Prepared byThomas G. McWeeney, PhD

Executive Director, Public Leadership Institutewww.CSM-PLI.org

April 4, 2013

LEADERSHIP, ETHICS

P E R F O R M A N C E I M P E R A T I V E

AND THE

A PROSPECTUS

Prospectus Contents

• Preface• Overview• The Leadership Imperative• Training Program• Excerpts

P R E F A C E

Hello - I'm Tom McWeeney, Executive Director of the Public Leadership Institute.

This is one of the few times in our history where American citizens are truly dependent upon government to be properly focused, efficiently managed, and well led. While bureaucratic ineptitude and inefficiencies have historically been viewed with amusement by the 97% of Americans who work in the private sector, the need for government agencies to reach and sustain a high level of performance is now a public management imperative. For the foreseeable future, public services associated with health care, social security, law enforcement, infrastructure, education and housing are all considered essential to public safety and public well being. Quality performance in these areas is dependent upon effective leadership.

For most public sector organizations, elevating performance to a new level requires change. Unfortunately, the strongest force in most government agencies continues to be a cultural resistance to change. It’s a true barrier – it makes simple things complex, prevents apparent solutions from taking hold, and reinforces the status quo at every level. While institutional resistance to change is a powerful and regressive force, it can be overcome.

After working in government agencies, teaching public administration for more than 30 years, and having observed many efforts to enhance performance through new systems and procedures, I believe that both educators and reformers have forgotten the role that human beings – acting as leaders – play in defining and achieving success. Simply stated, the only thing that can break through the force-field of change resistance is strong, ethically motivated, committed, and engaged leadership. Such leadership has proven to be the imperative, the direction, and the power to define and achieve success. Our new training program seeks to capture both leadership essentials and the critical role that leadership must play in driving government agencies to new directions and high performance. (cont. on next page)

Leadership & Public Management

This presentation introduces a new approach to leadership training for public employees – focusing on the little understood and often ignored role of leadership in obtaining high value performance from public agencies. Our approach seeks to address both the training needs of emerging leaders and the realities of the current environment by:

• Emphasizing the ethical imperative of public officials to do “the right thing” and ensure a maximum feasible level of performance for critical public needs;

• Providing the training in a distance learning format, underscoring the need for austerity and efficiency; • Utilizing interviews and case studies of individual leaders who have proven that committed leaders can

overcome great obstacles and achieve great success;• Using interactive exercises that reinforce the primary message of the courses.

This presentation consists of five parts: (1) a brief overview of the program; (2) some background discussion on the importance of leadership and what many are referring to as the contemporary leadership void in public management; (3) a summary of our “performance ethics” concept; (4) a brief description of the entire program; and (5) excerpts from our introductory course, “Leadership, Ethics and the Performance Imperative”, a refreshing change in how we approach this very important topic.

Hope to see you in class.

Thomas G. McWeeney, PhDExecutive Director, The Public Leadership Institutewww.CSM-PLI.org

Leadership & Public Management

O V E R V I EW

WELCOMEto this preview of our new Program

LEADERSHIP, ETHICS, AND THE PERFORMANCE IMPERATIVE

Overview

Follow the link to watch a short video introduction by Dr. Thomas McWeeney, Executive Director of the

Public Leadership Institute

VIDEO: “Introduction”

Our new training program captures both the essentials of ethical leadership and the responsibility of leaders to accept the moral and ethical imperative. It is especially true in today’s environment that public agencies must perform at their maximum feasible capability -- as public servants and as stewards of vital interests of the American people. However, it is clear that neither charismatic personalities, new policies or standards, or revised management approaches are capable of providing the transformative success reform agendas usually promised. As such, we urge the consideration of an approach to leadership training, which is outlined below:

PROGRAM APPROACH

•5-Course Certificate Program•Distance Learning Platform•Sector focus (Public Safety)•Slide presentation with embedded videos•Links to relevant articles •Webliography•Leadership Advisory BoardoCourse material, examples, topicsoSelection of studentsoReview of capstone project presentations

SUGGESTED COURSES

•Leadership, Ethics, and Performance•Strategy: Overcoming Barriers •Managing for Results•Performance Budgeting•Transforming the Organizational Culture•Outcome-Based Performance Appraisals•Utilization-Focused Evaluations•Measuring Quality Performance[A certificate in Performance Management will be awarded after the completion of 5 courses)

Overview

T H E L E A D E R S H I P I M P E R A T I V E

Throughout much of the last century reforms have been initiated at all levels of government to improve the performance of government. Most of these reforms have

been motivated by a public perception that government has grown more inefficient and less responsive. However, notwithstanding the relatively high priority of these efforts,

most reforms have failed to live up to their lofty expectations.

