Weekly Roundup: May 26-30, 2025

Acquisition/Contracting

Limiting Pentagon Limiting Use of IT Consulting Contracts. DoD is cracking down on the use of IT consulting contracts to reduce reliance on outside firms and bolster the department’s in-house expertise. A May 27 memo instructs top Pentagon leaders to halt any new IT consulting or management services contracts – which DoD defines as work involving system integration, IT implementation, or advisory functions – without first showing that no DoD personnel or agency can perform the task, and that the work cannot be procured directly from a non-consultant service provider. The directive also places new layers of oversight on contract approvals. Hegseth tasked Deputy Secretary of Defense Steve Feinberg with reviewing all consulting contracts.

Pentagon Tightening Limits on Non-Commercial Procurements. Defense Department (DoD) acquisition leaders will need to offer more extensive oversight and justification for the purchase of non-commercial products. The May 27 guidance directs acquisition leaders at the departments of the Army, Navy, and Air Force – as well as Cyber Command, Special Operations Command, Transportation Command, and other DoD agency directors – to prioritize commercially available products and services. “Requiring activities, program managers, and contracting officers must work together to identify commercial solutions to fulfill DoD mission requirements,” wrote John Tenaglia, DoD’s principal director for defense pricing, contracting, and acquisition policy.

Artificial Intelligence

State Dept Official: AI Cyber Integration Begs Strong Fundamentals Work. While artificial intelligence (AI) tech has emerged as a game-changer in cybersecurity, one senior federal official urged a degree of caution this week by saying that AI integration could do more harm than good without following strong foundational security practices. Gharun Lacy, deputy assistant Secretary of State for Cyber and Technology Security at the Bureau of Diplomatic Security, underscored that message at the Public Sector Cyber Risk Conference. “[AI] is a big magnifying glass on who you already are,” Lacy said. “If your fundamentals are sound [and] solid, then AI makes you better. If there are cracks in the fundamentals, AI will absolutely disrupt you.”

NGA Expands Maven AI System in ‘Year of AI,’ Whitworth Says. National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA) Director Vice Adm. Frank Whitworth last week pronounced 2025 as the “year of AI” at NGA, highlighting a new expansion of the agency’s AI-enabled detection for analysts as part of NGA’s artificial intelligence push.

Leadership

When Your Go-To Leadership Style Stops Working. In any leadership role, your style of engaging others plays a significant part in determining success. Here are five strategies to help you successfully meet the moment when your default leadership style stops working: 1) Scan for shifts in the business, stakeholders, and yourself. 2) Identify a style you’re overusing and try on new ones. 3) Be transparent about style changes. 4) Practice, seek feedback, and expect pushback. 5) Commit to developing versatility over mastery.

Great Leaders Make People Feel Noticed.  Noticing is the deliberate act of paying attention to the details, ebbs, and flows of someone’s life and work, and it is a foundational leadership skill that’s increasingly needed today. There are three ways leaders can become better noticers. First, they must identify the barriers to seeing others, particularly being too busy to take the time. Second, leaders must deliberately make space and use time for connection. Finally, they must ask questions and check in, in order to gather information and address their people’s concerns.

When the Best Leadership Skill Is Just Being Present.  Unlike traditional leadership responses to employees—offering advice, jumping to solutions, or minimizing feelings—attunement is about being with another person instead of trying to fix them or the situation. To practice attunement, consider five steps: Set the intention, shift into calm, stay curious, listen with your body, and invite reflection. Taken together, they will help anchor your employees—which, in world that’s increasingly chaotic, can be the difference between disengagement and resilience.

Turn Anxiety into Action. Successful business leaders tend to catastrophize more than most people. But, according to HBS professor Arthur C. Brooks, worry actually blocks real problem-solving. In this HBR Executive Masterclass he offers practical steps to help leaders move fear from the emotional to the rational part of their brain, so they can make a plan to move forward.

Don’t Just Coach Your Employees—Teach Them. Sydney Finkelstein, a professor of management at the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth College, encourages leaders to approach their direct reports like teachers. As Finkelstein explains, being a teacher-leader means continually meeting face to face with employees to communicate lessons about professionalism, points of craft, and life. He says it’s easy to try and that teaching is one of the best ways to motivate people and improve their performance. Finkelstein is the author of “The Best Leaders Are Great Teachers” in the January–February 2018 issue of Harvard Business Review.

Cyber and Zero Trust

DoD Officials See Automation as Cornerstone for Zero Trust Goals. Automation is emerging as a key enabler in the Department of Defense’s (DoD) push toward creating zero trust security architectures, allowing for faster threat remediation and reduced operational burdens. DoD released its Zero Trust Strategy in 2022. The strategy is rooted in the assumption of persistent threats and the necessity of verifying every user and device across the network. A critical element of the strategy is the ability to rapidly detect and remediate risks so that affected assets can securely regain access.

Reorganization

DoD Downsizing Operational Test and Evaluation Office. The Defense Department (DoD) said today it is reorganizing its Office of the Director, Operational Test and Evaluation (DOT&E), and that the downsizing will remove redundancy in the defense acquisition system. “These actions will save more than $300 million per year and reflect the Department’s commitment to continued reform and reducing bureaucracy,” said Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. The restructuring returns DOT&E to its statutory intent as an oversight body and empowers the Services and Combatant Commands with greater trust to ensure the warfighter is efficiently equipped to address emerging challenges and to preserve our decisive advantage.

Efficiency

Federal Judge Approves DOGE Access to Treasury Systems. A federal judge in New York ruled on that Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) employees can once again access sensitive payment systems at the Treasury Department. Judge Jeannette A. Vargas issued a new order that modifies the preliminary injunction she issued in February, which prohibited any members of DOGE from accessing Treasury systems. In her latest opinion, Vargas said that the defendants submitted statements confirming that the current members of the Treasury DOGE team – which, in addition to Wunderly, consists of Thomas Krause, Linda Whitridge, Samuel Corcos, and Todd Newnam – have also completed the specific training.

THIS WEEK @ THE CENTER 

RECENT BLOGS

• AI and Cybersecurity Strategies for Local Governments – Addressing Challenges and Leveraging Opportunities by Alan Shark. Throughout the event, speakers highlighted the growing role of AI as a cyber defense tool, particularly for local governments that now have access to a broad and evolving ecosystem of AI-driven tools and services. A key concern that emerged during the discussions was the rise of “shadow AI” – AI systems operating beyond human oversight
• Leading in a World of Metaruptions: Reflections on Disruption with Roger Spitz by Michael J. Keegan. My recent in-person conversation with Roger Spitz, president of the Disruptive Futures Institute and author of Disrupt with Impact: Achieve Business Success in an Unpredictable World joined me to explore how government leaders can embrace systemic disruption, build resilience, and drive meaningful outcomes in a world defined by uncertainty. This essay distills key takeaways from that conversation, outlines leadership lessons, and offers practical recommendations for government executives to apply these insights effectively.

ICYMI – The Art of Leadership: A Conversation on Leadership, Resiliency, & Mindset.This week Michael Keegan explores such questions as: What are the key qualities of an effective leader? What does it mean to lead in difficult and uncertain times? with a select group of recognized thought leaders: Jacqueline Carter, Michael Canic, Chester Elton, and Bob Rosen.