Asking the right questions:The need for transformational andnew contextual leadership skills forlocal authority Chief Executives

CONTENTS

1 – Executive Summary 1

2 – Recommendations 5

3 – Background of the report 6

4 – Key Transformational Skills 7

5 – The New ‘Contextual’ Skills 9

6 – Political Understanding Skills 12

7 – Values, Attitudes & Behaviours 13

8 – Developing the Skills 14

Appendix 1 – Contextual Skills 16

Appendix 2 – Political Understanding Skills 18

Appendix 3 – Transformational Skills 19

Appendix 4 – Values, Attitudes and Behaviours 21

Published by Solace in association with Skills for Government and LocalGovernment Association. Copyright © JSSC 2013. All rights reserved. No part ofthis work may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system of any nature, ortransmitted, in any form or by any means including photocopying and recording,without the prior written permission of JSSC, the copyright owner. Licencesissued by the Copyright Licensing Agency or any other reproduction rightsorganisation do not apply. If any unauthorised acts are carried out in relation tothis copyright work, a civil claim for damages may be made and / or a criminalprosecution may result.

Introduction and Purpose of Report

This is a report, based on research, into the currentand future skills requirements of local authorityChief Executives. The approach taken consisted of asurvey of Society of Local Authority Chief Executives(Solace) members, structured and informalinterviews with local authority Chief Executives andother stakeholders, Master Class discussions andassociated desk top research. This project wascarried out by Skills for Local Government – formerlyknown as Skills for Justice – with co-investment fromthe UK Commission for Employment and Skillsthrough the Employer Investment fund.

The purposes of this report are to stimulate andinform discussion on:

• The views gained during the research on theexisting and new skill sets required by ChiefExecutives and aspiring Chief Executives.

• The key conclusions emerging from the project.

• How Solace and the Local GovernmentAssociation (LGA) may support the maintenanceand development of these skill sets.

Main Findings

The project has identified some very clear findings.The main ones are that:

• Chief Executives have to operate at bothtransactional and transformational levels.

• Within the transformational ‘level’ there aresome key skill sets.

However, the complexity of the environment inwhich local government is operating and thechanges it is experiencing have produced the needfor Chief Executives to develop a range of new‘contextual’ skills that transcend the previous

transactional and transformational ones. These‘contextual’ skills allow Chief Executives to not onlyoperate within the new environment but also toinfluence the development of that environment.

All the transactional, transformational and new‘contextual’ skills need to be underpinned by a set ofexplicit values, attitudes and behaviours that bothencapsulate the Chief Executive’s approach to theirmanagerial leadership responsibilities and whichgenerate support and loyalty for them in this role.

Similarly there is an underlying set of politicalunderstanding skills that are necessary if a ChiefExecutive is to perform any of the transactional,transformational and new ‘contextual’ skillseffectively.

The preferred development methods by which ChiefExecutives and aspiring Chief Executives obtain andmaintain their skills were identified consistently asbeing based around the concept of ‘peer support’rather than formal training.

The diagram below illustrates the relationshipbetween the elements outlined above. Theseare then discussed in greater detail throughoutthe report.

1EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

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TransactionalSkills

TransformationalSkills

ContextualSkills

POLITICAL UNDERSTANDING

VALUES, ATTITUDES AND BEHAVIOURS

This report centres upon identifying the keytransformational skills and the new ‘contextual’skills rather than transactional skills such asfinancial management, performance managementetc. This is not to underestimate the value of theseskills but considerable research and frameworksalready exist in these areas and the emphasisrequested of this project was on investigatingwhich skills a local authority Chief Executive (asdistinct from a senior manager) needs and whatnew skill sets in this role are required.

Brief Explanation and Expansionof Main Findings

The key transformational skills identified as beingrequired are:

• Vision setting and strategic management.

• Management of change.

• Working with partners, partnerships and otherstakeholders.

• Communication and cultural management.

• Democratic accountability and challenge.

In addition to these there is a furthertransformational skill of political understandingwhich has a separate status in the layers of skillsand is shown separately in the diagram overleaf.This is to recognise that this skill set is fundamentalto the effective operation of all the other skill setswhen operating at this level.

Arising from the project and, in particular, thediscussions and interviews with some of theleading Chief Executives in local government, fournew ‘contextual’ skills were also identified. Theseoverlap with the ‘transformational’ skills but in

each case the new ‘contextual’ skills have uniquehigh level elements that transcend previous skillrequirements. How each of these operates willdepend very much on local circumstances. Thiswill include relationships / role definition withpoliticians and the interaction between themand the Chief Executive.

