ELGL is partnering with Cartegraph for the Rocky Mountain High-Performance Government workshop on May 3, 2019 (register today!) and we’re profiling the ten speakers so you can get to know them before their high-energy presentations on becoming a high-performance agency!
Jeff Newsome
What’s a “high performance” government idea you’re fascinated with with right now?
One really cool trend I’ve noticed is the creation of specialized teams, outside of the general HR body, focused on development of employees. Governments are striving to alter and shape the way their employees interface with training and development by removing the responsibility of professional/personal development training from Human Resources and giving it a home of its own.
When this is no longer tied in with HR, HR culture, etc. a lot of new and innovative training solutions are born. Not necessarily “better” but different and different in a way that may promote a different attitude and level of engagement with professional/personal development training.
If you could give career advice to your 22-year-old self, what would you say?
Stop taking everything so seriously! Allow yourself to take risks, fail, and keep moving forward. Life’s problems and the dramas at work are never worth the space in your mind that they take.
What’s something that recently surprised you?
A study done by a performance consulting agency on how fear plays a role in organization. Over 100 international CEOs were studied and found 5 top fears and over 500 ways those fears, when acted on, negatively impact the business.
So far, what’s your proudest accomplishment in 2019?
Fully staffing and building a team of people focused on creative solutions to employee development at an international aerospace business
What podcast are you currently listening to? Would you recommend it?
I don’t currently listen to one but the last one was The Joe Rogan Experience
What’s your best advice for a local government that wants to adopt new innovations or high performance practices?
Prepare. Prepare for the massive resistance to change and make sure to celebrate the small wins. Sometimes, people have a hard time considering new ideas and this can lead to a lot of adversity which needs to be handled with compassion, tact and strategy if it is to be overcome.
People will likely love the new culture, new attitudes, etc. they just need to take a different path to get there. Additionally, people will sometimes actively work to stop your efforts… typically behind your back. It is important to keep morale high while implementing this type of change. Celebrating the small wins can help with morale as a lot of adversity is faced leading to the bigger wins.
What question should we have asked?
What drives you each day? What is your purpose?
What’s your answer?
My answer: To be a better man than the man I was the day before. To be more innovative, more stress resilient, and to love others with a greater capacity than I did the day before.