As complex and sophisticated as some of these efforts have been, past reforms have consistently ignored the single most important variable in improving any organization: the role that human beings acting as leaders play in defining and achieving success.

Behind most thriving government programs is usually a person who is committed to specific results, asks the hard questions, devises new and innovative strategies, takes strong action, and holds both he/she and his/her organization accountable for their performance. Such persons embody a type of leadership that was once considered to be a key part of the American political tradition. The lack of effective, committed, and engaged leadership makes it nearly impossible to overcome the barriers to effective performance.

THE LEADERSHIP IMPERATIVE

VIDEO: “Reflections from Law Enforcement Leaders”

Leadership & Performance

“Ford: No doubt there’s a leadership void ”

“Leadership void: police deserve better at the top”

“The lack of global leadership… has become a common refrain”

“When I speak with people in

private enterprise or in

government, there is a common refrain: ‘there is no leadership at the top’”

The notion of a leadership void today describes the belief -- on the part of organizations, sectors, and institutions -- that very important matters are not

being addressed, decisions are not being made, and that leaders are more interested in their own well-being than in the success and welfare of the

organization they are leading.

Leadership Void

The notion of a “LEADERSHIP VOID”

today describes the following beliefs -- on the part of

• Matters of true importance are not being addressed appropriately.

• Decisions take too long to be made, or not made at all.

• Leaders are more interested in their own well-being than in the success and welfare of the organization they are leading.

ORGANIZATIONS SECTORS INSTITUTIONS

Leadership Void

In seeking to address the contemporary leadership void, well-meaning people repeatedly confuse leadership with management and prescribe “management reforms” that often consist of burdensome tasks, reports, and process that have only added to skepticism and pessimism.

LEADERSHIP is often confused with

MANAGEMENT, in which leadership

improvement is sought by calling for more rules,

processes, audits and reports.If a current review of the

literature is a valid indicator, these efforts have had LITTLE

IMPACT on the daunting leadership void.

charismatic personality that will transform the organization. Still others hope to find renewed leadership in the promulgation of new laws, policies standards of conduct.

Many believe that leadership is an inherited trait and seek processes to ferret out the magnetic or

Misguided Efforts

Leadership & the Performance Gap

Performance Management – the Need for a Cohesive Curriculum

Among the most intractable problems of public management has been the widening gap between policy and performance. The difficulties public managers have had in implementing practices to enhance collaboration, information sharing, innovation, and change – all clear policy imperatives -- are symptoms of a “gap” between promise and performance that is only likely to worsen without engaged leadership.

In general, current efforts only tangentially involved agency leadership, are conducted by the management components of the organization with minimal engagement of the business components, and have produced only marginal improvements of uncertain value. This is one of the primary causes of what is becoming known as a “performance gap” – the difference between expected and actual performance.

This “performance gap” is evident in the lack of (a) clarity in desired outcomes, (b) innovative implementation strategies, (c) creative and collaborative use of resources, (d) candid assessments of progress, and (e) accountability – all critical performance functions which are all dependent upon strong, engaged, and committed leadership.

For the foreseeable future, government will be called upon to do a much better job in producing high-value results for the American people. This can only occur when senior leadership ensures that the key elements of performance management - planning, budgeting, performance measurement, and cost-benefit assessments - are taken seriously by both leadership and staff, are relevant to important issues, and play a major role in agency decision-making.

T R A I N I N G P R O G R A M

NEW APPROACH: Performance Ethics

PERFORMANCE ETHICS

ETHICS PERFORMANCE

LEADERSHIPGovernment has shown a concern for ethics in recent years; however, the emphasis is primarily negative and punitive, focusing on rules and regulations that proscribe and restrict behavior rather than focusing programmatically on the right thing to do.