The operation of the skills will also be affected bythe make-up and vision for the community, thepreferred method of operation of the localauthority itself etc. These ‘contextual’ skills alsooverlap with each other and with the values,attitudes and behaviours outlined, and aresummarised as:

Leading place and space: this skill set containsvarious aspects and is also allied very much to the‘political understanding’ and the traditional‘managing partners and partnerships skills’.One aspect of this ‘contextual’ skill is aboutdeveloping and being a ‘leader of place’ andwhole system development i.e. facilitation,support of others, as well as direct delivery of thedevelopment of the whole community. Thisincludes understanding and respecting the role ofothers in delivering the vision for the communityand respecting the ‘space’ in which they operate.Leadership in this broader, whole systemenvironment enables influence and empathy acrossboth external and internal stakeholders, partnersand colleagues, and benefits from a joining up oflearning opportunities.

Leading during complexity and ambiguity:local government is going through such dramatic,fundamental and irreversible changes that entirelynew delivery methods, ways of working andrelationships are having to be invented. This means

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that Chief Executives (and politicians) are nowworking in areas where there is no previous modelthey can follow (a phrase coined by one ChiefExecutive was ‘the ability to work without ablueprint’). This skill set goes beyond themanagement of change as it requires levels ofinnovation and working with ambiguity neverrequired before.

Leading entrepreneurial organisations:councils cannot meet the requirements of thenew environment through bureaucratic and riskadverse strategies. Although ‘commercial’ and‘business’ skills were considered during the project,the concept of the ‘entrepreneurial council’ fitsbetter the requirement councils haveto lever resources, invent new delivery methods,seek investment opportunities, create and operateorganisations that empower staff and have a ‘cando’ culture. An important element of this approachin the current financial climate is that of ‘demandmanagement’ and taking proactive measures toinfluence the demands for local authority services.

Leading through trust: the complexity of theoperating environment, the scale, fundamentalnature and the rapidity of change mean that manyChief Executives are leading organisations wherethe way forward is not clear beyond the next fewsteps. This requires Chief Executives to create theirown environment where others will have enoughtrust to follow them even when the way ahead isnot clear. Chief Executives during interviews madeanalogies to leading people through mazes andforests with no clear pathway ahead. A ‘contextual’skill of motivating people to follow you when theway is not clear and ‘taking the first few steps intothe forest’ is required.

The importance of maintaining and demonstratingconsistently a set of values, attitudes andbehaviours was stressed by many of thosecontacted / interviewed. These are so inter-linkedwith the skill sets discussed in the project that someexploration of them is also provided. However, thescope and timing of the report did not allow for afull exploration of these and this is an area whereSolace and the LGA may wish to do further work.

The research has also examined the developmentmethods by which Chief Executives obtain andmaintain their skills. This is to help inform Solaceand the LGA of the support they may wish to offer.Although (as stated above) there is a range of new‘contextual’ skills, the preferred developmentmethods for both the new ‘contextual’ skills and‘transformational’ skills are fairly traditional andthere appears to be a need to re-launch ratherthan re-invent the support / developmentmechanisms required. The preferred supportrequested by those participating in the research isconsistently based around the concept of ‘peersupport’ rather than formal training.

There are already many existing mechanismsfor people to obtain the ‘transactional’ skillsmentioned and, to a large degree, the‘transformational’ ones as well. It isrecommended, therefore, that the focus offuture support from Solace / LGA should beupon the ‘contextual’ skills, ’politicalunderstanding’ skills and values, attitudes andbehaviour aspects discussed in this report.

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The vast majority of Chief Executives already holdsome form of professional qualification and manyhave supplemented this with management andbusiness qualifications. Although the benefits offurther formal training are not underestimated,the most valued forms of development and supportare more informal and ‘on-going’. This includesthe benefits of ‘peer support’ and opportunitiesto share experiences and expertise.

There are also advantages to these developmentmethods in terms of flexibility and cost as well asthe development opportunity they give to those‘delivering’ the methods as well as those‘receiving’.

As such the following forms of support werethe most commonly suggested as being theones that should form the core of supportfrom Solace / LGA:

• Buddy systems.

• Mentoring and coaching.

• Action Learning Sets.

• Informal half day ( or similar)‘sharing events’ on specific topics.

There are two related aspects that should beconsidered:

New Chief Executives: Solace provides a two-day programme for newly-appointed ChiefExecutives. This is valued by the participants andwas reported as being a very useful offering. Thereis a need to ensure content is regularly reviewed inlight of the changing world of local governmentand this project. Another specific aspect is thatattendees of this course are encouraged to formAction Learning Sets amongst themselves. It isstrongly recommended that they be encouraged tojoin Action Learning Sets so that they can bothcontribute new ideas but also benefit from a widerrange of experience.

Established Chief Executives: Solace inparticular has an extremely valuable resource in itsown members. Solace needs to harness theenergies and delivery capability of this resource stillfurther and to make it available to new andaspiring Chief Executives. It is worth noting thatthe majority of ‘established’ Chief Executivesinterviewed also held that they found deliveringmentoring etc. a valuable form of development forthemselves. Solace supports practicing and recentlyretired Chief Executives to develop their coachingand mentoring skills and provides a quality assuredprocess for matching coaches to those who arelooking for a coach or mentor. This support couldbe expanded to provide a more significant supportto the sector.

