GovernmentExecutive.com

As anyone who's aspired to the Senior Executive Service likely knows, the Office of Personnel Management has identified 28 executive core qualifications for agencies to consider when screening candidates. Those aiming to reach the top leadership layer of the career civil service try to ensure that they get opportunities to develop the skills and abilities on the list as they move up the General Schedule scale.

The qualifications range from general traits such as creativity and innovation, external awareness and decisiveness to specific skill sets such as technology management, influencing/negotiating and conflict management. Agencies rate prospective senior executives in those areas, so it's important that candidates have examples that prove they have developed those skills.

One relatively recent addition to the qualifications list encourages rising stars not to focus solely on their own advancement. OPM calls it developing others. Its inclusion reminds executives that one of their central jobs is to help their subordinates and colleagues learn. Its absence from the list until two years ago only highlights how important it is. If you haven't been developing others, then how can you consider yourself a leader?

The centrality of developing others to an executive's effectiveness is highlighted in the definition that the agency uses on its qualifications list. "Develops the ability of others to perform and contribute to the organization by providing ongoing feedback and by providing opportunities to learn through formal and informal methods," OPM explains. To put it another way, developing others means teaching, mentoring and coaching. It means making sure people know what they need to do their jobs well.

It means leading.

Developing others does not mean simply shipping people off to conferences and learning assignments. Although encouraging employees to attend training is certainly a laudable means of instruction, the most important method of development is the one-on-one interaction a leader has with employees. OPM emphasizes providing ongoing feedback. That calls for managers to talk to their employees about how they're doing more often than just at annual performance reviews. Indeed, quarterly reviews don't make the cut either. Ongoing means at every worthwhile opportunity.

In addition to formal development programs, OPM calls for informal guidance. Strong leaders talk with employees all the time, offering counsel not only from behind their desk, but at the water cooler or while walking down the hall as well.

Developing others means giving employees exciting and challenging assignments that provide them opportunities to learn new skills. Sometimes leaders might be able to handle those assignments more easily themselves; they might even prefer to do so for fear that an employee could mess it up. But good leaders are constantly thinking about their employees' talents and potential and finding ways to develop them even further.

There are many ways to teach, coach and mentor. Developing the ability to develop others takes practice. But luckily, opportunities abound.

The "others" are all around you.

Brian Friel covered management and human resources at Government Executive for six years and is now a National Journal staff correspondent.

COMMENTS

• Judging by the negative comments on this article, we're still a long way from Kansas, Toto. If it will make anyone feel better, the same conditions exist in the private sector as appears to exist in the public sector. It's so much easier to talk a good game than to actually perform well. I guess the rarity of heroes is what makes them heroes. A word of caution to those tempted to become embittered; don't give in. The world is full of people who could have done better if they had only been given the chance. But, like it or not, only those who are able to rise above their circumstances get any notice. Besides, none of us really gets what we deserve - and that's almost always a good thing. And I'm not speaking down from an ivory throne. I am currently biding my time in a pigeon hole position with little real responsibility and no respect or hope of advancement. I have done my best over the last six years to network with the people who really matter and to keep my own nose clean. Now the political winds are beginning to change. I have used as my inspiration a story my wife once told me about a play at her high school in which a very talented person was overlooked for the lead role, yet still was later awarded actor of the year even though given a non-speaking part. LittleFish Posted July 17, 2008 2:48 PM
• I actually had the pleasure of working for a manager who really was a leader. He did the things talked about in this article. He worked to help you dfevelop as a person AND as an employee. I sought out 360 feedback for myself as a leader and found that most of my perceptions matched up pretty well with other peers, direct reports and supervisors. I beleive my current supervisor (not the one I spoke of earlier) would be shocked at the perceptions his staff has of him. I also don't beleive that he woulld be willing to put himself out there. All that said, until the ability to develop people is truly measured and evaluated and managers are held ACCOUNTABLE for their successs, medicority, and failures not much will change. Field personnel Posted July 16, 2008 12:23 PM
• Sounds like a continuation of the "good ol' boy system" with a different name. Fed Employee Posted July 16, 2008 8:28 AM