Archive: Leadership advice
Want to actually trim government bloat? Start with the hidden workforce
Poor leadership is no doubt partially to blame, but so is the bureaucratic sloth, the hyper-inflated performance appraisal process, the absence of encouragement to break the mold and innovate, and the failed disciplinary system that keeps poor performers on the job long after they should have been fired. There is nothing quite so demoralizing to high performers than sitting next to clock-watchers who long ago forgot the public purpose that should motivate them to action.
By Paul Light | November 19, 2010; 09:44 AM ET | Comments (25)
Truman-up, Mr. President: The federal debt stops here
Obama is worn down, perplexed and seemingly determined to reject the dismal message from the midterm disaster. He is also moving quickly to throw the debt issue under the snowplow. He should reconsider. He should embrace the call for action, explain the need for reform to a skeptical public and bet his presidency on the result. That's what presidential leadership is about.
By Paul Light | November 11, 2010; 03:09 PM ET | Comments (7)
Biden's mission impossible
Vice President Joe Biden has one of the toughest choices in politics today. He can either stand aloof from his party's campaign collapse, or pick up the hatchet and join past vice presidents as the slasher-in-chief. If he picks up the hatchet and wields it skillfully, as so many other vice presidents have, he'll stay on the ticket in 2012. If he fails to mount a credible defense of the endangered Democratic House majority, he just might end up on the waiver list.
By Paul Light | October 7, 2010; 07:39 PM ET | Comments (45)