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As stated, this is a report primarily designed tostimulate and inform discussion. However, there aresome initial recommendations and suggestions thatshould be considered:

a) That this report be considered by the SolaceBoard and LGA with a view to informing how theymay develop a revised support programme forChief Executives and aspiring Chief Executives oflocal authorities.

b) The focus of any support programme shouldrecognise the whole system environment in whichlocal authorities now operate including linkages toother local partners. There should be a clear focusupon the new ‘contextual’ skills and ‘politicalunderstanding’ skills, as these are aspects thatSolace and LGA are uniquely placed to supply.

c) How such a programme may fit with broaderpublic sector leadership development.

d) That further research and discussion beconsidered to develop further the concepts andsupport for Chief Executives and aspiring ChiefExecutives in developing and demonstratingconsistently a set of explicit values, attitudesand behaviours.

e) Any support programme should centre aroundthe principles of peer support and informal learningdevelopment through mechanisms such as:

• Mentoring and coaching.

• Action Learning Sets.

• Buddy systems.

• Informal half day (or similar)‘sharing events’ on specific topics.

f) A ‘skills and willingness’ audit be undertakenamongst Solace members to identify bothexisting skills, such as Chief Executives who havean interest and the relevant experience to bementors / coaches, are active participants in ActionLearning Sets and / or are willing to lead informalsharing sessions.

g) The content of the Solace New Chief Executiveprogramme continue to be reviewed in the light ofthe research.

2RECOMMENDATIONS

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This report is part of a workforce developmentprogramme being undertaken in partnership by:

Society of Local Authority Chief Executivesand Senior Managers (Solace): a professionalbody representing and open to Chief Executives,senior managers, middle managers and graduatesof all UK local authorities and related public sectororganisations

Local Government Association (LGA): amembership organisation representing andsupporting local authorities. In total, 423 localauthorities are members of the LGA for 2012/13.These include English local councils, Welsh councilsvia the Welsh LGA, and fire, national park,passenger transport and police authorities,plus one town council

Skills for Local Government: formerly known asSkills for Justice, Skills for Local Government is alicensed Sector Skills Council which covers thoselocal government professions not explicitly coveredby other Sector Skill Councils. Skills for LocalGovernment provides support to employerorganisations, local authorities and trade unions inidentifying and developing the skills and new waysof working to provide first class local services.

The methodology used in the compilation of thisreport included:

• A survey of all Solace members with 114responses being received. This response rate canbe broken down into 60 Chief Executives and54 senior managers across all types of localauthorities (excluding town and parish councils).

• Discussions at two Solace Master Classes atwhich interim findings were discussed andwhich contributed to this final report.

• Structured interviews with a variety of leadinglocal authority Chief Executives and otherstakeholders.

• A variety of desk research looking atinfluences upon local government andleadership requirements.

The partners would like to express their thanks toeveryone who completed the survey and putforward their views, suggestions and advice. Inparticular we would like to thank the following fortheir time in taking part in the interview stages:

• Deborah Cadman O.B.E., Chief Executive,Suffolk County Council

• Michael Coughlin, Executive Director,Local Government Association

• Jessica Crowe, Executive Director, Centre forPublic Scrutiny

• Ged Fitzgerald, Chief Executive, LiverpoolCity Council

• Manjeet Gill, Chief Executive, West LindseyDistrict Council

• Ruth Hyde, Chief Executive, Broxtowe DistrictCouncil

• Martin Reeves, Chief Executive, CoventryCity Council

• Lesley Seary, Chief Executive, London Boroughof Islington

• Becky Shaw, Chief Executive, East SussexCounty Council

3BACKGROUND OF THE REPORT

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4KEYTRANSFORMATIONAL SKILLS

Political Understanding &Management

Vision Setting & Strategic Management

Management of Change

Communication and Cultural

Management

Financial Strategy

Managing Partners & Partnerships

Personal Development

Performance Management

Other

Commercial Knowledge / Skills

Human Resource Management

Strategic Procurement

Service Operational Management

54%60%

42%46%

37%37%

34%

31%31%

18%

16%

15%11%

12%10%

9%6%

18%

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60%

6%

5%5%

5%4%

4%4%

4%4%

23%

Current

Future skills

The Solace survey and Master Classes concentratedupon identifying existing and future skills throughan electronic survey. The survey itself covered bothtransactional and transformational skills. Due to itbeing an electronic survey this limited theopportunity for discussion, comment etc. However,the response rate was good with 114 responsesbeing received and some clear messages could beidentified.

Respondents were asked to score the importanceof a range of transactional and transformationalrole elements both now and in three years time.

