{"id":26235,"date":"2023-01-19T15:30:00","date_gmt":"2023-01-19T15:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/staging.sightlinemg.com\/federaltimes\/uncategorized\/2023\/01\/19\/dear-newbie-federal-leaders-share-advice-for-incoming-appointees\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T05:00:14","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T05:00:14","slug":"dear-newbie-federal-leaders-share-advice-for-incoming-appointees","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/staging.sightlinemg.com\/federaltimes\/fedlife\/career\/2023\/01\/19\/dear-newbie-federal-leaders-share-advice-for-incoming-appointees\/","title":{"rendered":"Dear newbie: Federal leaders share advice for incoming appointees"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Being the new addition is tough, whether that\u2019s at school, in town or at the highest echelons of government.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In Washington. D.C., the on-ramp for new leaders is steeper, shorter, elevated for public scrutiny and potholed with the footprints of big shoes to fill.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Becoming a presidential appointee in the middle of a term can be especially tough, according to a Jan. 19 report by the Partnership for Public Service<\/a>\u2019s Center for Presidential Transition and Boston Consulting Group. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the past six months, about 230 people have been confirmed by the Senate to begin work under the Biden administration, whose leadership is well underway. Recent examples include Geoffrey Pyatt, confirmed in September to assistant secretary for energy resources at the State Department, and Alex Wagner, installed in July as the assistant secretary of the Air Force for manpower and reserve affairs <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt can feel intimidating to enter a new role midway through an administration because there are relationships in place, processes in place, and individuals might feel like they\u2019re playing catch up,\u201d said Valerie Smith Boyd<\/a>, director for the center, in an interview. \u201cWhat we\u2019ve heard from political appointees joining at any point in an administration is that they have the authority and the responsibility to be proactive and ask questions, develop relationships [and] gather information.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To ease the transition, the Partnership compiled advice for senior officials who are coming into new roles from 15 current and former officials across administrations. Here\u2019s what they said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Get into the nitty gritty<\/h1>\n\n\n\n

Interviewees urged new leaders to understand their new authority, personnel and budget. Many appointees described hitting the ground running, with \u201clittle to no time to learn once they started the job.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To cope, officials recommended asking questions early, meeting with predecessors, learning the chain of command and introducing yourself to other agencies whose responsibilities intersect.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The good news, one interviewee said, is the federal workforce is not bifurcated with politicos and career civil servants constantly butting heads; relationships are practical.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYou\u2019ve got a lot of career folks who have been \u2026 working on a prior team, priorities and policies and implementing them in good faith,\u201d another official said. \u201cMaking sure they knew you value their perspective was really key.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Others noted that tough choices will be inevitable because not every legal obligation an agency has is adequately funded.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYou can learn a lot about what you need to do from a policy standpoint first by understanding what your legal and regulatory mandate is,\u201d one appointee said. \u201cI think the trick for most political appointees is to figure out how do you get [something] done so you\u2019re complying with both the letter and spirit of the legislation.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Teamwork as a tool<\/h1>\n\n\n\n

Build a team with who you have, interviewees said, and take stock of vacancies and employee morale when you first take office.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Leaders of the executive branch may have to do more \u2014 or at least as much \u2014 with less, as many federal agencies have reported low staffing levels<\/a> and persistent vacancies due to lengthy hiring processes, meager budgets or recruiting<\/a> shortfalls for their civil service.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Turnover for federal employees, especially senior executives, is higher in the first few years of a new administration than at other times, according to the National Bureau of Economic Research. <\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI thought that we would be mostly staffed up on our confirmed personnel well within year one,\u201d an official who began near the start of the Biden administration said in the survey. \u201cWe\u2019re well through year two at this point and we\u2019re not very close to having all our confirmed personnel.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Boyd said leaders may confront legal requirements and constraints, judicial interpretation and even technological or operational limitations. Appointees need to sit down with civil servants and understand what recommendations are actionable, whether from the Government Accountability Office, the inspector general or career employees. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

One former civil servant also reminded appointees that changes in agency leadership can be stressful for career staff and that transparency, communication and a willingness to collaborate go a long way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI think political appointees \u2014 in particular at senior levels \u2014 have to be conscious of that mental shift and the fact that folks have been doing things a certain way for a certain period of time \u2026 and it may take a minute,\u201d one respondent said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Check your priorities<\/h1>\n\n\n\n

All leaders interviewed agreed that decision-making should be well communicated throughout an agency.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Don\u2019t be afraid to stumble into structure while you get a feel for what works, respondents said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt took us a while … to nail the right cadence of oversight meetings by the deputy and the secretary and the enterprise \u2026 One piece [of advice is] to get to the institutional management piece quickly.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some of the examples officials gave included creating new meetings to get through immediate deadlines, educating themselves on the paperwork process and setting priorities ruthlessly in the face of bureaucracy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYou just have to accept [that you] cannot fix all of the things in the building,\u201d advised one chief of staff. \u201cLeaders must have a concrete set of priorities, milestones and initiatives to track over time.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Not just appointees<\/h1>\n\n\n\n

Though the survey was conducted with high-level leaders in mind, Boyd said the advice can be useful for anyone in government.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After all, she said, it takes partnership between agency heads and career federal employees to deliver results, and strong appointees will inspire those they lead to pursue a long career in government, in turn fortifying the talent pipeline against presidential churn.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBig problems are hard. There are reasons that that certain problems haven\u2019t been solved,\u201d she said. \u201cAnd it\u2019s only when you combine the the urgency and optimism of political appointees with the wisdom and experience of career civil servants that you that you create the right team to solve major problems.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To read the full report, <\/i>click here.<\/i><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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