Canadian Government Executive - Volume 24 - Issue 02

January/February 2018 // Canadian Government Executive / 45 Readings Brief ership resonates with how public sector leadership has to be practiced to be effec- tive. One element of this leadership that the literature does not do a good job of describing is understanding that the up- ward leadership is such a unique feature of the public sector leadership. Catherine Aulthaus of Australia and New Zealand School of Government has called this the Administrative Sherpa role of leadership, in which the public servant, through ex- pertise, analysis and advice, leads deci- sion-makers towards their public policy decision, providing the best evidence for them to choose their course of action (see figure 1). Reading the case studies is highly in- structive. All the individuals have prac- ticed their leadership in municipal gov- ernment – some large, some small. Siegel documents each journey and draws les- sons from each. All these cases show us a leader leading a multidisciplinary or multi-business organization. This is often the case in government. Some of the les- sons reinforce findings that we have seen elsewhere. Siegel just makes them more real and grounded. Some of the lessons learned from these cases and Siegel’s analysis are: • “Great Man” and “Command and Con- trol” are unworkable notions of leader- ship in this context – and in most of gov- ernment. • There is a place for command and con- trol, but that is not leadership. • Leadership is about building motivation and building agreement on action. • There is a variety of ways to get things done, as long as you know have clarity on the problem to be solved and the goal to be reached. • Leaders orchestrate expertise. They do not replace it. • The degree of influence and trust is a key metric of leadership. • A leader works with many people, dif- ferent interests and views. • A public service leader is not a political actor, but must act with political sensi- tivity. • Leaders monitor performance but do not micromanage it. • The many aspects of culture are a preoc- cupation of a leader. For a public sector leader, this involves many cultures, not just the bureaucratic one. • Leaders leading in three different direc- tions will vary the intensity of their fo- cus based on their assessment of where they are needed, where the greatest risks are, and the urgency of the issue. • A public sector leader leads upwards as a trusted professional, not as a political actor. Building trust – upwards, down- wards and sideways – is key to being successful. Siegel says, “I intended this book to con- tribute to the literature by identifying the specific traits, skills and behaviours found in senior municipal managers in Canada and to serve as a road map for mid-career public servants who aspire to become senior managers.” He has done this and more. He has documented for all to read the complex and demanding world of mu- nicipal public administration. But, for any government executive, he has given some models to emulate and some real insights into the world of public sector leadership. A ndrew G raham is an Adjunct Professor at School of Policy Studies, Queen’s University. nicipal CAO