The emphasis on performance has produced irrelevant metrics and a reporting burden for many agencies. Few public agencies use the metrics for meaningful decision-making and fewer have developed a process that relates metrics to indicators that reflect success in mission critical areas.

PERFORMANCE ETHICS A framework to assess, develop, and measure

leadership, performance, and ethics

Performance Ethics is a construct of leadership that forms at the intersection of leadership, performance and ethics. It is fundamentally different than other approaches because it provides a framework to both describe and proscribe leadership.

VIDEO: “Performance Ethics”

VIDEO: “Case Studies”

CURRICULUM

The unique component of the curriculum will be its emphasis on melding theory with practice – in order to address the real problems

of real people in real organizations. Much of the course will be devoted to addressing the various options available to a select group of leaders that have agreed to use their experiences for case studies.

Excerpts from law enforcement officials, who have demonstrated strong and effective leadership, will be analyzed.

A Distinctive Approach

Collectively, the courses will convey the following:  

• Leadership that emphasizes the ethical issues and choices associated with government performance, and will provide real-life examples of successful practices and approaches of successful leaders;

• Planning and performance measurement approaches that would help operate and quantify otherwise lofty goals and objectives, thereby ensuring a focused strategy that will drive critical implementation actions;

• A practical approach to performance budgeting as well as methodologies for assessing the relative cost/value of government programs and activities as they relate to critical strategies.

Each course will emphasize the need to candidly identify and thoroughly discuss the real obstacles to high level performance of these critical functions and will introduce specific approaches that emphasize the critical role of leadership.

A Distinctive Approach

• A HYBRID/DISTANCE LEARNING FORMAT which will provide students with greater access, more tailored course content, and lesser expensive (austerity/administrative);

• A COHORT APPROACH in which a group of students would take the a series of classes together. This could be accomplished either by having the courses taught to students from a single agency or students who individually enrolled from the same sector. (utility);

• A SECTOR FOCUS to ensure relevancy and a tailored approach to individual sectors, organized in individual cohorts -- for example, public safety, health care, immigration. (relevance);

• A COHESIVE APPROACH in which the courses would be taught sequentially, so that the end of one course sets the stage for the beginning of the next. As such, students gain a much greater understanding of the practical applicability of the material (utility);

• A COHORT ADVISORY BOARD which consists of high-level executives from the agency or sector, who would ensure the direct engagement and participation of senior leaders. This would include the formal and public participation of sector leadership as speakers. (legitimacy)

A Certificate Program and Sector-Relevant Curriculum

Program Attributes

This approach simply provides a framework that will enable discussions and debates to be integrated within a framework that will embed specific attributes such as - legitimacy, relevance, utility, austerity, and administrative/logistical efficiency - thereby assuring that the program will address the real problems, of real people, in real organizations, as reflected in the following attributes:

Individual elements of this initiative can be implemented on a pilot basis and assessed in a controlled, limited setting in order to provide actual data to support a long-term investment strategy. As a pilot, a concentrated effort can be made to design and implement the following over an 18-month period:

• ESTABLISH one cohort in the law enforcement sector

• DESIGNATE core faculty to form a cohort “team”

• DEVELOP a clearinghouse of new, relevant material for instructors, students and associates

• PUBLISH an electronic newsletter as a marketing tool

• CONDUCT two “Issue Forums” – one virtual and one in a physical conference center

• CONTINUED solicitation of associates, sponsors and federal grants

The evaluation of the pilot would not only include the effectiveness and quality of the initial offerings, but would provide an indication of the extent to which the content of the courses and services are deemed relevant and useful by the agencies, thereby creating an expectation of increased enrollments. Such a pilot period and assessment would enable the actual results to become a driver of an overall investment decision.

