Table of Contents

Part I. Ideas for Effective Public Service, 1. Introduction: The Oath and the Opportunity, 2. The Attitude of a Public Servant, 3. A Reflective Practitioner's Philosophy: Creating Public Value and Solving Public Problems, 4. Implementing Public Policy and Using Networks, 5. Performance-Based Management: An Opportunity Squandered, 6. Government's Greatest Achievements, 7. Qualities Needed by Future Public Servants, Part II. Examples for Effective Public Service: Profiles of Public Service Heroes, 8. Abraham Lincoln, Keeping the Union Together, 9. Frederick Douglass, Calling Out the Brutality and Hypocrisy of Slavery, 10. Ida B. Wells, Journalist Documenting Racial Injustice, 11. Upton Sinclair, Muckraking Author, 12. Alice Paul, Fighting for Women's Voting Rights, 13. Harry Truman, Plain-Spoken President, 14. Frances Perkins, Champion of the New Deal, 15. George Marshall, Rescuing and Restoring Europe, 16. Martin Luther King, Jr., Warrior for Economic Justice, 17. Rachel Carson, Mother of a Movement, 18. Robert Kennedy, Beacon of Hope, 19. Sergio Vieira De Mello, Diplomat in Harm's Way, Epilogue: Lessons Learned from Public Service Heroes, Appendix A. Ripples of Hope: Sustaining Quotations for Public Servants

About the Author

Michael M. Stahl is a 40-year veteran of public service in the legislative and executive branches in state and federal government in the United States. He led organizations ranging from 10 to 3,100 people, managing programs to provide grants and loans to schools for asbestos abatement, ensuring compliance with all environmental laws, and working with international partners to solve environmental problems in other countries and regions of the world. He taught for almost 20 years as an Adjunct Faculty member in the Master of Public Administration (MPA) Program at George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia. He was awarded both the Meritorious Presidential Rank Award and the Distinguished Presidential Rank Award by the U.S. government, and the Distinguished Career Service Award by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. He has authored several articles on public administration, including, most recently, Sustaining the Public Service Mentality, and New Imperatives for Public Managers. He holds an MPA from the University of Missouri, a Leadership Coaching Certificate from Georgetown University, and is the CEO of Stahl Strategic, LLC, a coaching and consulting firm in Staunton, Virginia.