A list of these role elements was given butrespondents were also invited to identify anysignificant elements not included on the list. Thechart below illustrates the role elements from thegiven list and the percentage of all respondents(Chief Executives and Senior Managers) scoringeach element as being of prime importance nowand in three years time.

Note: respondents were not asked to rank theelements against each other and so more than oneelement could achieve a top importance score in anindividual return

These responses clearly indicate five elements thatare considered to be of most importance inachieving success in a local authority ChiefExecutive role over the next three years. These fiveelements are at the transformational level and areas follows:

• Political understanding.

• Vision setting and strategic management.

• Management of change.

• Managing partners and partnerships (retitledWorking with partners, partnerships and otherstakeholders in the Appendix of this report toensure it encompasses other stakeholders).

• Communication and cultural management.

In discussions with Chief Executives and otherstakeholders a sixth skill set emerged. This wasaround the topic of democratic accountability andchallenge. This is considered important as one ofthe roles of a Chief Executive is seen as creating aculture where being open and accountable is notonly viewed as ‘part of the day job’ but alsorecognised as a significant developmentopportunity for councils, partnerships etc.

This skill set ranges through aspects such asensuring the basic democratic process of elections,encouraging and supporting effective scrutiny,constructively challenging others, seeking personalfeedback etc.

The reasons for including this as a ‘transformationalskill’ are well summarised by Joanna Killian, ChiefExecutive of Essex and Chair of Solace in her essay‘Why public scrutiny and accountability are goodfor public sector managers’, published in March2013 to help celebrate the tenth anniversary of theCentre for Public Scrutiny, and which said:

‘[Accountability and] robust scrutiny makes itpossible to not only identify failure but sourcesolutions to fix things that are wrong. It enablesus to act as the champion for our service users andtaxpayers when they receive services from others.

‘At its most mature it will mean exploring newand different ways of serving our customers,challenging how things are done, what must stay,what must stop, and what must change. It canprovide powerful evidence and arguments to helpus deliver new services, target resources and de-prioritise what is no longer affordable.’

An outline of the elements that comprise eachof the above skills sets (including democraticaccountability and challenge) is set out inAppendices 2 and 3. There is also a separatediscussion around the political understandingskill set in section 6 of this report.

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Most Chief Executives will be using these skills on adaily basis. However, the structured discussions inparticular revealed that, taken on their own, the‘transformational’ skills do not fully encompass thechanging job roles of Chief Executives, how theircouncils are operating, the dramatic changes inlocal government and how councils work withcommunities and partners. These new skills overlapwith the ‘transformational’ skills but in each casethe new ‘contextual’ skills have unique high levelelements that transcend previous skillrequirements. Although expressed in differentterms across the interviews it was possible to drawout key themes which naturally group into fournew ‘contextual’ skillsets which are discussedbelow and are outlined in Appendix 2.

It is interesting to note that, although structuredand worded differently, these ‘contextual’ skills arevery similar in content to the four new key rolessuggested for a new kind of public servant by theBirmingham Policy Commission in their report‘When tomorrow comes – the future of localpublic services’.

These skill sets are termed ‘contextual’ skills in thisresearch report as they allow Chief Executives tooperate within the new environment but also toinfluence the development of that environment.How each of these operates will depend very muchon local circumstances. This will includerelationships / role definition with politicians andthe interaction between them and the ChiefExecutive. The operation of the skills will also beaffected by the make-up and vision for thecommunity, the preferred method of operation ofthe local authority itself etc.

These ‘contextual‘ skills overlap with each otherand with the values, attitudes and behaviours alsooutlined. The four new skill sets are:

Leading place and space: this skill set containsvarious aspects and is also allied very much to the‘political understanding’ skills and the ‘managingpartners and partnerships’ skills. One aspect of this‘contextual’ skill is about developing and being a‘leader of place’ and whole system developmenti.e. facilitation, support of others, as well as directdelivery of the development of the wholecommunity. This includes understanding andrespecting the role of others in delivering the visionfor the community and respecting the ‘space’ inwhich they operate. Leadership in this broaderwhole system environment enables influence andempathy across both external and internalstakeholders, partners and colleagues, and benefitsfrom a joining up of learning opportunities.

There are, therefore, three key aspects of this skillset identified:

Leadership of Place: a recognition that the roleof the council is a ‘leader of place’. The council(and the Chief Executive) should be the advocate,hub, facilitator and supporter of all aspects of thedevelopment of its community. This means actingin conjunction with partners and the communityitself to achieve this development. This alsomeans more than just managing and contributingto partnership working. It requires creatinglocal identity, community cohesion, engagingand representing the community, balancingconflicting priorities within the community,resolving complex challenges and creating‘whole system’ approaches.

5THENEW ‘CONTEXTUAL’ SKILLS

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Partnership Space: there is a dramatic changeunderway in the role and way in which manycouncils engage and work with partners. Thiscomes from a variety of influences including:

• Limited council resources which restricts theability of councils to resolve issues unilaterallyand entirely by themselves.

