TUESDAY, AUGUST 24, 2010
KLMNO
S THE FEDERAL WORKER
washingtonpost.com Q.
The Federal Eye reported last week on an Office of Personnel Management employee who sent an e-mail seeking a volunteer with sign language skills to assist a new hire who is deaf. Although OPM says it provides interpreters, co-workers were hoping a volun- teer would teach them basic skills so they could better communicate with their new colleague. What acts of generosity of spirit have you witnessed among your col- leagues?
E-mail your answer to
federalworker@washpost.com and include your full name, home town and the agency for which you work. We might include your response in Friday’s Washington Post. When answers are particularly sensitive, we will consider a respondent’s request to withhold full identification.
The Fed Page
Guidelines on Hatch Act and social media are ‘rules of the road’ for upcoming elections
W
hen the Hatch Act was passed in 1939, social media tools like Facebook
and Twitter were decades away. But they are ubiquitous now and the Office of Special Council has received many questions about how the law, which limits the political activity of federal employees, affects these new forms of communication. With the District and Maryland holding primary elections next month and the entire country gearing up for congressional and other elections in November, OSC decided it’s a good time to let federal employees know what they can do using social media without running afoul of the law. The Hatch Act applies to
executive branch workers, including postal employees, but not the president and vice president. District government workers also are covered. Congress, however, is considering legislation, introduced by Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-D.C.), that would exclude them once the District enacts a law with the same effect. Generally, the Hatch Act permits federal employees greater freedom to participate in election activities than many realize. “If you’re not on the government dime and you’re not in a government building,” there’s a good chance the activity is allowed, said Ward Morrow, a lawyer for the American Federation of Government Employees.
According to the OSC, “federal employees may not solicit, accept, or receive campaign contributions at any time. Further, they may not use their official authority or influence to affect the result of an election. Finally, they may not engage in political activity while on duty or in a federal workplace.” Those prohibitions carry over
to the Twitter and Facebook worlds.
But what happens if you
Who is spending what on midterms
Check our Top 10 list each week tracking the outside organizations pouring the most cash into races across the country. A13
Military bands play on
— and on and on The vast number of U.S. military bands may not be music to Defense Secretary Gates’s ears as he looks to cut spending. A13
telework and your kitchen table is your federal workplace? That was not addressed in the July guidance.
OSC issued a list of “Frequently
Asked Questions Regarding Social Media and the Hatch Act” last month. But as he so often does, Uncle Sam did not make the answers simple. In some cases, the answers differ based on position, with “less restricted employees” getting more leeway than “further restricted employees.” The further- restricted employees include
FEDERAL DIARY Joe Davidson
On Leadership: The Federal Coach 6Excerpt from
views.washingtonpost.com/leadership/fedcoach The nonprofit Partnership for Public Service and The
Washington Post’s On Leadership site jointly produce the Federal Coach, hosted by Tom Fox, director of the partnership’s Center for Government Leadership. The goal is to “engage, inspire and learn from you, the federal worker, whether you are a new hire, a contractor or a manager at the highest level.” Share your ideas and questions at fedcoach@ourpublicservice. org.
TWITTER
Social media such as Twitter and Facebook have new implications for the Hatch Act, which limits federal workers’ political activity.
