2 min read
The paradox of public leadership
“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times” “I must be cruel to be kind” “The child is the father of the man” Literature is full of...
Public sector
1 min read
Public time is public money
What do you do for work?” Gulp. When you work for the government, sometimes it’s tempting not to tell people. Primarily if you work in local...
1 min read
The grey area
I often discuss the importance of brave public service—community-focused, impact-led policy and strategy decisions that change our world.
1 min read
Take the handbrake off: systems change
Eating well sucks. I’m currently in training season for a marathon and doing my best to put the right fuel in for long Sunday Rundays. I’m also on a...
2 min read
Internal functions are the strategy engine room
Have you ever heard that cliché about the janitor at NASA? You know, the guy who knew his job was putting astronauts on the moon? Like most...
2 min read
Put your money where your mouth is
It’s budget time again – how’s yours going? Do your budget conversations sound at all like your strategy conversations? In my experience, they don’t....
2 min read
Time to tell: when to be a more directive leader
How we understand strong leadership has undergone a fundamental transformation over the last decade or two. Traditional ideas about a military-like...
2 min read
Strategic leadership: 3 ways to be less operational
Fire fighters have a demanding job. On the one hand, they do all the stuff that we expect in a crisis – like turning up and fighting a roaring blaze...
2 min read
The public service has citizens, not customers
I started a new programme with the senior leadership team at Christchurch City Council last week. One thing I noticed about how GMs communicated was...
1 min read
Get strategy off the shelf
What’s the name of your last Shelf Strategy? You know the one – where you did all those workshops and argued over semantics. The one where you wrote...
2 min read
Public sector leadership: Navigating the layer of crazy
I worked with a team late last year who were struggling to reconcile what they saw as the right way forward for their agency, with the fickle demands...