Nellie M. Gorbea | Rhode Island secretary of state
Successful management can look different across sectors, but there are common ideas to inspire good work. To me, good leadership is listening and connecting with the people you’re leading to achieve your mission.
Your leadership is what can inspire your team with a mission-driven focus and give employees a genuine stake in what you’re trying to accomplish. Government is often limited in the tools it has to motivate employees. But the most important tool for increasing efficiency and accountability in government is available to all sectors – it is how you lead people.
Public-sector leadership challenges you in a way no other job does. Everything you do is subject to public scrutiny. You need to be engaging and creative within strict legal and ethical rules that ensure transparency. But it is my leadership that keeps our team focused on our common mission – making government work for Rhode Islanders.
It’s my job to embody that mission, communicate it clearly and help shape what it means to employees. For a member of my Business Services team, that could be helping cut red tape for businesses and helping them start and grow.
Leadership by listening to your team, connecting with employees and finding new ways to better serve the customer can be found in both the public and private sectors. It is that leadership that puts you on a path to success.