13L

The Start of Something Big

By Scott Derrick - Washington, DC

I am truly excited and optimistic about the creation of 13L, what I hope will be a shake-it-up leadership collective of mid-career federal employees. I founded 13L with the goal of establishing a small group of committed individuals who are passionate and enthusiastic about leadership. And we are well on the way to doing just that.

In identifying prospective members of 13L, we want to bring on people who dream yet have their feet planted firmly in place. We want people who recognize that much is possible through collective action. We want people who value leadership development and its possibilities. We want people who are fully aware of the importance of effective leadership to achieving results for any organization. In short, we want people who "get it."

To make meaningful progress in addressing its fiscal challenges and operational deficiencies, the federal government will need to make it a priority to recruit and develop more leaders. The key to success is not "better" managers, but rather more leaders. Government Executive magazine recently published my opinion piece entitled "Power vs. Influence" (Dec. 2005). In that article, I stressed some of the key differences between managers and leaders in organizations:

Managers have employees; leaders have followers. Managers have power; leaders have influence. Management is a position that is granted, while leadership is a status that is earned.

In the Office of Personnel Management's 2004 Federal Human Capital Survey, which involved close to 150,000 federal employees, only about one-third of respondents agreed that their agency leaders generated high levels of motivation and commitment in the workforce. This is a sorry state of affairs indeed.

Only when federal agencies transform the majority of their managers into leaders will they be able to generate strong commitment and motivation in the workforce. The members of 13L will be committed and motivated to help make that happen. If you also have that goal, please consider joining us in our journey.