• Many councils accept that others are betterplaced to resolve community issues and supportparticular aspects of community development.

• Many council functions and delivery ofservices have been outsourced and / or aredelivered in partnership.

• Many community issues are too complex tobe resolved by just one public organisation.

Professional space: Chief Executives require theability and judgement to know when and when notto involve themselves directly in the work of otherstakeholders. This does not only include externalpartners as mentioned above, but also electedmembers and professional officers within theirown councils.

A new skill for Chief Executives (amongst others),therefore, is to define the ‘spaces’ betweenorganisations and people fully and clearly and thenrespect these. Ged Fitzgerald of Liverpool CityCouncil observed when interviewed that ChiefExecutives should be wary of entering otherpeople’s space ‘without being invited’. However,joint accountability is also crucial in this respect andshould not be overlooked even when such ‘spaces’have been agreed. Jessica Crowe of the Centre forPublic Scrutiny observed in her interview that oneof the key new skills for local authority ChiefExecutives is to ‘help their organisations to feelaccountable and welcome this’.

Leading during complexity and ambiguity:a phrase coined by Martin Reeves of CoventryCity Council when interviewed (and echoed bymany of those interviewed) summarises much ofthe skill set required under this heading. This isthe ability to ‘lead without a blueprint’. It is basedon the fact that the world of local government isgoing through such dramatic and irreversiblechanges that entirely new delivery methods,ways of working and relationships are having tobe invented. This means that Chief Executives(and politicians) are now working in areas wherethere is no previous model they can follow.This goes beyond the management of changeas it requires levels of innovation, ‘thinking onone’s feet’ and working with ambiguity neverrequired before. This is not ‘making it up as yougo along’ but the ability to react quickly tochanging circumstances, seek and identify newopportunities, embrace critical situations asspringboards for change etc. It also requires theability to be able to work outside of normal formalstructures and create new forms of organisationsand ’virtual’ organisations.

Leading entrepreneurial organisations:councils cannot meet the requirements of the newoperating environment through bureaucratic andrisk averse strategies and within local governmentthere has been much discussion in recent yearsregarding the ‘need’ for more business /commercial skills. One of the difficultiesencountered during the research is that the phrase‘business / commercial’ skills is open to differentinterpretation. This can range from the need tocreate trading services, accurate costing of services,more streamlined management of services and, ithas even been suggested, the ability not to worrywhen redundancies etc. are identified.

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The new operating environment and social valuesof councils, however, suggest that a more holisticterm should be adopted. The phrase‘Entrepreneurial Council’ was suggested byManjeet Gill, of West Lindsey District Counciland this has been adopted by her own councilwhich has the strapline ‘the entrepreneurialcouncil with a social enterprise mindset’ on itscorporate plan. The concept of entrepreneurialismgoes beyond trading, efficiency programmes etc.and looks at how a council uses its whole resourcebase in different ways, creates a culture ofempowerment to try new ideas, understands andseeks investment opportunities and has a ‘can do’approach. An important element of this approachin the current financial climate is that of ‘demandmanagement’ and taking proactive measures toinfluence the demands for local authority services.

Leading through trust: the complexity of thenew environment, the scale, fundamental natureand the rapidity of change mean that many ChiefExecutives are leading organisations where theway forward is not clear beyond the next fewsteps. This requires Chief Executives to createtheir own environment where others will haveenough trust to follow them even when the wayahead is not clear.

There is, obviously, a huge overlap here with thevalues, attitudes and behaviours section below.Analogies made during the research illustrate thetype of skills required:

a) Treat the future as a maze not a mountain:This phrase was used by Lesley Seary of the LondonBorough of Islington during her interview. She usedthis phrase to illustrate some key points:

• If you see the future challenges as aninsurmountable object you will beoverwhelmed and increase the chances offailure.

• If you try to move a mountain you will fail.

• Treat the future as a maze (albeit a complexone) and find your way through it with yourpeople.

• The real skill is getting people to follow youinto and through the maze, trusting that youwill find a way through.

b) Leading through the forest: MichaelCoughlin, Executive Director of the LGA, drew asimilar analogy in his interview. He observed thatsome Chief Executives are in a position similar tosomeone on a cliff edge, with the sea eroding thecliff and the only way ahead of them on land is aforest with no clear path through it. These leadersmust take their people into the forest but with nocertainty as to where the path leads or how. Againthe skill is getting people to take the first few stepsinto the forest with them.

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6Although listed above as being within the‘transformational’ skill set, it is felt that thisparticular skill set has a separate status in the layersof skills and is shown separately in the diagram atthe start of this report. This is because:

• The possession of this skill set is fundamentalto the Chief Executive having the ability tounderstand and influence the context withinwhich they are working, the drivers andmotivations of internal and externalstakeholders, priorities, relationships etc.

• The fundamental need for Chief Executivesto possess this skill set is one of the factors thathelps distinguish their role from other layers ofmanagement.

