Focus on leadership

There's a wealth of material that demonstrates the complexity of being a leader in the public sector, not to mention the anecdotal evidence of the culture shock that afflicts almost all managers who move, full of confidence, from the private sector into the public sector. The sheer complexity and demands of providing public services should never be under-estimated and things are unlikely to improve for public managers in the forseeable future. Take, for instance, this year's Management Agenda 2010 report – an annual survey of managers in the public and private sectors , published on 6 January highlights how public sector managers are coping in today's difficult times. The news is not good. Despite the fact that there have been more cutbacks so far in the private sector, with 65% of private sector managers reporting compulsory redundancies in their organisations, compared with 22% in the public sector, it is public managers who are feeling more pessimistic and stressed, according to the research from management consultancy Roffey Park. Fortunately, over the past few years, the importance of developing the talents and skills of those who lead our public services has also been recognised. What's particularly interesting at the moment is the changing nature of ideas about how to nurture those talents. It's now very clear, for instance, that greater attention must be paid to the context in which public sector leaders work, including the political dimensions of public management. The National School of Government, which is co-sponsoring our new Guardian Public training portal, recognises this, and runs programmes to help leaders work within a political framework and also, very importantly, to work across departmental and organisational boundaries, within complex delivery systems. Paul Snell, who was until recently chief inspector for the Commission for Social Care Inspection, recently argued in the Guardian that in the search for the most effective forms of leadership development, coaching and mentoring have become increasingly linked with organisational effectiveness and return on investment, as well as personal transformation. "Whatever the commissioning or delivery vehicle, it is the quality of leadership that will be the determining factor in the cost, quality and penetration of public services," argued Snell. Public sector leaders need to: • make tough decisions faster • connect more effectively with all stakeholders • be more flexible and responsive • share information, concerns and implications without overwhelming people • recognise the need for innovation • eradicate silo behaviours It is clear that whatever the training method, leadership development truly pays off only through continued support. This is going to be a challenging year for public sector leaders; we hope to examine some of those challenges, and the responses to them, through this new resource for public sector training. Jane Dudman is editor of Public , the Guardian's website for senior public sector managers.