Related Expertise: People Strategy, Public Sector, Leadership Development
By Christopher Daniel, Stephen Remedios, and Daniele Pigni
As governments worldwide deal with the powerful forces transforming society, it has never been more important to consider what constitutes effective public-sector leadership and how to equip leaders with the needed skills.
In our work with clients, we have seen that public entities are most effective when they are headed by leaders who can navigate complex, highly visible positions while prioritizing long-term initiatives over short-term politics. These leaders are grounded in the ethical imperatives and public accountability that are integral to their positions. They motivate people and sustain performance without the benefit of measures widely used in the private sector.
To produce such leaders, the public sector must make leader development a key pillar of its overall strategy for the future. To that end, BCG has created a three-part framework that can help government agencies coach individuals in three areas: personal skills, network leadership, and impact on society.
In addition to dealing with many of the same problems encountered by their private-sector counterparts, public-sector leaders must cope with circumstances that are unique to public entities. These include:
BCG’s client work shows that successful public-sector organizations have leaders who thrive despite trying circumstances because they are articulate, active, and capable. Our public-sector framework is based on three broad characteristics that these individuals have in common: they are transparent leaders, they lead the network, and they have an impact on the country. (See the exhibit.)
Be a Transparent Leader
Public-sector leaders lead for all and must adopt an open style of operating and communicating that can withstand public scrutiny. To that end, they must do the following:
Lead the Network
Public-sector leaders must be consensus builders, partnering with a variety of constituents toward common goals. They must:
Impact the Country
Public-sector leaders must be able to steer through often complex or ill-defined circumstances as well as their own ambitions in order to oversee large-scale projects and mandates that benefit society as a whole. Therefore they must:
Older forms of leadership enablement do not sufficiently prepare government and public-agency leaders for the circumstances they face today.
BCG has developed targeted methodologies to help public-sector leaders cultivate the needed capabilities. Taken together, these methodologies represent a holistic approach to leadership enablement. The tools focus on leaders’ experiences in multiple areas of life and allow them to tailor programs to their needs and design their own curricula.
Public entities are only as good as their leaders. Leaders who cannot set and follow through on strategies create risks for the organizations they lead and for society as a whole. The public sector must adopt a people strategy that includes building the capable leaders that they need to grow and prosper in the future.
Managing Director & Senior Partner; Global Leader, Economic Development & Finance in Public Sector and Center of Government
Dubai
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