It goes without saying that government and public services have changed substantially in the past decade.
So too have the demands on public sector leaders, who are navigating their organisations through a period of unprecedented change required to meet rising demand and increased complexity of demand – all against a challenging backdrop of austerity, the COVID-19 crisis, demographic changes and what is arguably the big one – climate change.
Then, of course, there’s the impact of technology on the way we work, how organisations deliver services and how citizens expect to interact with those services.
This changing and challenging landscape raises questions around the skills leaders of public sector organisations need – and how these skills are shifting, which is what we talk about in this podcast.
Discussing this in more detail are a trio of individuals who combine an understanding of executive leadership excellence and the skills required to successfully lead organisations – from both academic and public sector delivery viewpoints. Ioanna Rossi is Strategy and Partnerships Officer at the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames and Lecturer on sustainable and ethical environmental management at Ravensbourne University London. Andy Cook is Ravensbourne’s Vice Chancellor, and Paul Sternberg is Director of Postgraduate Studies and Principal Research Fellow at Ravensbourne.
Key talking points from this podcast include:
The evolution of leadership skills across the public sector – and any gaps that exist
The impact major events such as COVID-19 and the climate emergency have had on leadership
Why public sector leadership skills need to be aligned with sectors including the third sector
The ‘power skills’ needed by today’s leaders
The measures leaders can take to ensure they have the necessary skills
As discussed in the podcast, Ravensbourne University London and Agilisys have launched a strategic partnership to design and deliver a high-level executive programme for senior leaders across the public sector.
We are seeking your views on this programme and would welcome your views on how new approaches to public sector leadership and development can be supported. The questionnaire takes no longer than 5 minutes to complete and can be found here.
Austin Clark is an experienced content writer and journalist specialising in organisational transformation and digital solutions, specifically in local government and healthcare. Austin is former editor of GovTech Leaders (DigitalbyDefault) and has written features, hosted podcasts and presented events for numerous leading public sector titles during a 20-year career.
Andy Cook
Vice Chancellor, Ravensbourne University London
Andy is Ravensbourne University London's Vice Chancellor, holding responsibility for overseeing the strategic direction of the University. In this capacity, Andy has focused on the key priorities of delivering an exceptional learning experience and ensuring a compelling offer for student recruitment. Andy has also been leading the institution towards identifying opportunities for diversification and collaboration at the intersection of creativity and technology.
Ioanna Rossi
Strategy and Partnerships Officer, Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames
Ioanna has 30 years’ experience in sustainable economic development. Her career has focussed on socio-economic research, project and policy development, urban regeneration, project management, setting up partnerships and stakeholder management.
Ioanna has worked in the UK and abroad in the public, private, voluntary sectors, EU organisations and academia, including Ravensbourne College. She is very experienced in climate emergency strategies and environmental practice and auditing: particularly environmental management issues affecting business efficiency, economic development and place competitiveness. Ioanna is currently working at the Royal Borough of Kingston on strategies and projects that aim to reduce the borough’s carbon footprint while simultaneously boosting overall economic performance.
Paul Sternberg
Director of Postgraduate Studies, Ravensbourne University London
Paul is Director of Postgraduate Studies at Ravensbourne University London. Prior to his appointment at Ravensbourne in 2013, Paul was Chief Executive of the Peter De Haan Charitable Trust, an organisation investing over £3m a year into young people’s ideas and creativity through a digital ‘open innovation’ platform, the “IdeasTap”. Paul has several years of educational experience in the broadcasting sector where, as Commissioning Editor of Interactive Learning at Channel 4 Television, he played a central role in redefining their public service remit for the multi-media and multi-channel age and in commissioning a range of cutting edge award winning programmes.
Paul has both led and collaborated on the setting up of social enterprises and charities such as Ethical Media, The Media Trust, The Ethical Communications Agency and ProtegeTV. As Director of Communications & Public Policy at Business in the Community (www.bitc.org.uk), he worked with leading FTSE companies, aligning Corporate Responsibility (CSR) programmes into strategic civic renewal and social justice programmes. One of his proudest achievements has been his collaboration with leading economists and educationalists in the UK setting up Action for Happiness (www.actionforhappiness.org.uk), a mass movement campaign to bring happiness, emotional and psychological wellbeing into the heartlands of public policy, education and community development.
Paul is the Founding Chairman of the youth rehabilitation charity, Key4Life (www.key4life.org.uk), is the Co-Chair of the international arts-led reconciliation programme, Arts Over Borders (www.artsoverborders.com) and sits on the national leadership council of CitizensUK (www.citizensuk.org). Paul started his career as a local authority Arts Officer for Bedfordshire County Council.
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