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information technology. “We sell [IT] to people, sowe need to be leaders in the field,” says Johnson. “Isaid ‘Let’s get people together.’ I had done this in the1990s when I was part of a Michigan consulting firm,and there was a model about getting everybody in theroom to get a job done. Get it done now, together.I believe in having the meeting in the meeting.” Noprocrastinating, no going off to “study” a problem. “Iforce function,” she says.Virtual’s VirtuesJohnson sees that mobile technology is rapidlychanging the way work is done within GSA, in the federalgovernment, and in the world. She predicts thiswill mean a shift to more virtual workplaces—whichwill result in more sustainable offices requiring fewerbuildings and less commuting. She believes this willbe a positive development for federal agencies, andGSA in particular.Even though GSA’s Public Buildings Service hasbeen leading the agency’s charge toward sustainability[see “Building Sustainability,” page 17] and federalbuildings, on average, are 22 percent more energy efficientthan private sector ones, to significantly reduceenergy use the federal government needs not onlymore energy-efficient buildings, but fewer of them.“We need to move toward virtual problem-solving,”Johnson says. She would like many of GSA’s meetingsand conferences to be virtual. “But that transitionto the virtual piece isn’t yet there. I’m trying to positionour organizational muscle so we are OK about doingit,” she says. GSA has been a champion of telecommutingfor some time. Johnson’s first task as administratorrequired telework: She was sworn in over thephone in her kitchen in the middle of a blizzard.“The virtual workplace has a major impact on theculture,” she says. “It is better financially, environmentally,security-wise, and for wellness.” Fewer buildings,less office space and less commuting will saveenergy and reduce greenhouse gases and air pollution—thosebenefits are obvious. “We have a team ofpeople who are converting their commuting time toexercise time,” she says. “They’re getting thinner andwe hate them. And security involves continuity of operations—westill need to be able to function if peoplecan’t come together. We saw that this year during themajor snow storms that shut down Atlanta and NewYork. The virtual workplace offers that.”Making Organizations WorkJohnson’s ability to successfully negotiate large, complexorganizations and agencies comes from a varietyof sources: her education, her business background,her parents’ values, her role in the family growing upand her personal commitments—to her children, herhusband, and her faith. Despite the demands of runningan agency, she still volunteers at her church inAnnapolis, facilitating some of the congregation’smost heated discussions on topics such as ordinationof gay ministers and the realities of global climatechange.She was born in Connecticut, but says she lived14 Leadership | CGI INITIATIVE FOR COLLABORATIVE GOVERNMENT | S P R I N G 2 0 11