What Steve Jobs can learn from public leaders

I come from China.For me,there is a long road to get a satisfied job .

The next time you drive on an interstate, eat food unconcerned about its quality or hope to avoid a pandemic you will thank the federal government and the people that work there. For they are the ones that add value to the society, private enterprise won't work for the common good unless they can make a profit - and if you want to pay for that overhead you will soon appreciate what we get for our taxes (and why people complain about them and simultaneously complain about the deficit). Seldom do we see how much good government bureaucrats do for us. From Homeland Security to the State Department to the Department of Defense it is the federal workers who make our nation and world more peaceful and secure. Of course, all this criticism of the federal government stands in a long, important and valuable tradition of concern over the power and dangers associated with a strong central government. The framers of the Constitution knew oppressive government and focused their concern on structuring the government in such a way as to prevent it from government from becoming too powerful. That is why even the recent Health Reform bill was, as E.J. Dionne noted, such a product of the opposition's (Republican) proposals.

In a word "Government" spells "Waste". Heartbreaking, callous, irresponsible, unaccountable, criminal waste. Forget leadership in the public sector. Forget the "greater good", it's hogwash anyway. Forget decency and totally write off integrity. Left to their own devices, government servants wouldn't be able to find their collective ass without a satellite.

But there are exceptions, like those lizards on Capitol Hill. Criminals, con artists, lawyers, bandits and total incompetants. They are the ones with the golden healthcare plans, the golden Retirement plans and laws they have devised to protect themselves from us, instead of the other way around. God, I wish I could clean out *that* Aegean Stable!

Leadership and government should never be used in the same sentence.

I missed it ... just what should someone like Steve Jobs be learning from public leaders?

How to confiscate $ from an unwilling and upapproving captive market?

How to inspire 50% of that captive market to confiscate/redistribute $ from the other 50% of the market, without creating value?

We could go on ... but I'm still missing the point of what you tried to say.

But now that you mention it, one does wonder if a Jobs type could possibly inspire a behemoth to create value rather than extract it.

This article is absurd. And the fact that the Washington Post would publish such cmmunist drivel is proof why the Washington Post and most other major daily newspapers will soon be out of business. They are totally out of touch with reality. The Federal government bureaucracy does not work and never will work under any regime because of two factors: (1) Lack of incentives and (2) Lack of hiring and firing authority. This means that you cannot attract qualified people and you cannot fire people who do not perform. Just try calling any government bureacracy and see what happens. Everyone knows what will happen --no one will answer the phone or you can't get through. Where in the private sector, other than in monopolies that governments have created/fostered, would this ever happen. The private sector is based on competition, where one has to be better than the other in order to succeed. In government, there is no accountability. And with the new regime, we are moving quickly toward total destruction of the American system.

What a ton of horse crap. This idiot is trying to compare Apple with a lumbering pack of jackels, boot lickers and bunglers.
Apple can get a e-mail around the world in microseconds. The Feds can't even mail a letter across the block. Does this fool take himself seriously?

Mr. Fox,

Steve Jobs can be fired for poor performance.

Name 10 SES's who've been fired for poor performance......

Now name 10 federal programs that wasted mover $100 Million and failed to meet their objectives.

nuff said...

@ Duane. Thanks for your slick comments, but I have to disagree. Most Federal Managers do have responsibilities above and beyond private sector managers such as Steve Jobs. As pointed out in the article, Jobs answers to the investors and board members and manages (not micro) thousands of employees. Most federal managers must manage a few billion dollar ANNUAL budget (apprioriated and/or working capital). They must answer to the many short-term political appointees in so many different ways, not just please them with revenue showers. They must manage thousands (usually not micro manage) like Jobs, but in a different way. Most agencies have hard and strict requirements that are dependant on laws, rules and regulations. Unlike Jobs, one violation in an agency's serious reg (ie. US Public Law 1517) could cost them their career and possibly prison. Does Jobs have that hanging over his head? NO! There are just too many laws, rules and regs to list. Jobs only production is revenue and customer satisfaction. Both share equal responsibilities for innovation. Jobs have a few products, but the federal side could have dozens, if not hundreds. Jobs couldn't handle most federal management positions, compared to hist Apple position and status. Lastly, and most importantly, the federal manager's salary is capped around $150k. Think Jobs would stick around if he even was successful? Thank again! And as the last poster stated clearly, we are not talking about GS11/12/13's here. We are talking SES level who manage military commands, billions dollar projects and some of the most highly sophisticated technology, not even Jobs could pronounce, let alone understand.

I read this article with great hope that we can have a legitimate discussion about the value of government workers and all they do for the public (for very little pay and a great deal of micro-oversight). It's so boring to hear the those who throw stones because it's so obvious they don't have a clue -- for one thing, you're talking about senior executives, not GS-11s who probably will never be promoted again! Hey, guy -- if you're limited, it's because you want to be, not because you have to be. Try changing your attitude... Still, I remember how almost everyone in the country turned to the Federal Government after 9-11, and for a few brief moments we were appreciated. Mr Fox, God bless you for remembering.

This article goes beyond foolish. Federal managers do not handle everything Mr. Fox implies - the most a manager handles is one department. They rarely answer in any way to the american people, and only moderately to congress. A job in the federal government rarely, if ever, brings as much good to the life of any american as companies like Google, Apple, FedEx or Verizon.
The Dept of Homeland Security is a mess and before you start praising anyone there, let's take a look at the security fence that was just canned after spending how many billions of taxpayer dollars? Or should we look at the State Dept - who can't keep names straight enough to prevent terrorists off of airplanes? To quote the author "I can hardly continue the comparisons".
The federal manager is in no way as beneficial to the country as Steve Jobs - and I find it irresponsible to ever try to compare the job of a parasitic political appointee to the work done by someone like Steve Jobs - who brought us iTunes, iPods, Apple Computers, and so much more.
Mr Fox, your arrogance is equalled only by your ignorance.