Jump Start

Implementation Strategy: High Impact, Highly Visibility Pilot Program

E X C E R P T S

FROM THE INTRODUCTORY COURSE:“LEADERSHIP, ETHICS, AND THE PERFORMANCE

IMPERATIVE”

Approach: Merging Theory with Practice

The approach reflects our attempt to effectively merge theory with practice in a single, cohesive training course. Five primary chapters will demonstrate the practical application of leadership in operational, program direction and management settings. These chapters are:

• Chapter 1 - The Critical Role of Leadership In Law Enforcement

• Chapter 2 - Leadership Case Studies: Operational; Program Direction; Management

• Chapter 3 - Performance Ethics: Five Leadership Attributes That Make a Difference

• Chapter 4 - Situational Leadership

• Chapter 5 - Real World Applications

Approach

COURSE CONTENTS

• Abstract• Approach• Guest speakers/case studies• Video lectures• Supplemental written material• Exercises

Each course will contain the above sections – excerpts of which are detailed in the following slides

Abstract: Leadership, Ethics & Performance in Law Enforcement

Law enforcement organizations are increasingly confronted with new challenges and asked to continually address difficult circumstances, which seem to defy the approaches and solutions that have worked in the past. These circumstances, in and of themselves, place an ethical responsibility on our leaders to act wisely, boldly, and in a manner consistent with the public’s values.

Our training seeks to address this leadership void and the complex problems law enforcement leaders face in a manner that is more consistent with the values and the culture of the law enforcement community. Difficult issues cannot be adequately addressed merely by writing better policy, obtaining more resources, acquiring new software, or other generalized solutions. Nor will difficult issues be solved by generically defining and cataloguing the personality traits and behaviors of leaders.

PLI’s training focuses on real and challenging issues faced by law enforcement practitioners in executive positions, in management, and in operational settings. Specifically, our training aims to show the profound impact a leader can have on an organization, define common characteristics of contemporary leaders in law enforcement, delineate leadership and management practices, and study and examine the decisions of contemporary leaders in real and everyday situations.

Abstract

When I think of

LEADERSHIPa few key

people come to

mind...

LEE BACASheriff of Los Angeles County, California. Sheriff Baca has led the LASD for nearly 20 years and has instituted a leadership curriculum in its training programs that is the model for the nation.

DAVE BRANTFormer Director of the Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS). Mr. Brant directed the creation of the modern NCIS and established its role as a leader for DOD national security efforts.

Each person has agreed to participate in this exercise

Guest Speakers:Law Enforcement Leaders

MIKE DORSEYFormer Assistant Director of Intelligence and Information Sharing for the Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS). Mr. Dorsey led the development and expansion of the Law Enforcement Information Exchange (LInX), the most innovative information sharing project in operation.

When I think of

LEADERSHIPa few key

people come to

mind...

Each person has agreed to participate in this exercise

KEVIN FAVREAUAssistant Director of Intelligence for the Federal Bureau of Intelligence (FBI). Mr. Favreau produced the first comprehensive Intelligence Strategy and led the implementation of a law enforcement approach to intelligence.

PETE GRUDENFormer Deputy Administrator of Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA). Mr. Gruden directed a multi-year investigation of the kidnapping and murder of DEA Special Agent Enrique Camarena.

SANDRA HUTCHENSSheriff of Orange County, California. Sheriff Hutchens led the Orange County Sheriff’s Department (OCSD) in the wake of serious morale problems and funding reductions.

Guest Speakers:Law Enforcement Leaders

When I think of

LEADERSHIPa few key

people come to

mind...

JOHN MCKAYFormer United States Attorney – Western District of Washington. Mr. McKay led the coordination of federal, state, and local law enforcement in the aftermath of 9/11.

MIKE QUINLANFormer Director, United States Department of Justice-Bureau of Prisons (USDOJ-BOP). Mr. Quinlan is known for establishing an organizational culture in BOP that became a model for federal law enforcement agencies.

GREG SCOVELFormer Deputy Director of the Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS). Mr. Scovel led the development of NCIS’s Cyber Security and Intelligence Programs in the aftermath of 9/11.

BILL SONDERVANFormer Commissioner of Maryland Division of Correction. Mr. Sondervan oversaw the modernization and development of the Division of Correction, the largest criminal justice agency in the State of Maryland.

Each person has agreed to participate in this exercise

Guest Speakers:Law Enforcement Leaders

When I think of

LEADERSHIPa few key

people come to

mind...

Each person has agreed to participate in this exercise

DAVE SZADYFirst National Counterintelligence Executive (NCIX) and former Assistant Director for Counterintelligence (CI), Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). Mr. Szady directed the transformation of the FBI’s post-Cold War Counterintelligence Program.

