Skills for Government Leadership Development Programs Detailed at AMA Government Conference

Nov. 7, 2011 - PRLog -- ARLINGTON, VA – November 7, 2011 – Stewart Liff, renowned government human resource management expert and author and AMA Enterprise Government Solutions educator and facilitator, discussed strategies, priorities, and the importance of integrating specific skills into today’s training for government leaders at an AMA Enterprise Government Solutions briefing for government human capital management officers last week.

The conference, titled ‘Training Tomorrow’s Government Leaders Today,” drew Federal, military, and some state and local human capital management officers and training and development experts, and focused on the skills needed to build new leaders.

“The future of government is building leaders, especially in today’s challenging climate,” noted Liff. “We need to ask: what kind of leader do we want? And set up training to help develop those kinds of leaders. Organizations must design training programs that provide the requisite skills for their future leaders.”

Liff focused on four skills that had been identified through an intensive survey by AMA as the ‘4 Cs’ – the top four critical skills needed for tomorrow’s government leaders:
•   Critical thinking and problem solving
•   Effective communication
•   Collaboration and team building
•   Creativity and innovation

These four skills are especially critical for organizations moving to telework and a mobile workforce. Sam Davis, VP, AMA Enterprise Government Solutions, said: “Effective communication becomes crucial when you’re relying more on phone, email and IM rather than face-to-face communication. Basic business writing skills will become much more important, as the workforce will be relying more on written communication to get things done. Managers will need to leverage critical thinking and problem solving skills to deal with new challenges in this new environment, and creative solutions will be required to keep the workforce engaged and motivated. And some government leaders have said that telework is all about teamwork, but telework makes teamwork more challenging. Strong collaborative skills will be the glue that holds the mobile workforce together.”


About AMA Enterprise
With more than 85 years of experience and headquartered in New York, American Management Association (www.amanet.org) is a global leader of comprehensive talent development.  AMA Enterprise, a specialized division of AMA dedicated to building corporate and government solutions, transforms enterprise-wide talent to fuel a culture of innovation, high performance and optimal business results. For more information on AMA Enterprise Government Solutions please visit www.amaenterprise.org/gov.