• One of the key factors of this skill set is theneed for Chief Executives to balance theirpolitical understanding and the relationshipsthey foster within their role, with maintainingthe independence of their role.

• The skill set is fundamental to the effectiveoperation of all the other skill sets.

• This skill is also vital for Chief Executives ifthey are to operate at the new ‘contextual’level of skill outlined.

There is a wide variety of elements that make upthis skill set as outlined in Appendix 2.

Chief Executives also have to maintain flexibilitywithin this framework as arrangements for ChiefExecutives are becoming more varied and complex.A particular aspect to be borne in mind is that thepolitical operating environment not only variesgreatly between different councils throughdifferent political make-up, hung councils, sharedmanagement teams, elected mayors etc. but canalso be subject to rapid and fundamental changewithin a single council through changes inindividual political leaders, elections etc.

What Chief Executives do require is the skill tocreate and develop within changing circumstancesarrangements with their political leaders that fulfilthe needs of the council and its community basedupon their respective preferences, styles and skillsets.

The political world is also complex in that it hasmany layers and subtleties. Political understandingin the context of this research does not only referto council politicians but also partners, thecommunity and other stakeholders and the skills inAppendix 2 should be read with both that and the‘contextual’ skills in mind.

POLITICAL UNDERSTANDING SKILLS

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The skill sets outlined above illustrate what a ChiefExecutive needs to do in order to be effective.However, it is extremely unlikely that he or she willactually be effective and personally survive in theirrole unless they also pay attention to how theyexercise their skills. Success in this respect dependsupon their personal values, attitudes andbehaviours.

The importance of maintaining and demonstratingconsistently a set of values, attitudes andbehaviours was stressed by many of thosecontacted / interviewed. These are so inter-linkedwith the skill sets discussed in the report that someexploration of them is provided below and inAppendix 4. However, the scope and timing of theresearch report did not allow for a full explorationof these and this is an area where Solace and theLGA may wish to do further work.

Each Chief Executive will have their own personalstyle and preferences. They will also generally tailorthese to the circumstances of their council andtheir own personal position. There is no ‘one sizefits all’ model, therefore, of what a ChiefExecutive’s values, attitudes and behaviours shouldbe. However, it was stressed by participants in theresearch interviews that Chief Executives shouldexplicitly consider what their values, attitudes andbehaviours should be, how they affect others andto keep these attributes under constant review.

The lists of values, attitudes and behaviourssuggested by participants were large and varied.They ranged from (amongst many others) ethicalconsiderations, leadership styles and personalawareness to the need to maintain a healthylifestyle. In Appendix 4 a list is given of those mostcommonly referred to and which best support theeffectiveness of the skill sets outlined.

7VALUES, ATTITUDES AND BEHAVIOURS

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8Throughout the research consultees were askedwhat forms of development they used to obtainand maintain the skills they required. Many referredto how their professional training in a wide varietyof fields helped give them some fundamentalknowledge and / or some specific experiences thathad benefitted their development. There was aclear trend that the ‘on-going’ developmentmethods were not generally based around formaltraining but through sharing expertise with peersand others.

Most of the delivery methods recommended byconsultees are fairly traditional, even though theyare valued to produce the new skills required. A keyelement is the concept of peer support and usingexperience and resources within the sector as themost valuable means of development as well ashaving the benefits of flexibility and affordability.Most, if not all, of these development methodshave been offered to the sector through Solaceand LGA previously and the need seems to be tore-launch rather than re-invent. The methodsrecommended include:

• Buddy systems: the most ‘simple’ andunstructured form of support. Individualssimply ‘buddy up’ with another individual(s) toinformally share experiences, ideas etc. Little inthe way of formal skills is required and Solace /LGA could simply act as a agency to ‘pair’people looking for this type of arrangement.

• Being mentored and / or coached: havinga trained mentor or coach work with anindividual. Formal training and skills arerequired to act as a mentor and / or coach.Solace / LGA will have members who alreadyhave these skills, and a quality assured way of‘pairing’ people. Additional ways of evidencingsuccess and feedback would be useful.

• Acting as a mentor: this is allied to thepoint above, but it is worth noting that manyparticipants felt that acting as mentor / coachwas a development opportunity forthemselves.

• Action Learning Sets: generally this willrequire trained skills in establishing andfacilitating at least the first meetings of anyAction Learning Sets. Solace / LGA may wish toconsider how they might provide this expertise.

• ‘Sharing’ events: the facilitation of half dayevents (or similar) to allow participants toinformally explore specific aspects of their role,challenges facing local authorities etc.Obviously these events could take many forms.

Although a re-launch rather than re-inventionof support / development mechanisms isrecommended, there are already many existingmechanisms for people to obtain the transactionalskills outlined. It is recommended, therefore, thatthe focus of future support from Solace / LGAshould be upon the ‘contextual’ skills and ‘politicalunderstanding’ skills.

