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Russ Linden

Contributor

Russ Linden is a management consultant, educator and author. His major areas of expertise include change management, performance improvement and collaboration. He has written five books, his most recent being Leading Across Boundaries: Creating Collaborative Agencies in a Networked World (Jossey-Bass, 2010).

His clients have included several intelligence, natural-resources and defense agencies; the departments of State, Treasury, Interior, Veterans Affairs and Education; more than 40 state and local government agencies; and nonprofits in the U.S. and Israel.

When public employees ask the question "what is in it for me," they are evaluating what the change requires from them. Russ Linden provides insights in to how to manage the process of change.
Individuals need it. So do organizations.
Dealing poorly (or not at all) with the human element is usually where change initiatives go south.
Forget about ideology, the great majority of voters just want a more effective government.
What worked in the business world, writes Russ Linden, doesn't always work in the public sector.
Good relationships mean that others are more likely to give you the benefit of the doubt when you're in trouble.
Managers and leaders have to take themselves out of the fray to understand what's really going on.
As one emergency management veteran puts it, "you don't want to start forming relationships when you're standing in the rubble."
Millennials may be problematic, but consider their potential for radically improving government.
With a little planning and a lot of commitment, writes Russ Linden, a crisis can produce significant changes in the status quo.