Single insight

INSIGHT

Opinion,comments and learning from experts and people using systems leadership
approaches across public services in England. Give us your views using the ‘comment’
box at the end of each article

In a 2013 review paper looking at both the theory and practice of systems leadership, Deborah Ghate and colleagues summarised their findings as follows:

    “Systems leadership is:

    • a necessary response to volatility, uncertainty, complexity and ambiguity, and to resource pressures
    • done within and across organisational and geopolitical boundaries, beyond individual professional disciplines
    • done within and across a range of organisational and stakeholder cultures, often without direct managerial control of resources
    • a collective rather than individual endeavour
    • distributed across many levels and roles
    • having outcomes for service users at its heart.

    Systems leadership is achieved through:

    • influence and ‘nudge’, not formal power
    • alignment around common vision or purpose: improved outcomes for service users
    • a focus on the outcomes and results, not the process
    • strong but robust and honest relationships
    • a mind set, rather than specific actions and behaviours

    Systems leaders personal styles are based in:

    • Ways of feeling (personal core values) – values and commitment
    • Ways of perceiving (observations, and hearing) – observing ‘from the balcony’ as well as ‘from the dance floor’ – allowing for the unseen and unpredicted – seeking and hearing diverse views – sensitivity to other narratives
    • Ways of thinking (intellectual and cognitive abilities) – curiosity – synthesising complexity – sense-making
    • Ways of doing (enabling and empowering) – narrative and communication – enabling and supporting others – re-purposing and re-framing existing structures and resources
    • Ways of relating (relationships and participation) mutuality and empathy honesty and authenticity reflection, self-awareness and empathy
    • Ways of being (personal qualities) bravery and courage to take risks resilience and patience drive, energy and optimism humility and magnanimity.

    Systems leadership flourishes when:

    • The authorising environment, whether organisational or systemic, tolerates risk and accepts multiple pathways to outcomes
    • There is willingness to cede organisational goals for collective ambition
    • Positional authority is not the only source of legitimacy
    • It builds on local and place-based initiatives and networks
    • Qualities, motivations and personal style are more important than specific competencies and skills
    • Relationships are central to leading through influence and allowing challenge and difficult conversations
    • Challenge, conflict and ‘disturbing the system’ are integral.”