Leading Questions

Leading Questions is a podcast about public sector leadership, published by Global Government Forum. Every episode we interview a former senior civil servant and ask them to reflect on key challenges they have faced in their career and what they learned from them. Packed with interesting insights into government, inspiring stories and handy advice, this is leadership in practice.

Flipping the script with former Bank of England chief economist – Andy Haldane 10/19/2023

Flipping the script with former Bank of England chief economist – Andy Haldane In this, the last episode of Leading Questions series 3, talks about thriving on leading through crisis and the challenges and opportunities “when the old is broken and the new is yet to be forged”. Having spent 32 years at the Bank of England, latterly as chief economist, headed up the UK government’s Levelling Up taskforce, founded the charity Pro Bono Economics, and spent the last two years as chief executive of the Royal Society of Arts, Andy has a range of roles and experiences to draw on. Yet though he has been very honest publicly about his organisations’ successes and failures over the years, he hasn’t divulged much about his own leadership style and motivations – until now. The man once named amongst the world’s 100 most influential people by Time magazine has seen his fair share of crises – not least, during his time at the Bank of England, the global financial crisis of 2008, the European debt crisis, Black Wednesday, and the COVID-19 pandemic. “Looking back over those 32 years, it was hallmarked or perhaps pockmarked by crises. They always come along, don’t they? But we seem to have had a particularly virulent sequence over the last 15 years plus,” he says. It is fortunate, then, that Andy is energised by the opportunity to drive big, system-wide change. Motivated by his belief that the most effective and durable way of making change is to engage as broad a base of stakeholders as possible, Andy describes the importance of listening to those not often given a voice. Indeed, speaking to people for whom the economy was not working proved to be “one of the most valuable sources of intelligence I could have had”. He also speaks of his tendency to be publicly honest about the things that have gone wrong and to suggest ideas radically different from the status quo; his concern that civil servants do not have “a long enough window of relative tranquillity to build their sea defences against whatever the next tsunami might be”; and of the importance of having an “optimistic, non-fatalistic mindset”. This fascinating episode is a window into the motivations of a man in the business of “establishing next practice rather than best practice thinking”, of considering what’s around the corner, and of “instilling a sense of belief about what’s possible”. 0d8737a45eaeb3468a46f541530bfd49d0d4f859 /episode/index/show/globalgovernmentforum/id/28365239

From COVID-19 to Russia's invasion of Ukraine: Estonia’s top public servant Taimar Peterkop's tips for dealing with crises 09/07/2023

From COVID-19 to Russia's invasion of Ukraine: Estonia’s top public servant Taimar Peterkop's tips for dealing with crises Estonia’s most senior civil servant, secretary of state Taimar Peterkop, shares his insights into leading through crises. From dealing with a vulnerability in the country’s digital ID system – which involved updating thousands of digital services – to the country’s response to the COVID pandemic and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, this is an episode packed with lessons on what to do when government is faced with emergency. Taimar’s main learning from the digital ID crisis was the importance of building relationships with the private sector, academia and civil society – so that they can be called upon when the government lacks the internal capabilities to deal with crises on its own. “You need all the different players in these situations to talk the same talk and to have the same message: ‘This is the problem, this is the solution, and don't worry’,” Taimar says. Through clear and consistent communication with citizens, the Information System Authority, which led the work to secure the IDs and which Taimar headed up at the time, managed not only to retain trust in the digital ID system but to actually increase it. Indeed, following the incident, use of the cards actually began to rise. When COVID hit, by which time Taimar had been appointed secretary of state, he took the lessons from that crisis and applied it to his leadership through the pandemic, not least in looking after the wellbeing of public servants, many of whom were having to work 16-hour days. He brought in mental health advisers and gave officials who had done exceptionally well gifts to boost morale. Also describing his part in moving management of the pandemic response from the health department to the prime minister’s office and establishing a COVID taskforce; Estonia’s readiness for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine; his background as a lawyer and technologist; and why he has decided to work for two years in his second term rather than the usual five, this is a not-to-miss episode for any public servant interested in how government can prepare in the era of permacrisis. /episode/index/show/globalgovernmentforum/id/27968862