DEVELOPING THE SKILLS

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There are two related specific aspects that shouldbe considered:

New Chief Executives: Solace provides a two-dayprogramme for newly-appointed Chief Executives.This is valued by the participants and was reportedas being a very useful offering. There is a need toensure content is regularly reviewed in the light ofthe changing world of local government and thisresearch. Another specific aspect is that attendeesof this course are encouraged to form ActionLearning Sets amongst themselves. It is stronglyrecommended that they be encouraged to joinAction Learning Sets so that they can bothcontribute new ideas but also benefit from a widerrange of experience.

Established Chief Executives: Solace in particularhas an extremely valuable resource in its ownmembers. Solace needs to harness the energiesand delivery capability of this resource still furtherand to make it available to new and aspiring ChiefExecutives. It is worth noting that the majority of‘established’ Chief Executives interviewed also heldthat they found delivering mentoring etc. avaluable form of development for themselves.Solace supports practicing and recently retiredChief Executives to develop their coaching andmentoring skills and provides a quality assuredprocess for matching coaches to those who arelooking for a coach or mentor. This support couldbe expanded to provide a more significant supportto the sector. The LGA also still maintains a pool ofpeers who may form part of this resource.

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Leadership of place and space

• Has understanding of the ‘place’ and communityneeds through a firm evidence based approach

• Works with the elected leadership to create ashared vision for the community

• Is an advocate, hub, facilitator and supporter ofall aspects of community development

• Creates effective relationships across all aspectsof the community

• Identifies ‘whole system’ solutions to complexproblems

• Defines the operating spaces betweenorganisations / individuals and respects eachother’s contribution and ‘space’

• Is willing to ‘give power’ to others and createsolutions through them

• Identifies the best delivery vehicles for communitydevelopment – including whether these arethrough the council or external agents

• Creates joint accountability for communitydevelopment

• Helps organisations to feel jointly accountableand to welcome this

Leading during complexity and ambiguity

• Understands the changing roles of councils

• Constantly scans and ensures understanding ofthe external and internal environment

• Interprets the constantly changing environmentfor others to understand

• Has the ability to live with ambiguity andembrace ‘chaos’ theory principles

• Can ‘work without a blueprint’

• Accepts that risk is part of innovation

• Has the ability to appreciate and balancedivergent views

• Ensures flexibility organisationally andpersonally to meet changing circumstances

• Actively seeks others views to informunderstanding of the changing environment

• Navigates successfully through fast and everchanging landscapes

Appendix 1KEY ELEMENTS OF EACH ‘CONTEXTUAL’ SKILLSET

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Leading entrepreneurial organisations

• Creates an entrepreneurial culture

• Combines public service ethos with commercialworking methods

• Constantly explores new ways of working andbeing willing to act as a pioneer

• Has the desire to actively seek the ‘creativedestruction’ of existing delivery methods andcreate new improved ones

• Leverages resources to achieve maximumeffectiveness and value for money

• Identifies and encouraging existing talent andhiring others

• Creates results-driven organisations

• Identifies commercial opportunities

• Identifies waste and / or not optimising use ofresources

• Understands both systems thinking andlean system approaches

• Creates a balanced approach to risk

Leading through trust

• Provides others with a sense of the future

• Puts the good of the community and the councilbefore parochial self-interest

• Is prepared to lead and be accountable

• Creates a persona of self confidence anddecisiveness

• Does what they promise

• Maintains a positive yet realistic attitude

• Uses personal power in open and fair manner

• Is consistent

• Genuinely engages and values others’contribution

• Accepts doubt in others

• Is loyal to others

• Maintains confidentialities

• Demonstrates trust in others

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18

Political understanding

• Identifies the key stakeholders impacting uponthe council and the role of the Chief Executive

• Identifies and maintains knowledge of the aims,priorities, drivers and motivations of thesestakeholders

• Monitors change in the political environment interms of changes in personality, power bases,priorities, structures etc.

• Within the council, maintains good workingrelationships with politicians whilst maintaining theindependence and officer integrity of the positionof Chief Executive

• Develops an explicit understanding of therespective roles of the Chief Executive and electedleadership of the council. Does not step intoothers’ operating space

• Maintains the profile of the Chief Executivewithin that operating space

• Maintains flexibility of profile and positioningso that the Chief Executive can adapt quickly tochanges in the political environment

• Represents the political imperatives of the councilto partner and other organisations whilst alsorespecting and empathising with theirs. Thisincludes conveying messages with a differentnuance to different audiences

Appendix 2KEYELEMENTS OF ‘POLITICAL UNDERSTANDING’ SKILLS

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Vision setting and strategic management

• Working with the elected leadership, creates ashared vision and mission for the council

• Ensures that the vision is understood at all levelsand that this is used to stimulate energy andengagement

