Lessons Learned: Assessing the District of Columbia's Certified Public Management Program

By concentrating on building leadership and management capacity in the middle ranks of the organization, government services will be enhanced and public trust increased. While this proposition makes intuitive sense, it is difficult to verify. However, the District of Columbia government offers an interesting case study in trying to achieve this goal. This paper outlines the history, rationale, and current status of an innovative leadership development strategy for a complex municipal environment. It specifically reviews an assessment of the Program for Excellence in Municipal Management—a training program of the District of Columbia government which meets the criteria of the Certified Public Manager program, implemented by The George Washington University Center for Excellence in Municipal Management. The paper presents lessons learned from the experience to assist government organizations in their transformational efforts. While government training programs are not unique, the DC case is different in that the delivery of the training is conducted through a public-private partnership, is organized for middle management, and the explicit purpose of the training is to enhance public service delivery by giving public managers the tools necessary to work with and through the bureaucracy and organizations of government.