The concept of leadership can be understood as managing the performance of teams in favor of organizational objectives and values through guidance and influence over individuals . Thus, in the context of the public sector, the actions of leaders are of fundamental importance for the modernization of management, since it depends above all on a cultural change and the management body is largely responsible for inspiring patterns of behavior and guiding priorities.
Given this scenario, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development – OECD and other organizations from different countries, including Brazil through the National School of Public Administration - ENAP, have concentrated efforts on the study and development of matrices of essential competencies for the high performance of public sector leaders. Although the competencies listed vary widely depending on the context of each nation, two aspects can be noted in common:
- Focus on soft skills : in the face of recurring advances and changes, technical knowledge and skills quickly become outdated and are not sufficient to guarantee the quality of the work performed by public sector leaders;
- Emphasis on innovation: given a global scenario that presents multifaceted and more complex challenges, high doses of innovation are required to solve public problems and meet citizens' expectations.
In this sense, the innovation dimension received special attention from the OECD, which published in 2017 the report called “Essential competencies for innovation in the public sector”, which was recently, in 2020, referenced and used as a basis for the preparation of the publication entitled “ Leadership for a high-performance public service”.
In the aforementioned document, the OECD defined and explored six competencies considered fundamental for promoting innovation in the public sector, which must be led by senior leaders. Let's get to know them below:
- Iteration: is the ability to develop policies, services and products in an incremental and experimental way, through experimentation, testing and the adoption of prototypes. It is related to the fact that innovation needs to be agile and allow constant changes and adaptations;
- Data literacy: is the ability to make decisions based on data and evidence. To ensure greater assertiveness of public actions, the study of data prior to the formulation of public policies and not just for subsequent evaluation is essential;
- Focus on citizens: is the ability to understand and consider the real needs of citizens to solve public problems or provide services. As a public agent, the leader needs to keep in mind that society is always his priority and his final client;
- Curiosity: is the ability to seek and try new ideas or ways of working. Innovation only comes to fruition through the new, therefore the innovative public leader needs not only to be curious, but above all to stimulate and inspire curiosity in his team;
- Storytelling : is the ability to establish communication and explain changes in a way that gains the support of the organization and the team. The engagement of other leaders and employees in a given innovation is a determining factor in its success and institutionalization: it is common in the public sector to see incredible ideas that never came to fruition due to lack of support;
- Insurgency: is the ability to challenge the status quo and work with unusual patterns and partnerships. To generate innovation, the leader needs to break their own limiting beliefs and leave their comfort zone, encouraging their teams to do the same.
Finally, it is necessary to take into account that such skills, although they are fundamental for the enactment of innovative actions in the public sector, cannot be sustained alone. In other words, for them to be properly performed they need to be accompanied by other attributes already widely covered by the various competency matrices developed over recent times, such as strategic thinking, collaboration and vision of the future.
Are you interested in the topic? To learn more, see the full version of the publication: https://www.oecd.org/media/oecdorg/satellitesites/opsi/contents/files/OECD_OPSI-core_skills_for_public_sector_innovation-201704.pdf
