Membership in the Senior Executive Service (SES) demands leadership, professional integrity, a broad perspective, and a commitment to the highest ideals of public service. The women and men charged with leading the continuing transformation of government possess well-honed executive skills and share a broad perspective of government and a public service commitment which is grounded in the Constitution. The
keystone of the Civil Service Reform Act of 1978,
the SES was designed to be a corps of executives selected for their leadership qualifications today. While technical job-specific qualifications are important, the keystone of the SES is executive leadership.
https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/senior-executive-service/reference-materials/guidetosesquals_2012.pdf