The Emerging Leader

Written by Geoffery Seaver and Patricia Coopersmith

The current U.S. federal government work force consists of a large group of individuals who are, or soon will be, retirement eligible. In response, the government has begun hiring younger employees who may soon be fast-tracked into leadership positions as their managers retire. Many government organizations, the Department of Defense included, are facing the challenge of finding workers who are capable of filling leadership roles.

Some federal departments and agencies are attempting to fill the leadership gap by hiring experienced managers from the private sector. Even if these individuals have 10 or more years in industry, they generally have very limited experience with federal government policies, processes and culture. Other government organizations are realizing that hiring and developing young workers to assume federal leadership roles may be necessary. In most cases, a hybrid approach is being employed—recruit experienced managers from outside the government and hire young, new workers straight out of college.

In response to these changing government demographics and requests for assistance from DoD, federal departments, and other government agencies, the National Defense University’s Information Resources Management College (NDU IRM College) has developed the Emerging Leader Workshop. This educational program is designed to develop the leadership pipeline of the U.S. federal government, including Department of Defense military and civilians and employees in non-DoD agencies. This threeday program offers emerging leaders an opportunity to develop a more strategic view of the role of the post-9/11 government and the issues and challenges of the 21st Century. The primary focus of this workshop is the effective use of collaboration, information and human resources to improve organizational performance and mission accomplishment.

CONTENT

Important knowledge for any new, government leader is the “business of government”— how the federal government operates and how it is similar to and different from the private sector. Each Emerging Leader Workshop at the IRM College begins with this discussion to allow participants a solid grounding in basic government policies and environmental factors. Participants also discuss the differences between Industrial and Information Age organizations, and what makes the culture of today’s government. Workshop participants are given the opportunity to discuss the role of today’s “knowledge worker” and develop their strategic thinking skills. The workshop compares strategic thinking, strategic planning and strategic programming, and explores the concept of creativity and its relationship to strategic planning. Participants are given the opportunity to review and discuss an agency strategic plan.

New and emerging technologies are being employed by the Department of Defense and federal departments and agencies to streamline business processes and implement automation where possible. Workshop participants examine technological developments in several key areas and analyze the associated risks, benefits and costs. Participants are given the opportunity to explore approaches for responding to technological opportunities and challenges in order to maximize the benefits and minimize the risks.

Business process improvement is a key strategy used by many agencies to transform their Industrial Age core process into Information Age processes. Emerging Leader Workshop participants have the opportunity to explore various process improvement techniques and methodologies in transforming their agency’s core processes. The challenges of leading an agency business process improvement program or project and best practices are discussed.

With information security and privacy in the news, it is a priority and a challenge of every federal organization to protect its employees’ personal information. The IRM College shares the government’s concern with information assurance and teaches workshop participants to explore IA within the broader context of risk management, privacy laws and federal regulations. Enterprise architecture (EA) has become one of the key initiatives of the Office of Management and Budget, and most federal departmentsandagencieshave developedan EA that describes how its core processes and technologies will change over time to deliver improved mission performance. Emerging Leader Workshop participants discuss OMB’s concept of an enterprise architecture and discuss EA costs and benefits. Discussions contrast business executives’ support for an Enterprise Architecture with the CIO’s role in developing and implementing an effective EA for the organization. The lesson concludes by discussing the implications and the benefits of enterprise architecture for capital planning.

Capital planning and investment control (CPIC) is a critical competency for today’s government leader. Participants are given the opportunity to explore the concepts and activities associated with CPIC. Participants consider how CPIC governance is performed, how value and risk criteria could serve as evaluation factors for IT projects, and how a collection of IT projects form an IT investment portfolio. Investment proposal components and the relationships among the financial case, the business case, and the technical proposal are discussed. In the context of a portfolio, the workshop compares acquisition of new investments with management of older legacy IT investments. Participants examine the relationship between effective project management and effective IT investment portfolio performance.

During the workshop, emerging government leaders are also introduced to basic project management concepts and tools used to ensure that projects are delivered on schedule and within budget. Key concepts, such as earned value management, are discussed. Participants are given the opportunity to apply their learning to a real-world case study that is directly related to their organization’s mission.

CONCLUSION

The IRM College’s Emerging Leader Workshop is appropriate for all emerging government leaders who seek to improve their organization’s performance. While designed for personnel at the GS/GM9-12 (or equivalent) levels or military officer O4 and below, the workshop may also be of benefit to more senior personnel who have joined the government within the past three years. All participants will receive a certificate of completion.

The Emerging Leader Workshop is designed to assist the Department of Defense and federal agencies in closing their leadership gap as by providing a forum for emerging leaders to discuss and demonstrate the effective use of collaboration, information as a strategic resource and human capital. After completing the workshop, emerging leaders will be able to return to their organizations with a clear sense of their role in contributing to the future of the U.S. government. ♦
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Geoffery Seaver is with the IRM College faculty; and Patricia Coopersmith is the IRM College project manager, National Defense University, Information Resources Management College.

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