reflection and sense making
DESCRIPTION
Presentation to Permanent Secretaries participating in the CLP on the challenges of being a permanent secretary. The Caribbean Leadership Project (CLP) is a seven-year, $20 Million Canadian project funded by the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) and hosted by the Cave Hill School of Business/University of the West Indies (CHSB/UWI). This regional project covers twelve CARICOM member states (namely Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, Belize, Dominica, Grenada, Guyana, Jamaica, St. Kitts & Nevis, St. Lucia, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Suriname and Trinidad & Tobago)TRANSCRIPT
REFLECTION AND SENSE MAKING: THE CHALLENGES OF A PERMANENT SECRETARY
Didacus Jules 1 Feb 2013
The Role of Civil Service Leadership in Securing Regional Growth and Economic Development
Some provocations: • Is the public service either “civil” or a “service”? • Location of the public service in the national economy is an
aberration (accountable to taxpayers..but they are the major tax payers – the circularity of the govt apparatus paying for the govt)
• A PS must bring a vision and a sense of mission to their portfolio; be transformational but operationally effective/efficient. This can often mean challenging the status quo and an intelligent subversion of service norms
The Role of Civil Service Leadership in Securing Regional Growth and Economic Development
Some provocations: • Should succession be a matter of “waiting your turn” or
selection by competence/potential? • Obsession with hierarchical structure rather than functional
responsibility... Feed chain and negative impact on creativity and enthusiasm
The mathematics of insularity:
1 – 10 = 0 - Eric Williams
The mathematics of regionalism:
1 + 1 = 11 The PS – a major responsibility to move beyond insularity, see the synergies and recognize the benefit of collaboration
MY JOURNEY AS CONTEXT TO THE LESSONS OF MY EXPERIENCE
PS Education – Grenada Revolution Change the world by all means Impossible is nothing The power to do
PS Education & HRD – St. Lucia A vision for change: pragmatic but idealistic The power of team
Vice President HR – St. Lucia HR as determining metric for success; productivity is everything
80’s
90’s
2k’s
“we must maintain an optimism of the will; despite the pessimism of the intellect
- Antonio Gramsci
POLITICAL ADMINISTRATIVE WILL
POLITICAL ADMINISTRATIVE Public needs/wants Expectations
ACCOUNTABILITY Delivery with efficiency
Vision and direction PROGRESS Structure and means Short term – electoral cycle
STRATEGIC IMPERATIVES
Long term – development gestation cycles
The popular The necessary
Reform and progress are only possible when the political and administrative wills are in synergy
© Jules 2013
POLITICAL ADMINISTRATIVE WILL
VISION: short term agenda in a long term perspective
ACTION PRIORITIES: choosing options within limitations of possibility
LEGAL FRAMEWORK: Fair and equal rules; guidelines and penalties
PROGRAM & BUDGETARY MATRIX: $ for the vision & agenda
POLICY FRAMEWORK: Dev. Objectives; Sectoral; Equity, transparency and fairness
REGULATORY POWER & MANAGERIAL CAPACITY: to enable or prevent effectively
ETHICS OF GOVERNANCE: setting the tone for the country
ACCOUNTABILITY: the 5 year contract
© Jules 2013
Administrative Will Political Will
PERMANENT SECRETARIES
Not so PERMANENT anymore
Political tribalism Blurring division of labor between policy and administration
Policy incoherence
1st working day of new administration – jointly prepared by Minister and Permanent Secretary ...a simple unambiguous statement of macro-policy
DAY 2
WHAT IS EXPECTED OF A PERMANENT SECRETARY?
Old Paradigm New Paradigm
Educational Requirements
• Good first degree with long tenure of service and experience
• At least a second degree or professional accreditation in an area with advanced managerial training and preferably some exposure to a private sector environment
Managerial Capability and Style
• Hierarchical • Participatory/empowering • Oriented to reinforcement of
the system • Oriented to change management
• Systems oriented (managing the internal customer – meeting the needs of Government)
• service oriented (managing the external customer – meeting the needs of the citizen)
• Independent leadership • Interdependent leadership
Skills/ Knowledge and Ability
• Thorough understanding of rules, regulations and norms of the public service
• Thorough understanding of the environment (Government, economy, and social)
• Capacity to manage system (regulatory and supervisory effectiveness)
• Capacity to change the system (proactive, business process re-engineering)
• Strong procedural orientation • Strong inclination to innovation
NEW VS OLD PARADIGMS FOR PS LEADERSHIP
Old Paradigm New Paradigm
Environmental Differences
• Absolute adherence to rules & procedure
• Adherence to policy
• Conservationist and regulatory outlook
• Entrepreneurial and facilitatory outlook
• Dominated by manual processes
• Dominated by computer and information technology
• Heavy reliance on paper archiving
• Reliance on databases, document storage and retrieval
• Business at the pace of people • Business at the speed of thought • Stable environment • Unstable, unpredictable, rapidly
changing environment
Personal Qualities
• Circumspection • Boldness • Willingness to be self-effacing • Willingness to be visible and to
articulate vision • General acceptance and buy-in
to the status quo • Questioning of and preparedness
to change the status quo
NEW VS OLD PARADIGMS FOR PS LEADERSHIP
LEADERSHIP: the art of serving from in-front
...empower people
...lead by example
...embrace crisis; digest problems
COURAGE: the strength to speak and act
...define your principles
...take a stand
...when to break the rules
SPEAKING TRUTH TO POWER
PROBLEM SOLVING think beyond...
...if you are forever outing fires..
...the problem is not money but imagination
NO Ifs Buts Maybes Perhaps
I am greater and more important than my job My job does not define me It is I who bring integrity to my position I define my fit
WHO REALLY ARE YOU?
At the end of the day, any government of whatever political stripe wants a public service that will not just deliver but delight the public with the quality of its service. And citizens want to feel empowered that the public service is working for them and not against them, and that it is accountable to the taxpayers. No one can be satisfied with a service that is unresponsive, archaic, and weighted down by bureaucracy.
- D. Jules 1999
“we must maintain an optimism of the will; despite the pessimism of the intellect
- Antonio Gramsci
We refuse to be What you wanted us to be; We are what we are: That's the way it's going to be. You don't know! You can't educate I For no equal opportunity: Talkin' 'bout my freedom, People freedom and liberty! Bob Marley – Babylon System
THANK YOU