Brad Rourke

Category: leadership

  • Where Did I Fail? Tough Questions For Year-End Reflection

    I know it’s just another arbitrary day, but I like to begin the new year looking forward. That usually means I spend the waning days of December reviewing things. My tendency is often to gloss over problems and let myself off the hook more than I should, so I like to carve out some time…

  • It's An Extrovert's World, But Technology Allows Introverts A Toehold

    Technology and social media may allow introverts to assume more leadership.

  • What Public Officials Want To Know About New Technology

    Mayors and city council members speak up about what they want to know when it comes to using new technology for the public’s business.

  • Gift Cards And Back Alleys

    My latest piece is posted at Public Square Today, my blog at Washington Times Communities: Gift Cards And Back Alleys In the bribery case against embattled Baltimore mayor Sheila Dixon, the allegations revolve around gift cards. The prosecution says she misused “dozens” of gift cards originally meant for needy families. She says she thought the…

  • The Trolls Vs. The Vigilantes In Public Life

    My latest piece is posted at Public Square Today, my blog at Washington Times Communities: The Trolls Vs. The Vigilantes In Public Life At an online community I co-manage, there’s a conflict. The community in question is a forum for people to discuss local issues, and we’ve set it up intentionally so there are a…

  • Seven Things I Can Control

    The other day I was talking to a friend of mine about some things that were troubling me. I was unhappy with the behavior of others. As we discussed the situation, it became clear that the behavior may well have been driven by others’ reactions to my own behavior. “You can’t control what they do,”…

  • Tell Me About The Time You Failed

    I’ve had more than my fair share of occasions to hire someone. I’ve done it on my own, and in teams of people. I’ve been the one making the decision, and I’ve been in an advisory capacity. There’s a question I always ask, but that I myself have never been asked. Indeed, when I ask…

  • A Lesson In Collaboration

    I recently spent an evening with two friends, working on a soundtrack for a DVD. My friend Ed Corr’s company, OPX, is creating a video presentation about what the office of the future might look like, if you ask the twenty-somethings who are going to have to work in them and design them. To its…

  • Learning To Theme

    One of the most important skills in working withe the public is, I believe, one of the most often overlooked. People whose work is public facing — community benefit organization leaders, public agency heads, journalists — need to be able to theme what they hear. Put simply, this means “making sense” of what they hear,…