What does it take to be a successful public service

professional beyond the crisis?

A preview on the emerging ‘job description’ for public sector leaders and how the European Commission deals with it for their own staff

Rainer v. Leoprechting – this presentation only engages the author, not the European Commission

Leuven 6 May 2011

The new leadership job• What’s the job: A view on some major

challenges for professionals in public service

• The “job requirements”

What’s the new job about?

Attract entrepreneurs and people to shrinking areas; Integrate increasingly diverse cultures, ethnic groups, religions, educations etc;

Empower elderly people to be active in society

Demography – shrinking populations in Europe

Internal: Post-bureaucratic management, self-organisation, self-realisation, initiatives and change

“Governance 2.0” in public: e-government 2.0, citizen-self-organised public action

Generation change (internet generation),

Decline of public trust

Downsizing, Process re-engineering, Activity-based management, Privatisation, etc.

Budget pressures

Typical development strategiesTypical crisis challenges

What’s the new job about? (2)

Diversity of schools for a diverse population, financial and management autonomy at school level, focus on personality development

Education crisis

Shift to small-scale local renewable energy production,

Urban planning to minimise energy consumptions, etc.

Climate change and Energy crisis

Continuous Learning across borders, Joint initiatives with Partner Cities and Regions worldwide, Pro-Active Lobbying for developing structural frameworks at European and National levels

Europeanisation and Globalisation

Senior and middle managers also “do politics”:

Pro-Active change negotiations with a large variety of stakeholders, Performance in media, Preference for “emerging consensus” innovations

Weak political leadership

Typical development workTypical challenges

Who can do this?

The world is in constant flow, processes and routines to support pro-active change.

The world is stable, processes and routines to support status quo.

Loyalty to the emerging future. Status quo is a transition state.

Loyalty to the work unit, superiors and the organisation. Status quo is the norm.

Work in cross-cutting projects, variety of perspectives, constant learning and discovery (value: dynamic holistic performance).

Work in fixed functions, deviant behaviour is sanctioned (values: compliance and static efficiency).

Required (new) paradigm: Leadership

Mainstream in public services: Management

Marked paradigm shifts needed, here some examples:

How talent develops in adults

Management stage

Leadership stage

Distribution of talent

Advance own agenda

Follow group rules

Follow own principles

Be “in the flow”

Paradigm basis

Shift

Paradigm shifts across stages

Some interim conclusions

• The emerging future requires leadership paradigms and leaders that we don’t have

• However, no one can “be developed”, leaders grow out of their own

• The main work of today’s top leaders thus is to cultivate their organisations as a “leadership garden”, in which staff are supported in their growth

• This corresponds to the “new generation” strategies of post-bureaucratic self-organisation and –realisation in public services

Some leadership gardening practices

Developing Leadership Potential (partially done at the EC)

• Measure how your incumbent managers make meaning and sense in their work

• Compare their level of leadership develop-ment with their current level of leadership requirements

• Have managers move if there is a major mismatch

• Coach people to accompany the growth to their next level

Leadership pipeline

• Align the organisational hierarchy so that every staff member has a direct superior that is more developed that they themselves

• Coach managers in their transition to new levels of leadership authority

• Use organisational change and develop-ment projects as growth assignments for promising talents

Action Learning

• Accompanies Change Initiatives with Reflection and Learning

• Small group learning sets

• Question-focused discovery

• Brings about (hidden) assumptions, opens to innovation in a consensual way

• Bonds project teams

• Supports development to leadership level

Action Learning

Communities of Practice

• Staff with a shared professional focus are invited to share their experiences and learning issues

• Sponsored by a senior manager that asks the community to produce specific outco-mes

• Self-organised learning groups• Can be accompanied by consulting or

coaching in the beginning

Community of Practice (Planning & Programming)

Sharing and learning with peer leaders

• Share your initiatives European Commission-wide

• Reflect with peers about the overall challenges of the Union and your actions

• 8 peer seminars with European Commission directors in 2008-2010

The Art of Hosting

• The Art of hosting meaningful conversations – the essence of participatory leadership

• Self-organised meeting formats:– Open Space– World café– Proaction café– Circle

Open Space (Brussels)

Open Space

Collective Mind Map

Voting on Mind Map

Landscape

Ritual dissent (Lux)

Pro Action Café with Directors

Pro Action Café in Jean Monnet’s House

Stakeholder Café

Circle (communication seminar)

Circle (Mondorf, Lux)

Circle (Jean Monnet House)

Some references• Adult Development

Robert Kegan: In over our heads (1994)• Development of Leadership Potential

Otto Laske: Measuring hidden dimensions (2006)*www.interdevelopmentals.org

• Drotter et al.: The Leadership pipeline (2000)• Action Learning www.ifal.org.uk• Communities of Practice

Etienne Wenger: www.ewenger.com• The Art of Hosting www.artofhosting.org• Systemic constellation work

http://www.tetrald.com/EuropeanConstellations• Speaker Contact

Rainer v. Leoprechting email: rainer.von-leoprechting@ec.europa.eu

*Graphics in the preceding slides by Otto Laske