STEVE TIDWELLFormer Executive Assistant Director of Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). Mr. Tidwell was widely acclaimed for his leadership abilities in transforming a small FBI field office, a large FBI field division, and the Criminal Investigative Program at FBI Headquarters.

DALE WATSONFormer Executive Assistant Director of Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) for Counterterrorism (CT) and Counterintelligence (CI). Mr. Watson led the transformation of the FBI’s CT Program in the months preceding and immediately following the 9/11 attacks.

Guest Speakers:Law Enforcement Leaders

In this segment, short video clips will be presented that describe the issues faced by law enforcement leaders in operational, program direction, and management settings. These clips will include a short narrative of the background, the issues, and the accomplishments of the leaders, focusing on the specific leadership attributes that led to success. Video clips will include first-person discussions and analyses by the leaders themselves as well as comments and descriptions by those who worked closely with them. These clips will provide material for the exercises in the remainder of the course. A video lecture will then discuss the case studies in greater detail and analyze the choices and outcomes of the leader’s decisions. Student exercises will ask students to select the most significant leadership moment to them among the case studies and the common leadership traits between the leaders shown.

Case Studies

Dave Szady, former Assistant Director of Counterintelligence, FBI

VIDEO: “Dave Szady”

Sandra Hutchens, Sheriff, Orange County California

VIDEO: “Sandra Hutchens”

Pete Gruden, former DEA Senior Executive

VIDEO: “Pete Gruden”

PERFORMANCE ETHICS - This lecture will define Performance Ethics, a new style of leadership, and its five core attributes. The lecture will then discuss how the five attributes can be applied to a wide variety of law enforcement settings. By relating leadership effectiveness to five attainable attributes, an individual will able to measure and assess the extent to which performance ethics is present.

VIDEO: “5 Attributes”

SITUATIONAL LEADERSHIP - The situational leadership model and training is based on three major assumptions concerning leadership. First, one leadership size does not fit all. Our second assumption is that leadership is not, and never will be, static. A leader that is successful in one environment may not be successful as the environment changes. Third, it presupposes that the success as a leader means addressing organizational needs, enhancing performance, and producing outcomes that otherwise would not occur.

VIDEO: “Situational Leadership”

LEADERSHIP CULTURE - A major assumption of this course is that while some people possess leadership attributes, the organizational culture is a primary factor in the development of effective leaders. Organizational cultures that tend to be risk adverse, have weak accountability measures and processes, or discourage innovation are not likely to develop a robust leadership team. On the other hand, a culture that recognizes and rewards individual acts of leadership tends to encourage leadership actions at every level.

VIDEO: “Leadership Culture”

Video Lectures

The primary presentation material for this course will be conveyed to students through a combination of written narrative and short video clips.

Below are excerpts from three of the presentations within this course.

Discussion Paper No. 3 Tension -- Leadership v. Management

Supplemental Written Material

Organizations are increasingly confronted with new challenges, and are being asked to continually address difficult and dangerous circumstances, which seem to defy the approaches and solutions that have worked in the past. These circumstances, in and of themselves, place an ethical responsibility on our leaders to act wisely, boldly, and in a manner consistent with the public’s values. Unfortunately, in attempting to address these concerns, we have consistently placed an emphasis on improving management processes as pretext for improving leadership. Nearly all of the initiatives to improve government over the past decade have been management reforms. If you can accept for the moment that there is a difference between management and leadership, and that there is a great need for wise and bold leadership to address unaddressed performance and ethical imperatives, it becomes clear to see that we’re not going to improve leadership by focusing on management. In short, someone has to set the direction and the agenda for managers. And someone has to accept responsibility and be accountable.

Unfortunately, leadership training is often very closely aligned with management training, so much so that it is often difficult to distinguish the two. In fact, given the current emphasis and popularity in leadership training, many institutions have responded by simply changing the titles of their courses by deleting the word “management” and inserting the word “leadership”, while retaining the exact same curriculum that was previously taught as “management”. Examples abound – strategic management has become strategic leadership; managing change has become leading change; management accountability has become leadership accountability. In most cases, the courses do equate leadership and management and rarely are able to identify the defining characteristic that distinguishes between them.

