Ingredients of strong public sector leadership
CIPFA Northern Ireland Branch finished off 2023 in style with a CPD event about the ingredients of strong leadership at which people development expert Patrick Gallen spoke. Over 90 people (mainly on the virtual platform) from across the public finance community attended the hybrid event on 8th December hosted by the Department for the Economy in their Belfast HQ.
Patrick is currently Grant Thornton’s Partner leading its People and Change Consulting Practice, although he is retiring to set up his own leadership and people development practice in 2024.
The key messages in Patrick’s excellent presentation covered:
The need for leaders to understand people’s reactions to change
- Building organisational trust using the mnemonic COST:
- Clear expectations
- Output over hours
- Staying engaged
- Transparency
- Putting PEOPLE at the heart of leadership by creating the right culture, collaborating, and adapting to what people need.
Quoting Sir David Sterling, former Head of the NI Civil Service, Patrick concluded his talk by saying: ‘at our simplest, our job as leaders is to make it as easy as possible for those who work with us to do their jobs.