
The selection process you choose will depend upon the target audience for the program (entire workforce vs. middle managers). You may choose to use a written application, manager nomination, personal interviews, assessment centers, or other means by which participants compete for entrance into the program. Nevertheless, it is highly recommended that participants have a choice in whether or not they participate in your leadership development efforts.
Tip Three: Involve executives and elected officials in the development and implementation of the program.
It has been said in numerous articles about employee and leadership development that without the full support and involvement from the executive leadership team, the program will fail. Top management must be involved in the development of the curriculum, the selection of the attendees, and in the presentation of the program. Their support is critical for the success and long-term viability of any leadership development program.
Likewise, many agencies are finding that involvement by an elected official can also supplement the curriculum of a public sector leadership development program. For example, the City of Las Vegas invited a councilmember and the City of San Jose invited the Mayor to address their recent leadership academy programs. The official in each case addressed the class of leaders for up to one hour. They were asked to give their expectations for public sector leaders, and program participants were allowed to ask questions. The dialogue created in these forums allowed the organization’s future leaders to see the organization through the eyes of an elected official. A facilitated conversation that followed the presentation encouraged the participants to identify meaningful “take-aways” from the elected official’s comments. Because program participants have not likely interfaced extensively with an elected official, but will likely be expected to as their leadership responsibilities increase, this has become a critical element in public sector leadership development programs.
Tip Four: Use 360-degree feedback, individual development planning, and coaching as the core around which other development opportunities revolve.
360-degree survey tools provide feedback enabling leaders to realize strengths and areas for development based on their own and other’s perceptions. Typically such feedback comes from the participant’s direct supervisor, direct reports, and peers. Today, such processes can easily be facilitated on-line and feedback reports are comprehensive and detailed. Numerous vendors can now customize survey tools to reflect your organization’s competency model (see Tip One above).
The feedback process, however, is only the start of the development process. It is recommended that the feedback be delivered in conjunction with opportunities for one-on-one coaching, as many participants find the feedback difficult to translate into everyday behaviors. A trained coach can assist the participant in making sense of the data. In addition, the participant should be expected to develop their own individual development plan that addresses competencies that are highlights in the feedback report. The individual development plan, once endorsed by the participant’s direct supervisor, should then become the blueprint for the participant’s leadership development efforts.
Because the feedback process can be so powerful, it is recommended that any leadership development program begin with this element, as it will provide the direction that each participant will need as they pursue the program. With their feedback, the participant can customize their leadership development experiences to address the identified needs. Because of this flexibility, 360-feedback is a highly recommended and popular tool.
Tip Five: Implement action learning through project teams.
Another popular tool for enhancing the leadership skills within public organizations is the use of action learning. Action learning is a typical educational approach where part
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