many federal law enforcement employees, intelligence agency staffers, administrative law judges, senior executives and Federal Election Commission employees. Here is a sampling from the
Q & A provided by the Special Counsel’s office: May federal employees write a blog expressing support or opposition to partisan political candidates and political parties? The basic answer is yes, but with restrictions. They can’t write blogs while at work and they should not use their official titles to give weight to their opinions. Further- restricted employees also may not take an active part in a campaign. That includes distributing campaign literature, which means they are not allowed to post anything on their blogs “that was created by, or leads to information created by, the party, partisan candidate, or partisan campaign, because OSC would consider such activity to be the equivalent of distributing literature,” according to the special counsel’s guidelines. Employees may advocate for or against political parities or candidates on Facebook pages as long as they stay within the broader Hatch Act limitations. May federal employees continue to “follow” the official White House Twitter account, or be a “fan” or “friend” of, or “like,” the official White House Facebook page, after President Obama becomes a candidate for reelection? Yes, but with the same
restrictions that apply to other candidates. “Note that the Twitter account
@barackobama is not an official Presidential account,” cautions the OSC guidance. “Nor is the Facebook page found at
www.facebook.com/- barackobama.” Both are affiliated with the Democratic National Committee, and that’s a partisan political group. The “fan” and “friend”
restrictions come with general limitations, such as engaging in political activity while at work. That includes using social media or e-mail to accept an invitation to a political event or forwarding the invitation to others. Further-restricted employees
have an additional limitation. Links on their Facebook pages to a candidate’s Web site must be visible only to the employee. Sometimes the guidelines seem almost contradictory, or like a hair-splitting exercise. Less-restricted employees, for
example, may post a link that leads to the home page of a candidate but not “directly to the page of the Web site on which readers can contribute money.” Of course, many candidates ask for money on their home pages, though readers may need a second click to make the contribution. Nonetheless, “I think it’s good
they put the rules of the road out there,” Morrow said. Suggestion: Read the rules
carefully, then check with your supervisor if you need clarification.
federaldiary@washpost.com
The Hatch Act guidelines can be found with this column at www.
washingtonpost.com and more information can be found at
http://osc.gov/hatchact.htm#.
What kids can teach us about leadership Every Friday during the summer, my wife and I have a massive pizza party with our neighbors — it’s as much for the adults as for the kids. Typically, I’m just getting home from work when the festivities begin, so my mind is not quite in weekend mode. As a result, I find myself analyzing the group dynamics among the dozen or so neighborhood kids playing together. You might think that the oldest kids run the group, or perhaps the most vocal and outgoing kids call the shots. In reality, a different leader emerges every week, and I realized that there may be something to learn about leadership from these kids. Given that much of leadership
in government is peer leadership and more than
command-and-control, here are some of my lessons learned on how to best lead your peers.
To start, one of the kids usually steps up to take responsibility for generating ideas among the group. It’s stunning to see a group of kids —all younger than 10 — facilitate a brainstorm around the best ways to spend their Friday nights. They don’t wait for the adults to come up with ideas for their playtime. As peers leading peers, we should do the same in the workplace. Don’t always wait for an order from your supervisor. Organize discussions among your peers and take action. Your leaders are likely to be impressed.
Next, the kids let the best ideas win. No one acts as a dictator over the group. They would probably be isolated if they did. Rather, a team captain emerges based on the idea selected. The team captain organizes the group around a specific activity and determines
a set of rules. This allows the rest of the group to self-select into comfortable roles and begin having fun almost immediately.
Often, when we’re leading peers, we think we need to own every decision from beginning to end. Real leaders facilitate group dynamics, and they’re comfortable letting go so that others can take the lead at times.
At the end of the night, I’m always impressed with how our children share credit for having had fun. We may compliment them for playing so well with the other neighborhood kids — usually after threatening them once that they’ll be sent home if they misbehave — and they’ll be quick to point out that one of the other kids came up with the best game of the evening. Here’s another instance in which a peer leader in government needs to put ego aside and allow others to shine. Successful leaders emerge when they make everyone better. Whenever you’re in a position to lead your peers, make sure to shine the spotlight on their good work among your colleagues and your senior leaders. The neighborhood children
make it look so easy. However, it’s much more difficult to be a peer leader in the workplace. What steps do you take to lead your peers? Is there someone else in your office who is particularly effective at leading colleagues? What should you avoid doing at all costs?
Visit On Leadership at views.
washingtonpost.com/leadership/ fedcoach. Mondays: “Getting Ahead” — advice on leading up. Wednesdays: “View From the
Top Floor” — interviews with federal leaders. This week: Doug Wilson, assistant secretary of defense for public affairs. Fridays: Answering questions about navigating the federal workforce terrain.
