Leadership in the public sector: A renewed call to action

The UK public sector is facing unprecedented challenges, with a growing demand for leaders and leadership to improve the delivery of sustainable public services. This Reflective Learning Paper is co-written by Kirsteen Grant, Associate Professor (Work and Employment) at Edinburgh Napier Business School, and Rachel Williams, Chief Superintendent at Avon and Somerset Police. Released in December 2019, the authors reflect on how changes in the public sector context are creating leadership challenges. Using a series of reflective questions, Kirsteen places the spotlight on a recent UK-wide Workforce Development Survey conducted by the Workforce Development Trust in partnership with Edinburgh Napier University. Rachel Williams then presents a case study concerning a leadership development programme within Avon and Somerset Police, geared towards addressing some of these challenges within a policing context. The authors illustrate the unfolding and contextually dependent nature of leader/leadership development practices. They point to a need for leaders to become more agile and better able at working with and managing competing tensions arising from an imperative to ‘do more with less’. Finally, they suggest that the traditional ‘silo’ and hierarchical culture often found within public sector organisations needs to give way to new forms of relational leadership with an in-built focus on collaborative working and problem solving