News

http://www.oregonlive.com/opinion/index.ssf/2010/07/dhs_commits_to_rising_above_it.html

As social workers who care about Oregon's most vulnerable residents, we've followed the travails of the Oregon Department of Human Services for the last dozen years. Month after month, we hear of calamities ultimately traced to a deficit of leadership. Managers are scrutinized and disciplined; executive heads roll; new leaders are recruited. It's an unproductive pattern. And for DHS, these problems have deadly consequences.

Albert Einstein once remarked, "Problems cannot be solved at the same level of awareness that created them." Truly as citizens we should not be surprised.

Which brings us to The Oregonian's recent article about DHS paying for executive coaching for its top managers ("DHS pays for bosses to be coached," July 8). Innovative companies understand -- and ample research demonstrates -- that leaders are rarely born but must be cultivated. Most managers rise through the ranks because of their technical expertise, but few have leadership training. Quality leadership is a combination of personal factors and attention to individual learning needs.

Public-sector organizations are often stranded in a 19th century bare-bones mentality that disinvests in the cultivation of leaders. Yet the environment of most human services providers is changing so turbulently that the need for this training is urgent so managers can provide effective guidance to hundreds of employees reeling from years of downsizing and unpredictability.

So we were startled by The Oregonian article's tone of contempt for DHS' reversal of this self-destructive pattern of neglect. DHS spends $194,000 on leadership development -- a "sliver," according to the article -- but somehow dubiously worthy of negative scrutiny. That dollar amount is 0.001 of a percent of the DHS budget, far less than most private companies spend on leadership training. Is this front-page news? Frankly, we're more curious about the agency's spending on pens and notepads.

The article mentions emotional intelligence (in scare quotes no less) as part of the training's focus. This emphasis is hardly indulgent. It's consistent with current science on what works in leadership development. Who has ever worked well for the kind of boorish bosses observed in television shows like "The Office"? Are those the type of people we want managing caseworkers who make life-or-death decisions about vulnerable people? Effective leaders need to be intentional in their actions. That self-awareness must be strengthened.

Most troubling of all, however, was the comment by a spokesperson that DHS is reconsidering its bare-bones investment in the core of its organizational strength "given the current budget situation." In a year of such extreme budget cuts -- at the tail end of almost a decade of downsizing -- organizations like DHS need bold, visionary leaders who can see problems differently and solve them with creativity and critical thinking. Paying attention to leadership doesn't mean we aren't still focused on outcomes and bottom lines. Everyone is gravely concerned about cuts to core service systems. But compromising DHS' minimal focus on leadership can only make the situation worse. It is leaders working in partnership with their constituents and communities who will find new, creative solutions to the current quandary. Thoughtful and reasonable investments in their ongoing development should be commended.

Wayne Scott manages training and organizational development for Multnomah County and is an adjunct faculty member in the  School of Social Work at Portland State University. Laura Nissen is an associate professor at the same school and national program director for Reclaiming Futures.