Government Leaders

Are you head of policy for a large government think tank? On the investment committee for a fast-growing emerging economy? Do you work in talent development at an intergovernmental organisation, a multilateral development bank or an aid agency? Or are you perhaps targeted with bringing your country up to speed to be ready for the future? Maybe you are struggling to rethink government and policy needs to safeguard democratic processes and institutions?

Whether you are from an emerging market or a developed economy, there has never been a greater need for more dynamic leadership in government service.

Government Leaders Programme

The challenges facing government leaders and civil servants all over the world are multiple, and are especially acute for those leading in emerging markets or in developed markets needing to react quickly to volatility and uncertainty. The pace of change is calling out for more dynamic leadership, the capacity to deliver policy and government services at a rapid speed, and to ensure that it is all delivered with a strong empathy and understanding of what the citizen or ‘customer’ needs.

For many government leaders, trained in more bureaucratic approaches, the challenge is to step up to a more human-centered leadership dynamic that privileges the capacity to lead and empower teams, come up with creative solutions to the challenges being presented, and with a strong commitment to one’s own leadership development in order to progress.

For many government leaders, they also need to harness the dynamics of the market, and to ensure that their skill set is able to manage across different stakeholder groups, whether that’s business, civil society or even other sectors of government. The capacity to collaborate, enroll and engage others over the long term is not a given in training government leaders but it is what modern leadership is requiring of us all.

In this year-long programme, government leaders are given the opportunity to come together with their peers in monthly Masterclasses and small group coaching to develop the 21st century skills needed to lead effectively across borders.

Never before has it been more important for those working in policy, think tanks or at the coal face of government, to develop the leadership skills necessary to thrive in more dynamic, yet volatile and uncertain environments.

It calls for a new level of leadership that goes beyond traditional ideas of faceless bureaucracies and contentment with the slow churn of government regulation. We need action now and action fast.

The skills you will gain

Interior journey of the leader

What does it mean to be a responsible leader today? And what do I have to do as a leader to ensure I am always acting with the highest standards of integrity and honesty in government? We will give you tools to help you develop your interior leadership skills to prepare you for a career in government leadership

Thinking globally

Our world is still global, and those working with and for government need to navigate the volatile winds of change with confidence, courage and creativity. Through our participatory and empathetic approaches to leadership development, you will be able to ‘get under the skin’ of those from very different backgrounds to yours to prepare you for leading cross-culturally

Enrolling others to your cause

We are all selling something today. We all need to get buy-in for projects, whether that’s upstream or downstream, and this requires confident communication and the ability to lead and empower others. It also requires the ability to inspire and support others on their own leadership journey, and the surrender of your own ego to enable others to support you in your own leadership.

Think like an entrepreneur

We need intrapreneurship as much as entrepreneurship, so your capacity to listen, observe, understand your markets is key to success, Be ‘consumer centric’ and build products and services that people really need and want

Communicate with confidence

Whether it’s giving presentations to large groups of people, trying to convince your boss of a new project or initiative, or seeking investment for a new idea, clear, concise and confident presentations skills are key to achieving your goals

Innovation is the future

The huge challenges we face in delivering more and better public services requires innovative thinking in meeting needs. Whether it’s a better way to get people using online services, or developing a whole new industry for the economy, we need bold thinking in our government leaders and this will help you get there

In common with all of our programmes, we use creative and participatory approaches to training and leadership development, such as the development of character and story that can be key assets in understanding your stakeholders and improving your communications; using the tools of acting to improve your presentation skills; and role play and ‘Forum’ Theatre to ‘rehearse for real life’ the individual behaviour change and larger-scale social change needed to bring about visionary thinking and doing to our countries

  • “You’ve helped us not just as leaders, but as creative thinkers, on a personal level and on so many other levels. These sessions create the kind of 10X thinking that we need. The ideas I’ve generated through this, for example, the idea of creating a [whole new] industry, is such a big idea, and it came directly through the coaching sessions. I can’t really put it into words what the coaching has done for me. It has been life-changing.”

    Senior Minister, The Prime Minister’s Office, UAE

We are also inspired by Michael Bichard’s seminal article on the role of creativity and leadership in ‘The Modernization and Improvement of Government and Public Services’ and bring the four pillars of creativity, leadership, delivery and community ownership into the learning experience.

Government Leaders

Public leadership programme

Programme Description

A bespoke programme for government officials and those in training that combines many of the ‘mosaic’ modules from our ‘Art of Leadership’ programme with the opportunity to also be certified in the ‘Arts and policy’ programme through Renaissance Now, an initiative of Harvard professor, Doris Sommer. Through our innovative approach, we are able to run ‘simulations’ for the future to enable ‘moonshot’ thinking on how Government Leaders can approach some of the challenges we face today. Our theatre based approach lends itself to increased citizen participation and the notion of the ‘spec-actor’, providing opportunities for new and diversified engagements between citizens and the state.

Includes

  • Bespoke programme with a selection of ‘Mosaics’ taken from our art of leadership programme combined with bespoke content applicable to leading in public service

  • Access to online learning programmes for the duration

  • Pre- and post-programme design and support for implementation

  • Additional video content

  • Membership to our exclusive network of ‘higher order’ leaders who have also been through the programme.

Key Outcomes

Strengthening individual leadership capacity and the ability to empower teams

Developing new products and services for future-focused governments

Greater understanding of multiple stakeholder groups and how to harness their collective intelligence

Collaborating across silos

Communicating effectively across diverse public audience and partners

Channelling participatory approaches to government

Fostering creativity and innovation

Increasing citizen agency

Time Commitment

36 hrs facilitator led learning

+ 6 hrs one-2-one coaching

+ 30 hrs e-learning

Participant Profile

High potential leaders in public institutions

Type of Delivery / Location

Hybrid online & offline learning

Group Size

5 -20

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