WHAT IS ETHICAL LEADERSHIP?

Taken from the HBO series Band of Brothers, this short video excerpt presents the real-life situation of an Army Major during World War II who was confronted with a very difficult leadership decision. The purpose of this video is to stimulate discussion about the definition of leadership, the responsibilities of leadership, how leaders react in difficult, unplanned situations, and the options they have to choose from.

The film depicts a situation that took place towards the end of the War, when a squad from E Company was being asked to complete missions of high risk and limited value for the sole purpose of enhancing the wartime record of a colonel who was looking to solidify his position in the post war military hierarchy. In this scene, Col. Sink, the brigade commander, has ordered the men to go on dangerous patrols, late at night, in enemy territory in order to capture German prisoners and thereby increase statistics. In one of these unnecessary missions, an E Company trooper was killed. Despite this, the colonel commanded that the Company repeat the patrol the next night.

Sample Exercise

Video: “Band of Brothers”

This video clip causes an endless debate over whether Major Winters’ action in fact qualifies as leadership. On one hand, many see it as a bad example – encouraging insubordination. On the other hand, others see it as the epitome of leadership – stepping into a void, doing what you believe to be

the right thing, acting in the interests of your subordinates, and taking full responsibility for your own actions. Still others believe that there were other options that Major Winters could have pursued, like

confronting the colonel with his doubts about the wisdom of the mission.

Student Discussion

Questions for Students

Rank the following statements in order of the most compelling leadership actions taken by Major Winters. Fully explain your ranking in terms of the concepts presented in this course:

• He decided to personally provide the unwelcome news about the mission to the squad;

• He directed the squad to NOT perform the mission; • He advised the squad that they were being moved out of the war zone the next

day;• He advised his subordinate that he would write the mission report, submit it

personally to the colonel, and risk any adverse consequence.

Conclusion

Video: “Final Words from Professor McWeeney”

Thank YouFor taking part in our program

Sample Webliography

Leadership/Ethics

General Failure. The Atlantic. November 2012. By Thomas E. Ricks. [In this article, Tom Ricks sets out the argument in his new book The Generals.]From the article: Since 9/11, the armed forces have played a central role in our national affairs, waging two long wars—each considerably longer than America’s involvement in World War II. Yet a major change in how our military operates has gone almost unnoticed. Relief of generals has become so rare that, as Lieutenant Colonel Paul Yingling noted during the Iraq War, a private who loses his rifle is now punished more than a general who loses his part of a war. In the wars of the past decade, hundreds of Army generals were deployed to the field, and the available evidence indicates that not one was relieved by the military brass for combat ineffectiveness. This change is arguably one of the most significant developments in our recent military history—and an important factor in the failure of our wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. Read more Review of Benghazi attack faults ‘grossly’ inadequate security, leadership failures. The Washington Post. December 18, 2012. By Anne Gearan. From the article: An independent investigation of the fatal attack on a U.S. diplomatic post in Libya on Sept. 11 found that “grossly” inadequate security and reliance on local militias left U.S. diplomats and other personnel vulnerable, the State Department told Congress on Tuesday.The review of the assault on the mission in Benghazi, Libya, that killed Ambassador J. Christopher Stevens and three other Americans faulted systemic failures of leadership and management deficiencies at senior levels within two bureaus of the State Department, according to an unclassified version posted on the department’s Web site Tuesday night…Despite the broad security failures, the report did not single out any individual officials as violating procedures and did not recommend any disciplinary action…Read more

Making IGs Part of the Solution. Government Executive. November 7, 2012. By Gadi Dechter.From the article: The internal government watchdogs known as inspectors general spend their days examining the federal bureaucracy for crooked contractors, wasteful spending and $16 muffins.With an army of 12,000 workers and an aggregate budget of around $2 billion, their feared audits and investigations annually identify tens of billions of dollars in questionable costs and lead to thousands of successful criminal prosecutions, indictments, contractor debarments and firings. Read more

(Note: These articles represent a small sample of the material that is available as part of the curriculum. They are specifically categorized so as to provide background and further reading for each class.)

w w w. C S M - P L I . o r g