ALL VOICES

Executive CoachExecutive Coach
Scott Eblin offers his take on lessons in the news and his advice on your pressing leadership questions. 

What I Learned About Power Last Weekend

This past weekend I traveled to Cambridge, Mass., for the 25th reunion of my graduating class at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government. (Just writing that makes me feel old.) I had the good fortune of graduating in a year that was the 350th anniversary of Harvard and the 50th anniversary of the Kennedy School (and its predecessor, the School of Public Administration). So, this year, as all of you mathletes have figured out, marks the 375th and 75th anniversaries respectively. That meant that there was a lot of other stuff going on in Cambridge besides class reunion parties. On Friday, ...
FedblogFedblog
Government Executive Editor in Chief Tom Shoop, along with other editors and staff correspondents, look at the federal bureaucracy from the outside in. 

White House ‘Footnotes’ to History

It’s a fact of Washington life that current occupants of the White House get to control its website. But after the Obama team on Monday touched up some past presidential bios with current-day “footnotes,” Republicans cried foul. As noticed first by the Heritage Foundation (and then picked up by Commentary magazine and ABC News) the official Web biographies of Ronald Reagan and Franklin Roosevelt were supplemented with a coda under the heading “Did you know?” In the Roosevelt bio’s treatment of Social Security, the editors added a statement that “today, the Obama administration continues to protect seniors and ensure Social ...
Management MattersManagement Matters
Practical advice for federal leaders on managing people, processes and projects. 

Bye-Bye BlackBerry?

iPhone touch-screens are commandeering BlackBerry thumbs across government, according to new studies. But replacing the only government-certified smartphone with consumer electronics is forcing federal chief information officers to rethink mobile security and contracting. The Government Business Council, Government Executive’s research arm, identified huge shifts in BlackBerry use among federal managers between August 2009 and September 2011. Most managers were “crackberry” addicts in August 2009—77 percent—and now less than half are Berry users. At the same time, iPhone use has nearly tripled, reaching 23 percent. The iPad also is stealing federal customers from BlackBerry, claiming 17 percent of the market, and ...
On PoliticsOn Politics
Analysis and perspective about what's happening in the political realm. 

Lugar’s Downfall

One way to explain Sen. Richard Lugar’s loss to state Treasurer Richard Mourdock in this week’s Indiana Republican primary is to attribute it to a tea party takeover of the GOP. A second explanation is that a venerable public servant overstayed his welcome and ran for reelection one time too many. A third is that Lugar was too focused on international relations and grew too distant from his state—that he didn’t keep his political fences mended back home. The fact is, all three factors contributed to Lugar’s defeat. To put too much weight on any one reason is too convenient. ...
Pay & Benefits WatchPay & Benefits Watch
Key developments in the world of federal employee benefits: health, pay, and much more. 

Defensive Positions

The federal civilian workforce has labored under a two-year pay freeze and countless efforts to further reduce their wages and benefits during the past year. It appears that military families are not immune to fears over pay and benefits either. Changes to pensions, pay and other benefits rank at the top of issues military families are most concerned about, according to a new survey from Blue Star Families, a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization. Thirty-one percent of respondents, which included military spouses, children, vets and service members, listed retirement benefit changes as their No. 1 concern while 20 percent ranked pay and ...
Retirement PlanningRetirement Planning
Advice on how to prepare for life after government. 

Best Dates to Retire 2013

Download the Calendar: Best Dates to Retire 2013 It’s that time of year again. Are you thinking about setting your retirement date for 2013? This column is designed to help you find the most advantageous date for your departure. If you’re planning to retire sometime this year, you can read my Best Dates to Retire 2012 column.) Also, if you need a primer on what times of the month are generally best to retire (depending on what retirement system you’re in), see my March 9 column, Best Date to Retire Tips. In general, the last day of the month is ...
Wired WorkplaceWired Workplace
How information technology is changing the landscape for federal employees. 

The Next Big Thing in Telework

As agencies look to the next phase of telework implementation, one area dominates the conversation: BYOD, or bring your own device, strategies. Cindy Auten, general manager at Telework Exchange, told Wired Workplace BYOD was perhaps the hottest topic at last week’s semi-annual Telework Town Hall meeting, with tech experts from agencies such as the Transportation Department and NASA weighing in on the future of mobile work and the growth of BYOD. “The BYOD conversation was, I think, in every discussion on the technology side,” Auten said. “Across the board, it’s not a matter of if they’re doing it, it’s when ...