‘I always knew that my anchor was health’ – Dame Una O’Brien 08/10/2023

‘I always knew that my anchor was health’ – Dame Una O’Brien In this episode of Leading Questions Dame Una O’Brien, who was permanent secretary of the UK Department of Health between 2010 and 2016, joins podcast host Siobhan Benita for a chat about her unconventional route into the civil service, and what she learned along the way. Having been appointed health department permanent secretary just as a coalition government was formed, and responsible for implementing sweeping and controversial healthcare reforms, Una was right in the thick of it – being scrutinised before a parliamentary committee no less than 28 times. It was a “bumpy” ride, she admits, but one she was absolutely ready for – not least because a breadth of experience acquired outside the civil service in her 20s stood her in good stead for the challenges to come. The daughter of Irish immigrants who were “firm believers in giving back”, with a love of history and having received teaching on the British Constitution, Una decided to pursue a career in either politics or the civil service. She soon realised she wasn’t cut out for the misogynistic political environment in the UK at the time – “I wasn’t prepared to fight that fight”, she says, acknowledging that other women had “much more moral courage than I did”. So, when viral meningitis struck leading to months in hospital, Una re-evaluated her career path, and after 10 years in politics and parliamentary and academic research, moved into the health sector and later the civil service Fast Stream, landing first in the Department of Health. Though she went on spend time at the Cabinet Office and transport department, she always returned to health. As she describes, the experience prior to joining the civil service that had “the most profound effect on me” in the decades afterwards, was the three years she spent working to set up a hospice and care centre for people with AIDS and HIV “right in the white heat of the controversy about that disease, as it started to really hit communities in London in the late 1980s”. She saw first-hand the people who were on the receiving end of poor care and discrimination and who felt excluded from public services – something that “gave health a centrepiece in my inner world” and spurred her on in subsequent work. She shares the part she played in the Bristol/Kennedy Inquiry into the deaths of babies after heart surgery at the Bristol Royal Infirmary and an inquiry into poor care at a hospital in Staffordshire. The latter led her to the “deeply hurtful” realisation that her department’s responses to letters from patients’ families lacked empathy and that troubling patterns of substandard care had been missed – leading to reform of the department’s handling of letters from the public. Having risen up the ranks – Una spent time as the health department’s director general of policy and strategy – she was appointed permanent secretary exactly 20 years to the day since she joined the civil service. She describes vividly the vision she had while waiting to go into the interview room of all the women who had supported her in the past standing behind her, willing her to succeed, and thinking “I can’t let you down”. Also touching on her current work as a career and leadership coach, insights into working with ministers, and the skills needed in this new world of hybrid work, this is an episode packed with personal reflections from a leader whose motivations never wavered. /episode/index/show/globalgovernmentforum/id/27712131

‘Find your references, your mirrors and your mentors’ – Israel Pastor Sainz-Pardo 06/29/2023

‘Find your references, your mirrors and your mentors’ – Israel Pastor Sainz-Pardo Podcast host Siobhan Benita speaks know-how and knock-backs with the deputy director of learning at Spain’s National Institute of Public Administration. Israel Pastor has more than 20 years’ experience as a senior manager in the Spanish state administration – including stints in the health, environment, finance and justice departments – affording him a broad perspective on leadership and what it takes to make the organisation you’re in charge of better. Having studied hard to get through a rigorous selection process whereby people with no prior professional experience can become an executive member of the civil service – entering at grade 26 of 30 – Israel found himself leading a team in an unfamiliar organisation whilst still in his 20s. He advises others who find themselves faced with such a baptism of fire, to “find your references, your mirrors and your mentors” and to have the humility to learn from less senior colleagues. Entering any new high-ranking position requires vision, the ability to connect disparate projects and programmes, and the resources “in your backpack” to make improvements, he says. And as listeners will find out, it is these capabilities, along with a focus on shining a spotlight on the work of his teams and being attentive to colleagues’ needs, that epitomise his leadership style. Also describing his current work leading the civil service’s learning and development programme, Israel shares his view on what leaders’ greatest challenge will be in the coming years and how to overcome it, and touches on much more besides: on frank discussions with political bosses; pushing back against the stereotype of the lazy civil servant; overcoming stress; the importance of institutional communication; and remaining faithful to your public service calling. Don’t miss this episode featuring a man who has been determined from a young age to be the best public servant he could be. /episode/index/show/globalgovernmentforum/id/27322041

‘Empowering people with a sense of possibility’ – Iain Rennie 06/01/2023

What makes for a responsive government? BONUS EPISODE 05/26/2023

‘Serve your country – you will never regret it’ – Noreen Hecmanczuk 05/04/2023

‘Unless you fight for it, it’s not worth it once you get there’ – Phindile Baleni 03/30/2023

‘Unless you fight for it, it’s not worth it once you get there’ – Phindile Baleni Phindile Baleni was appointed secretary to South Africa’s cabinet and director general of the presidency – the first woman in the country’s history to hold these roles – amid the pandemic in April 2021. It’s a good thing she likes a challenge. With a background in maths and law, she joined the public service in 1994 just as South Africa was transitioning from the old apartheid regime to a new democratic order. Working in provincial government before moving to national, Phindile’s career has been akin to “navigating an obstacle course”, not least on account of her race and gender. From a magistrate describing her as a “little girl” and refusing to address her in the courtroom to coming up against lawyers in the public service who excluded her by speaking Afrikaans, Phindile has faced discrimination with strength and grace – sometimes working to educate bigots and when necessary “fighting fire with fire”. She says she has always had people “who have known what I’m capable of who troubleshooted on my behalf” but it is principally her self-confidence – built by her parents from a young age – that has helped to pull her through. She is, she says, “motivated by struggle”. Using her experiences and leadership prowess to support others – Phindile subscribes to the idea popular in Africa that “a star shines because the other star gives you the light for you to shine” – she has worked to help talented colleagues get over crises of confidence, pushing them out of their comfort zones so that they can achieve their best. In this first episode of the new series of Leading Questions, Phindile also describes the “harrowing” experience of transforming a public service built on apartheid – to serve four million of a population of 54 million – into a democratic system capable of serving all South Africans. From an “eclectic” leader who comes across as humble and unassuming, this is a lesson in quiet unshakable strength, resilience and never giving up. /episode/index/show/globalgovernmentforum/id/26390346