Systems leadership: Pitfalls and possibilities

Bolden, Richard

Abstract

Systems leadership​ is heralded as a means for improving collaboration and alignment between those commissioning, providing and using public services. Despite the clamour, however, little attention has been paid to the challenges of such an approach or the potential for unintended consequences. A closer look at theory and practice reveals several reasons for taking a systems leadership approach, including effectiveness, efficiency, engagement and equity. There are tensions and inconsistencies between these aims, however, and in order to realise the benefits it is important to consider systems leadership as a collective and contextualised process, rather than as something done by individual leaders.

• Working Paper Type: Discussion Paper
• Acceptance Date: Aug 13, 2020
• Online Publication Date: Oct 15, 2020
• Publication Date: Oct 15, 2020
• Deposit Date: Nov 28, 2020
• Publicly Available Date: Dec 2, 2020
• Pages: 3
• Keywords: systems leadership; public sector; complexity
• Public URL: https://uwe-repository.worktribe.com/output/6903412
• Publisher URL: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/national-leadership-centre-research-publications