No Walk in the Park: An Agency Looks for Ways to Build Leadership

By Stephen Barr
Reprinted from The Washington Post
Sunday, September 10, 2000; Page C02

The leaders of the National Park Service meet in St. Louis tomorrow for "Discovery 2000," a gathering that undoubtedly will create some buzz within the agency, as might be expected any time 277 park superintendents get together in one place.

But this "general conference," the Park Service's first since 1988, might defy the odds and turn out to be more than just a networking confab. As part of its conference agenda, the Park Service has decided to tackle "leadership," an issue many federal agencies are struggling with as they enter the new century.

For much of the Park Service's 84 years, the superintendents have run their parks like fiefdoms. As a lone wolf, each superintendent did what he or she thought was best for the park (even if it angered surrounding communities) and tried to stay away from the D.C. headquarters crowd.

But the top jobs at the Park Service are becoming more complicated. Superintendents must be more than park custodians. Increasingly, they have to sort through scientific and environmental issues and need business skills to forge partnerships with the private sector.

Like other federal agencies, after years of downsizing and budget restraints, the Park Service also requires leadership abilities and broader perspectives not only at the top but throughout its operations.

"I think where leadership is going is understanding that leadership is not just the superintendent," said Dan Wenk, one of the conference organizers and a superintendent.

"I may be a 'leader' by definition as a park superintendent, but there are a lot of people who are leaders by example, for the work they are doing in the parks, the kind of partnerships they are creating, the kind of programs they are developing in education, natural resources, cultural resources, and I think what this leadership component is all about is recognizing that we are all leaders, that we all have a role to play.

"And if we don't recognize it as leaders . . . we're going to lose some of the best people we have. We're going to stifle some of that leadership potential we have in the organization," Wenk said.

In an effort to foster new leaders, Park Service management selected about 200 employees who have valued traits and who work in various parts of the agency to attend the conference.

The Park Service also has invited an array of outsiders to give keynote speeches, run workshops and observe the week-long proceedings in St. Louis. About a fourth of the 1,350 attendees will be from nonprofit and advocacy groups, often some of the Park Service's toughest critics.

It is easy, of course, to slip into cynicism when any agency talks about leadership.

The parks conference, for instance, will offer 34 workshops on leadership, some with inspirational titles like "Bringing Our Best Qualities Forward" and "Dream Makers: Vision and Leadership."

Other sessions, though, ring more true, such as one titled "Will the National Park Service Ever Be Able to Add Two Plus Two and Arrive at Four?"

In many respects, Wenk, 48, represents what the Park Service looks for in leaders.

He joined the agency in 1975 as a landscape architect after graduating from Michigan State University. Ten years later, he was named superintendent of the Mount Rushmore National Memorial.

At Rushmore, he developed a partnership with private-sector groups to raise $60 million in donations for the preservation of the massive rock sculpture and construction of an interpretative center, museum and other facilities aimed at accommodating an increasing number of visitors.

While superintendent, he served as the program manager for the National Parks Pass, which went on sale to the public in April. The $50 pass gets a visitor into any park that charges an entrance fee for one year from the date of purchase and includes a Park Service newsletter subscription. Since its launch, about 140,000 passes have been sold, providing a new revenue stream for the agency.

Like other federal agencies, the Park Service is fighting to keep from losing its best talent to the private sector and faces a wave of retirements in the next five years.

"We have to make sure we are a relevant organization to the American public. We have to make sure we are connected to the public so that people want to go to work for the National Park Service," Wenk said. "I hope there are more people out there who want to come to work for us."

Stephen Barr's e-mail address is barrs@washpost.com