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JUNE 4, 2026 |
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Harvard Kennedy School | | | |
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An HKS project is examining what Americans think about public servants and how government workers feel about their jobs. (Photo by Ricky Carioti/The Washington Post via Getty Images) | | |
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Public Leadership & Management |
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What do people think of public servants? |
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HKS Professor Elizabeth Linos and her team at The People Lab have begun an ambitious study to understand how Americans perceive government workers and how government workers feel about their jobs. They have just released a report based on a national survey on how Americans view public workers—from postal workers to election officials to firefighters—as part of the lab’s new Public Servant Project. “When we measured how Americans feel about public servants on four key dimensions—warmth, competence, integrity, and innovation—in general, the American public is pretty favorable to public servants. Most Americans think of public servants as warm and competent and honest,” Linos says. “At the same time, most Americans also think that public servants are not innovative.” Linos and her team also just launched a survey of how public servants feel about their own work—and have already received thousands of responses.
Learn more about Public Leadership & Management at HKS » | | |
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Decision making & negotiation |
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How to get someone who disagrees with you to listen |
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Disagreement can be painful and unpleasant. It’s also a natural part of honest dialogue and productive debate. In an article in the new issue of HKS Magazine, Professor Julia Minson gives practical, evidence-backed advice on how to disagree better. One tip is to use the “HEAR” framework if you want your listener to be more receptive. Minson explains that you can hedge (H) your point with a recognition of nuance, emphasize agreement (E), or reference common ground, acknowledge (A) your conversation partner’s perspective, and reframe to the positive (R)—such as choosing to say “I appreciate you hearing me out” instead of “you always interrupt me.”
See also: Read more stories from HKS Magazine.
Learn more about Decision Making & Negotiation at HKS » | | |
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What we're Doing |
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This week, Harvard Kennedy School launched HKS 2036, a vision for how HKS will lead into the next century. Informed by faculty, staff, students, and alumni, HKS 2036 sets a bold path for how our School will meet this complex moment in our nation and world. | | | | | |
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Democracy & Governance |
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Dean Jeremy Weinstein encourages HKS graduates to take on the AI era through the tools of democracy |
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Last week, 613 master’s students and 19 PhD students from 80 countries and 36 states graduated from Harvard Kennedy School. Before awarding diplomas, HKS Dean Jeremy Weinstein spoke about how the graduates can solve for the public good in an age of AI. Weinstein reminded graduates that democracy is not a constraint on technological advancement but rather the essential process for governing it. He said that, like AI, democracy is a technology: “a tool that facilitates free and equal participation at scale.” The Class of 2026 also heard from guest speaker Zanny Minton Beddoes, editor-in-chief of The Economist and an HKS alumna. Minton Beddoes offered advice to the graduates, including the idea that “public service is about people: your impact will depend on your vision and your ambition, but it will also depend on your ability to bring others with you.”
See also: Just before graduation, HKS hosted a reunion attended by almost 800 alumni and friends.
Learn more about Democracy & Governance at HKS » | | |
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