I’m not quite a coal miner’s daughter, but that culture and spirit of Appalachia, with all of its quirks and virtues, shaped my younger self in ways that I can still identify with today. My family has deep roots in this region, a place where hard and dangerous work didn’t necessarily prevent money from being tight. My parents, married as teenagers and neither having a high school diploma, stretched their dollars by constructing our eastern Kentucky house with their own hands. Their dedication to getting a job done, on time and on budget, and their fearless foray into creative engineering to solve the myriad technical challenges they faced, have served as valuable inspiration in both my personal and NASA lives. My parents taught me Life Lessons #1 and #2, which are: Be obsessively committed to all the responsibilities that you take on in life, and be fiscally responsible. These values are particularly relevant in my job at NASA, in which I am tasked with prudent stewardship of the taxpayers’ money.
Of those I knew who were lucky enough to attend college, nearly all pursued traditional careers in teaching, law, or medicine. No roadmap for becoming a professional astronomer/physicist was available, nor was advice about how to make a living from having such a degree. Access to a planetarium, museum, or even better – working on a science project with a professional in the field – would have made all the difference. Pure serendipity, through a random conversation with a friend who happened to see an advertisement for an undergraduate program, is how I ended up receiving bachelor’s and master’s degrees in space sciences and physics from the Florida Institute of Technology. Until college, I had never been farther from home than a one-day road trip. Boarding that plane alone to the Florida Space Coast – which at the time might as well have been in another country – was among my most terrifying, but ultimately rewarding experiences. Lesson #3 is to be flexible and fearless enough to take advantage of unanticipated career opportunities (even if they significantly alter your originally envisioned direction and/or remove you from your comfort zone). This guideline was used repeatedly in my quasi-“random walk” career path to NASA. Keep reading →
Social media’s impact on building culture in the workplace is debatable, according to Deloitte’s new “Core Values and Beliefs” survey conducted online by Harris Interactive. Keep reading →
Legislation intended to deter members of Congress from profiting from stock trades based on inside information is inadvertently forcing 28,000 federal employees to expose their personal financial information on the Internet.
The result, according to a trade group for senior government executives, is a number of unintended risks that federal employees must now bear, and another reason for talented executives to think twice about serving their country by taking a position in the federal government. Keep reading →
Today’s threat landscape is a dynamic collage of cyber exploits perpetrated by sophisticated and agile crime syndicates, religious and political groups, and others with malicious intent. The organizational victims of stealth cyber warfare-commercial companies and government agencies-must fortify their traditional technology-based defenses in order to effectively combat this pervasive and constantly evolving threat. The battlefield has expanded and matured…so must the fighting forces of the human perimeter.
A broader perspective that encompasses all critical aspects of people, process and technology is required to attain a state of resilient cyber readiness. Cybersecurity no longer falls within the exclusive purview of the security organization; it now encompasses every job that touches technology acquisition, deployment and operations. Leading agencies (e.g., Department of Homeland Security, intelligence) are leveraging proven workforce planning strategies and solutions to overcome the acute shortage of cybersecurity professionals. Similar approaches should be adopted across all federal agencies and in the private sector as a matter of national security. Keep reading →
Federal pay has been a topic of hot debate this year, with some studies concluding government workers are overcompensated compared to their private-sector counterparts and others finding the exact opposite.
The latest and perhaps most credible study from the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office found that federal workers with less education are paid slightly higher than those in the private-sector while highly educated federal workers tend to be underpaid. Keep reading →
Most would agree the federal government needs more leaders like Susan Brita. Yet the woman who many might hold up as a hero for blowing the whistle on internal financial abuses within the General Services Administration also serves as a reminder that calling attention to such abuses continues to carry its share of risks.
Clearly, no one wants the kind of spotlight shone on Jeff Neely, the architect behind the pricey GSA conference that led to the recent scandal and to Neely being the latest to lose his job as a result. Keep reading →
Leadership is difficult in any environment, but leading in the federal government comes with unique challenges, and frankly, government leaders aren’t receiving rave reviews from their employees.
An analysis of Best Places to Work in the Federal Government® data by my organization, the Partnership for Public Service, reveals that leadership in the federal government is one of the lowest ranked out of 10 workplace categories, with a score of only 54.9 out of 100. Keep reading →
As hundreds of public and private industry executives gathered for the Spring 2012 Telework Exchange Town Hall Meeting on Wednesday, it was clear technology and the efficiency has pushed mobile workforce efforts farther ahead. But security issues remain the chief concern across federal agencies.
Panelists addressed various issues surrounding mobility and telework at various sessions held in the Washington Convention Center. While many told mobile workforce success stories, they clearly remain perplexed regarding security. Keep reading →
Greg Garcia is not one to sit and spin his wheels. He thrives on speed, a little danger and the overall chase. So it’s little surprise that the bicycling enthusiast gravitates toward the intersection of information technology security and government policy.
“It’s speed, it’s endurance, it’s tactics, it’s strategy, and then there’s the adrenaline,” Garcia said of IT security. He was referring to the race to stay ahead of what he called the “bad guys” by anticipating their next move, a race that’s ultimately about safety and protection. Keep reading →
