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We're usually the ones who really
want to do anything we can at an agency to assist the agency
to meet its mission goals.
To be a jack of all trades and serve the superintendent
as best possible.
I help my boss, the assistant secretary,
manage that very broad responsibilities
in policy management budget here at the departmental level.
I love going and dealing and talking to people,
and working with people.
And so that's it for me.
Your job is no longer to do things,
but it's to help other people do things, help them succeed.
There's also a huge need for people
who can communicate with a diverse audience, who
can lead teams, who can facilitate decision making.
Understand where various stakeholders are coming from
and how they are likely to react to different scenarios.
I have significant influential, trusting relationships
with people.
Really, mostly, getting people who
are from a variety of disciplines,
a variety of levels in their career, to
work together effectively.
If I'm passionate about something,
then I shouldn't shy away from it.
I should just be very intentional at learning
and becoming the best and becoming an expert at it,
and then I can find ways to increase the value of that.
To not be afraid of feedback and to learn that really quickly,
because you're going to have so many people around you
in the federal government who are experts
in all these different areas.
Being true to yourself and recognizing the skills
and qualities that you have.
As soon as we make that shift into a supervisory role,
your subordinates are likely to be more technically
competent than you are, and being
comfortable with that notion, and being
willing to depend on them, but asking them
the right questions, being able to probe so that you can
discover things that they may have overlooked that you can
help them understand the assumptions
they may have made, which may or may not be valid.
Don't be afraid to go after what you want.
It's worth the risk.
Don't let any opportunity pass you by.