Strange as it may seem, a majority of us would opt to die rather than experience extreme change. So noted Ron McKerlie, the Associate Secretary to the Cabinet of the government of Ontario and the former interim president and CEO of Ornge, who led a radical cultural transformation of an organization poisoned by years of poor leadership.
In a frank and honest presentation to CGE’s Leadership Summit, McKerlie said that in addition to managing the daily media barrage of crisis headlines – often leaked by Ornge employees – firing 12 of 15 executives and releasing 22 staff, he acquired seven guiding skills or abilities public sector leaders should have if they are ever called upon to manage large-scale change.
1. An ability to focus and prioritize;
2. An ability to be decisive and make tough decisions;
3. A willingness to communicate and be transparent;
4. Adaptability;
5. Resilience, persistence and perseverance;
6. Creativity; and
7. Personal integrity.
If you were under the microscope, tackling complex challenges will managing the expectations of vocal stakeholder groups, how would you fair?
The entire video of Mr. McKerlie’s presentation and PDFs will be available on the CGE website at https://canadiangovernmentexecutive.ca?rgr=3252