B3
Pentagon surveys military spouses on ‘don’t ask, don’t tell’ 150,000 are asked
how they would react if law were repealed
by Ed O’Keefe
A new survey sent to about 150,000 military spouses asks whether they would encourage their husband or wife to leave the military if it repeals the “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy banning gays and lesbians from openly serving in uniform. The 44-question survey, dis- tributed Friday, also asks how spouses might behave at social functions on a military base if an openly gay couple attends. “Your voice is important and we need you to participate,” De- fense Secretary Robert M. Gates said in a letter accompanying the
survey. “The survey is confiden- tial and will enable you to be straightforward and candid in your responses.” Spouses have until Sept. 27 to complete the survey, says the Pentagon. “This survey will help the mili-
tary leadership assess the im- pacts, if any, a change in the law commonly known as ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ might have on family readiness and military commu- nity life,” Defense Department spokeswoman Cynthia Smith said in an e-mail. The survey asks spouses
whether they think their hus- band or wife has ever worked with a service member they think to be gay and how well they knew the individual. It also asks whether they would want the military to provide them with in- formation if the law is repealed by Congress this year. Options in-
clude receiving information about the repeal on military Web sites, through online chats, in- person informational sessions, from military chaplains or coun- selors or not at all.
Among other questions on the
survey: “How important a factor would a repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell be to you in making de- cisions about your spouse’s fu- ture in the military?” “Would a repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell affect your willingness to recommend military service to a family member or close friend?” “Assume Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell is repealed and you live in on- base housing. If a gay or lesbian Service member lived in your neighborhood with their partner, would you stay on-base or would you try to move out?”
Teaching students how to cope in disasters FED FACES
Michelle Collins, emergency management program services specialist, Federal Emergency Management Agency Region I, National Preparedness Division
Best known for: After witness- ing how difficult disaster situations can be on children in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, Collins joined FEMA to launch Student Tools for Emergency Plan- ning, or STEP. The program teaches fourth- and fifth- graders what to do in emergency situa-
tions, as well as how to initiate life-saving preparedness efforts in their homes. More than 20,000 students have been trained in two years, and the pro- gram is being expanded from New England into New York, New Jersey and Wisconsin. Previous govern- ment service: FEMA disaster assistance reservist from Febru- ary 2008 to May 2009. Biggest challenge: Keeping up with the demand of the pro- gram from communi- ties.
Michelle Collins
“Once we had suc- cess stories to share and schools were vol-
unteering to sign up for the pro- gram, it became like a growing snowball” that was being chased down a hill. “I always remind my- self that the growth we have seen is a good problem to have!” Quote: “[My husband and I] share a real passion for public service and serving our commu- nity in the best way we can. And for all of the challenges in gov- ernment, there are so many op- portunities to do good things in the public sector.”
—Partnership for Public Service
For more on Collins, go to
washingtonpost.com/fedpage. Send your nominations for Federal Faces to
fedfaces@washpost.com.
“Would the attendance of a gay or lesbian Service member with his or her partner affect how of- ten you attend these types of military social events?” The military distributed a sim- ilar survey to about 400,000 troops this summer; about 108,000 of them responded, Smith said. A copy of the spouses’ survey was provided to The Washington Post by OutServe, a group of more than 500 active duty gay and lesbian troops. The Defense Department verified the copy’s authenticity. “We overwhelmingly believe
that spouses are on our side for the repeal of ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,’ ” OutServe co-director Ty Walrod said in an e-mail. “We saw in the previous survey the low participation rate, because military members simply are
ready for the repeal of the policy. A new generation of members are leading the U.S. military forces and that generation un- derstands that gay and lesbian military members are no differ- ent.” The surveys will be incorporat- ed into the final recommenda- tions of a Pentagon working group studying the potential im- pact of repealing the policy. The group’s report is due to President Obama by Dec. 1. The results of the surveys are expected to re- main confidential, making it dif- ficult for outsiders to determine how military families feel about a potential repeal. Nationally, three-quarters of Americans said they support openly gay people serving in the military, according to a Washington Post-ABC News poll conducted in February.
ed.okeefe@washingtonpost.com
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