By Carol Bonosaro
That the incoming Obama administration will face huge challenges is indisputable. Many good government groups in Washington are anxious to help, and each seems to have produced a hefty document outlining how he and his new team can accomplish a seamless transition and govern effectively. That advice probably isn't at the top of the president-elect's must-read list just yet.
But in that gusher of transition advice, one message is critical: The new president and his appointees must embrace the career executive corps and effectively engage it if they are to meet those challenges. The almost 7,000 career federal executives, with an average of 26 years of experience, competed for their jobs and were selected on merit. They are an absolutely essential link between any administration's policies and agency implementation at every stage. Perhaps most important, they are the key to mobilizing the 1.8 million federal civilian employees (and millions more contractor staff) to carry out both initiatives and reforms of existing programs.
No administration would think of entering office without already having established a firm and positive "handshake" with the nation's top military brass; to do less, at the least, would open it to severe criticism, and, at the worst, undermine its ability to defend the nation. Exactly the same approach is needed with career civilian executives, but with respect to a much broader set of missions.
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