Resilient Leadership: How to Adapt and Thrive

“Leadership is not a static trait—it is a dynamic state,” declares Hitendra Wadhwa in his articleLeading in the Flow of Workwhich appears as part of the spotlight feature, "The Leadership Mindset", in the Harvard Business Review January-February 2024. He offers a critically important insight especially at a time when disruption and disorientation seem to be ever present and the need for effective leadership even more pressing.  

Weekly Roundup: April 15-19, 2024

IRS seeks $104B for multi-year modernization fund maintain high level of customer service. The IRS is telling lawmakers that billions of dollars in multi-year modernization funds are helping the agency provide a level of customer service that taxpayers expect — and is asking for more funding to keep up with that demand.

Weekly Roundup: April 8-12, 2024

Managing Strategically: A Thought Process for Federal Managers. Federal managers are expected to advance measurable progress against an increasing number of competing demands, but making sense of these demands can often be overwhelming. This paper by Donnie Matlock and Amy Squires from Mitre attempts to address challenges by outlining a thought process for federal managers to make strategic decisions.

Exploring Life Ignition Tools (LIT)

Just before the start of 2024, the IBM Center released its latest book, Transforming the Business of Government: Insights on Resiliency, Innovation, and Performance, to mark its 25th anniversary. We recognize that government leaders continue to face the unforgiving realities of disruption and uncertainty. They need, now more than ever, practical, actionable insights on how best to manage and lead through uncertain and disruptive periods.

Weekly Roundup: April 1-5, 2024

OMB’s new guidance, RFI boost grant modernization efforts. The long-awaited and much-anticipated update to the basic management standards for the federal grants community is out. The Office of Management and Budget’s 2024 Revisions of the Uniform Grants Guidance aim to streamline, simplify and expand the overall reach of the $1.2 trillion in grants and cooperative assistance agencies pay out each year.  

Weekly Roundup: March 18-22, 2024

Senate to take $100M back from TMF, $10M from USDS. Despite the efforts by industry and the Office of Management and Budget over the last six plus months to change the committee’s mind, Senate appropriators rescinded $100 million from the TMF for fiscal 2024.

Exploring Homeland Security’s Procurement Strategy

Recently,  Paul Courtney, chief procurement officer at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security joined me on The Business of Government Hour to discuss the mission of his office, DHS' procurement and acquisition strategy, operational improvements, efforts leveraging emerging technologies, and his insights on leadership. The following is an edited excerpt highlighting key topics we discussed. 

Weekly Roundup: March 4-8, 2024

Navy is Using AI Training Models at the Edge, CIO Says.  Navy CIO Jane Rathbun says the service is infusing AI at the edge to improve decision-making.

Insights on VENTURE MEETS MISSION -- A Case for Government-Venture Arrangements

Recently, Arun Gupta, co-author of Venture Meets Mission joined me on The Business of Government Hour to discuss his new book, which he wrote with Gerard George and Thomas J. Fewer. Gupta says the book shows how we can harness the innovativeness of entrepreneurship with the scale of government in a new model of collaboration that he claims will reinvigorate America’s competitiveness and tackle some of the world’s most intractable problems.

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Leadership Fellow & Host
IBM Center for The Business of Government
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Michael has two decades of experience with both the private and public sectors encompassing strategic planning, business process redesign, strategic communications and marketing, performance management, change management, executive and team coaching, and risk-financing.

Michael leads the IBM Center for The Business of Government's leadership research. As the Center’s Leadership Fellow, his work is at the nexus of the Center’s mission – connecting research to practice. My work at that the Center complements frontline experience of actual government executives with practical insights from thought leaders who produce Center reports – merging real-world experience with practical scholarship. The purpose is not to offer definitive solutions to the many management challenges facing executives, but to provide a resource from which to draw practical, actionable recommendations on how best to confront such issues. Michael also hosts and produces the IBM Center’s The Business of Government Hour. He has interviewed and profiled hundreds of senior government executives from all levels of government as well as recognized thought leaders focusing on a range of public management issues and trends. Over the last four years, Michael has expanded both the show’s format and reach – now broadcasting informational and educational conversations with dedicated public servants on two radio stations five times a week and anywhere at anytime over the web and at iTunes. Michael is also the managing editor of The Business of Government magazine, with a targeted audience of close to 14,000 government and non-government professionals. Additionally, he manages the Center’s bi-annual proposal review process that awards stipends to independent, third party researchers tackling a wide range of public management issues.

Prior to joining the Center, Michael worked as a senior managing consultant with IBM GBS (Global Business Services) and as a principle consultant with PriceWaterhouseCoopers’ Washington Consulting Practice (WCP). He led projects in the private and federal civilian sectors including the U.S. Department of Energy, U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, FEMA, and the Veterans Health Administration. Before entering consulting, he worked in the private sector as product development manager at a New York City based risk financing firm.

Since 2003, Mr. Keegan has been a reviewer for Association of Government Accountant’s Certificate of Excellence in Accountability Reporting (CEAR)© program, keeping abreast of the most recent developments in authoritative standards affecting federal accounting, financial reporting and performance measurement. He is also a member of APPAM, the NYU Alumni Association, and the Data Center & Cloud Talent, USA. He holds masters in public administration and management from New York University and was the founder of its DC alumni group as well as previous treasurer of the NYU graduate school’s alumni board.