• Working with the elected leadership, identifiesthe key priorities for the council in order to achievethe vision

• Creates strategies to achieve the vision andpriorities

• Develops and maintains a thoroughunderstanding of the external and internaloperating environment

• Deploys financial, physical and human resourcesto meet strategic priorities

• Acts decisively in a complex environment ofambiguity and multiple stakeholders

Working with partners, partnerships and otherstakeholders

• Seeks and identifies opportunities wherepartnership working will support the vision,priority and strategy of the council

• Establishes and maintains effective relationshipswith partners and other stakeholders

• Shares performance management and criticalfriend challenge with partners

• Ensures appropriate and shared governancearrangements for partnerships

•Ensures that the council itself is a good partnerto others and fulfils its agreed obligations

• Ensures resources are shared within thepartnership as appropriate

• Is selective in which partnerships the councilenters into so as not to dilute effort and resources

Communication & cultural management

• Identifies the culture required by the council toachieve its vision, priorities and strategy

• Ensures that the culture is developed andmaintained through a variety of mechanismsincluding structure, working methods, reward,controls, symbols etc.

• Ensures that the council encourages scrutiny andaccountability and sees this as an opportunity fordevelopment

• Personally handles challenge and scrutiny asopportunities

• Identifies key communication requirements

• Ensures communication is open, deliveredthrough a variety of media and reaches all levelsand parts of the council

• Personally engages in and acts as a role model forthe desired culture and communication strategy

• Ensures communication is open, two-way andthat important messages are being communicatedand understood throughout the organisation

Appendix 3KEYELEMENTS OF ‘TRANSFORMATIONAL’ SKILLS

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Management of change

• Identifies the need for and desired changeswithin the council and ensures that these areunderstood

• Actively engages others in the change processand the development of the change strategy

• Encourages challenge to test and develop thechange strategy

• Identifies possible conflicts arising from thechange process and deals with these

• Monitors the change strategy and its outcomes

• Maintains clear direction and decision makingduring time of change

• Understands the possible causes of resistanceduring the change process and develops strategiesto deal with these

• Understands the stresses that can affect peopleduring the change process and supports themthrough this

Democratic Accountability and Challenge

• Ensures appropriate democratic arrangementsand effective governance of the council, includingelection process

• Encourages constructive challenge as a form ofboth organisational and personal development

• Encourages the use of scrutiny as a means ofservice improvement, risk assessment and policydevelopment

• Develops clear and agreed lines of accountabilitywith partners in relation to joint working

• Maintains the principles of open government andfreedom of information

• Actively seeks and welcomes feedback from avariety of sources, internal and external

• Ensures the organisation actively seeks to learnfrom customer feedback, complaints and mistakes

• Personally models accountable and ethicalbehaviour through being accessible, open andhonest with staff, elected members and the public

21

• Acts ethically at all times and despite any pressurefrom others

• Ensures that they have a set of core values whichthey operate within and that others are aware ofthese

• Maintains good self awareness both throughpersonal reflection, analysis of performance andseeking feedback from others

• Is open, honest and consistent

• Has personal integrity

• Genuinely values feedback and ‘critical friend’challenge

• Has constant curiosity and the ability to seechallenges as opportunities

• Has a personal commitment to coaching anddeveloping others

• Maintaining good life work balance and ensuringthey have a lifestyle that supports effectiveperformance and personal energy levels

• Maintains an outwardly positive attitude at alltimes – whilst appreciating the concerns of others

• Maintains a sense of perspective andproportionality

• Is accessible to others and has the ability to ‘puttheir arm around them’

• Is aware of the concepts of and has EmotionalIntelligence and sensitivity

• Is willing to assume responsibility and haspersonal courage and resilience

• Genuinely values and sees the benefits of equalopportunities and diversity

• Maintains a consistency of approach and mood

• Demonstrates passion and commitment

Appendix 4KEYELEMENTS OF ‘VALUES, ATTITUDES AND BEHAVIOURS’THAT UNDERPIN EFFECTIVE CHIEF EXECUTIVE BEHAVIOUR’

Skills for Local Government has (since April2013) been providing a dedicated service tolocal authorities, employer organisations andtrade unions as they seek to deliver firstclass local services. Prior to April 2013, ourwork for local government was conductedunder our Skills for Justice brand.

We work in partnership with employers tohelp them to recruit, develop and retain askilled workforce. We are a licensed SectorSkills Council to the sector, the IssuingAuthority for a wide range of the sector’sapprenticeship frameworks and theapproved supplier for many of the sector’sNational Occupational Standards.

We have developed quality products andservices to meet employer needs within thesector. Specifically, we help with:

- research;- workforce planning;- people management;- apprenticeship development;- accrediting internal training;- National Occupational Standards;- organisational change; and- improving productivity

To find out more about how Skills forLocal Government can help you,contact Bob Ross on 07557 741 776or bob.ross@sfjuk.com

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Learning from and with others

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