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Robert
Gest III featured at annual MPA dinner
By Kimberly Wallmeier '06
Each year, the Masters in
Public Administration program hosts a dinner to bring current
students, graduates, and faculty together to celebrate its continued
success. This year, 15 students will graduate with an MPA degree, the
largest class since the program began in 1982. The dinner was held at the
Villanova Conference center and featured Robert Gest, III as the keynote
speaker. Gest is a retired Air Force colonel who made significant
contributions to the Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles and the U.S.
Federal Executive Institute during his career in public administration.
After an introduction welcome Dr. Craig Wheeland, MPA director and chair of
the political science department, Dr. Robert Maranto, political science
professor, introduced the speaker, calling him “an amazing leader who leads
by learning and gives his employees everything.”
Gest spoke on the topic of
masterful public administration and noted the key success factors that
determine a person’s effectiveness in public administration. First, he
explained that to be successful, a person must first know who he is. Citing
Plato, Gest explained that knowing oneself involves knowing where you have
come from, identifying strengths and areas of improvement, having goals,
ambitions and dreams and following your personal code of ethics. “There is a
way to get the job done without abandoning your personal ethics,” Gest
commented in a critique on the abandonment of personal ethics in the
business world today.
Following his presentation of key success factors, Gest revealed that in
order to be a masterful leader, one must be able to tell a story in order to
fashion visions of the future and capture the energy of his or her
followers. “We need stories to transmit values and build cultures. A
leader must be able to envision a future and create a story that compels
others to support that leader’s call to action.” But, above all, Gest
believes that although public service is often a thankless job, no one
should ever accept the saying “good enough for government.” Masterful public
administrators recognize his or her limitations and fully utilize colleagues
and employees as resources to implement change. |
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