Common International Elements for Leadership Development

1. Common International Elements for Leadership Development Stefano Pizzicannella Executive Secretary of the Government Committee for the Promotion of Leadership - CPL

2. The context for Public Administration leadership (1) • Public administrations are actors in a globalized and complex environment where different levels of government, stakeholders, citizens, businesses and NGO affect more and more decision-making. • Leadership cannot only rely on a “knowing that” kind of expertise, focusing on a fixed and predictable setof possible actions and legal constraints. • Only a stable environment without unpredictable events allows for a routine behaviour.

3. The context for Public Administration leadership (2) • Beyond different priorities, goals and levels of government in different countries, public managers are asked to manage public administrations and ensure good governance with the necessary flexibility. • A well-prepared and trained staff is the cornerstone of an open, participative and effective government able to foster dialogue with citizens, businesses and stakeholders and make timely decisions, calculating risks and preventing conflicts.

4. The Standards of Excellence (1) • UN/IASIA Standards of excellence for public education and training – improvement of public sector processes, management of networks and partnerships, enhancement of Leadership in public sector. • The Standards of Excellence presented during the IASIA Annual Conference held in Kampala in July 2008 are now being disseminated and starting to be implemented.

5. The Standards of Excellence (2) • Some European Government Schools and Universities are not interested in accreditation; • some are not so keen on formal accreditation but are interested in a framework that would favour self-evaluation and quality according to a diversity of criteria; • others are open to accreditation, even in the form provided by organizations such as EAPAA or NASPA.

6. The Standards of Excellence (3) • Standards of Excellence could well represent a common ground for benchmarking. • IASIA might play a major role in spreading shared criteria for Public Administration training, taking into consideration the diversity of cultures, history and institutions existing in different regions

7. The Standards of Excellence (4) • IASIA could provide a common ground and joint forum of discussion in order to promote shared values through benchmarking actions such as: • benchmarking networks, • capacity building initiatives, • technical assistance, • peer reviews, • field visits, • website development for benchmarking and databases

8. Cooperation for Leadership Development (1) • Development of capacity-building initiatives in the field of leadership, in partnership with other European and Mediterranean countries. • Focus on the tools and role of administrations to cope with the economic crisis and its social effects (including migration, climate change, diversity) • The objective is to insure the highest degree of inclusiveness of different voices and perspectives.

9. Cooperation for Leadership Development (2) • Joint UNDESA-IASIA Euro-Mediterranean conference on “Redesigning Public Administration training to deal with the global development agenda”, Rome, 13–14 Oct. 2008 • Joint EU – EIPA Euro-Mediterranean conference on “Defining competences and skills for public managers in the Euro-Mediterranean region”, Rome, on 27–28 Oct. 2009 European and Mediterranean schools and institutes of PA met to exchange views and experiences on useful tools and methodologies for reforming education and training programmes, on the basis of the Standards of Excellence.

10. Cooperation for Leadership Development (3) • Conferences findings: international initiatives to be carried out: • Creation of a common training course • Use of common quality criteria for training • Efficient communication and exchange tools: networks of institutes and universities involved in Public Administration education and training

11. Cooperation for Leadership Development (4) • International initiatives to be carried out: • To create a web platform for sharing knowledge, key skills and competences; • Development of projects including a professional exchange programme (under the form of traineeships for instance) • organization of meetings on specific issues of common interest for public administrations of the region.

12. Joint delivery of training (1) • Joint European project promoted and funded by the Italian Government - implementation of training activities for European senior civil servants: • Training course based on a pilot programme (ESCS) jointly drafted with schools, institutes and universities of Italy, United Kingdom, France, Poland, Germany, Greece, Spain and Hungary • 3 editions of the ESCS course organized in Italy in 2008 and 2009, with the participation of 150 senior civil servants from different European countries • One-week in-class training preceded by a one-month e-learning course, delivered in English.

13. Joint delivery of training (2) • Use of advanced methods for leadership training: • interactive techniques • case studies • role play • Results: • Networking • Use of social and self competences • Awareness of the international dimension of issues and dossiers

14. Joint delivery of training (3) • ESCS main objective: develop shared knowledge, key skills and expertise among middle-rank civil servants of national public administrations • Build a common European senior civil servant profile • Improve collaboration and civil servants mobility within the EU

15. Common features of a European senior civil servant’s scientific curriculum • EU legal framework • EUinstruments for Regions’ development and cross-border cooperation (EU funds, conventions, agreements, networks, etc.) • Managerial tools and behaviour

16. Common features of a European senior civil servant’s scientific curriculum • Global issues: Migration, Climate change, Diversity management, Sustainable development • Ethics and public values • Statistics and economics with focus on the economic crisis • Country specific modules on institutions and economics

17. Thank you for your kind attention! s.pizzicannella@governo.it