The Cloudy Future of Federal Leadership

The Senior Executives Association released a report on "Taking the Helm: Attracting the Next Generation of Federal Leaders." The group surveyed GS-14 and GS-15 managers to find out their attitudes about moving up to top positions in government, the Senior Executive Service, which includes some important tech posts. The bottom line can be found in Finding 5:

Despite respondents' stated interest in serving in SES and senior professional positions, less than 50 percent of respondents said that the attractors to serving in these positions outweigh the detractors to serving in the positions.

That means more than 50 percent of mid-level managers don't want to take on a leadership position. Not good news all around.