What it takes to be a public service leader today
Source: apolitical Published: October 5th, 2020
There are many theories of leadership, and most of them recommend that leaders strengthen their individual positive characteristics and eliminate their negative ones. In fact, public service leaders must project beyond themselves if government is to fulfill its broad societal role. They need to know one critical thing about leadership: it is about understanding, and responding to, the broader context.
Unfortunately, the broader context for public service leaders today is not encouraging: trust in public institutions continues to fall, the challenges post-covid remain huge, with little clear direction, and, in the US and increasingly elsewhere, the current narrative regarding the so-called “deep state” in which government is seen as interfering, slow, wasteful and costly and where its leaders provide little value, still has traction, threatening both our public institutions and possibly democracy itself.
The events of the past few years have indicated that government is not keeping up with the rapid change around it
There is also a crowded and competitive market of ideas and services. From a governance perspective, government institutions are relevant if citizens trust their ability to do the job better than anyone else. Trust in government will be sustained if public service leaders respond to today’s fast-moving, uncertain context to ensure governments provide services efficiently, operate openly and transparently, convene different viewpoints fairly and openly, add value to society and the economy and, above all, help citizens prepare for and respond to rapid change.
5 ideas to be a better leader
Public service leaders have fulfilling jobs and terrific benefits. But they work in organisations that are risk averse, slow and not naturally innovative. Historically, these institutions have found comfort and confidence in stability, clarity and consensus. Today, they operate in a world which is anything but.
The risk is that public service leaders — and the democratic institutions they work for — remain too comfortable in the old ways of doing business, and become increasingly marginalised in serving the public interest through policy and service delivery.
Here are five leadership ideas for public servant leaders that should help them to respond effectively to today’s context:
Understand the changing scope of public sector governance. The changing world is challenging how we view long-held principles of legitimacy, responsibility, accountability, risk and trust. We are in a post-industrial economy with institutions, structures and processes still rooted in the industrial age. Distributed governance is the order for the day and will have an impact on public sector decision-making.
Respond to the real issue; don’t be captured by yesterday’s paradigm. In many cities, the first reaction to Uber was to ban it because it did not meet the regulatory criteria put in place for the taxi age. Leaders need to welcome disruptive innovation and avoid being captured by old regulatory paradigms that do not respond to the demands of today’s citizens.
Be aware of biases. Public service leaders are part of institutions that are risk averse, hierarchical, slow, and not very collaborative. Be aware of three key biases that often capture public servants: confirmation bias, where evidence that confirms a pre-determined view is weighted too heavily; group think, where the majority view rules for the sake of consensus; and escalating commitment which makes it almost impossible to ask: do we still need (to do) this?
Prepare citizens for the future. Government has many roles: policy development, social programming, service delivery, regulation development and implementation, security. A post-covid world will be one of ongoing change and uncertainty. A key role of government — and therefore public service leaders — is to prepare citizens for an uncertain and ever-changing future.
Develop a sense of urgency. Jack Welch, former CEO of General Electric, said: “If the rate of change on the outside is greater than that on the inside, then the end is near.” The events of the past few years have indicated that government is not keeping up with the rapid change around it. Quite simply, it must adapt to the disruptive changes it faces or risk becoming irrelevant. In this context, public servant leaders need to take on this challenge by driving real change so that government maintains the trust of citizens today and in the years to come. — Toby Fyfe
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