The question confronting the Canadian public service today isn’t whether it’s possible for the service to be exceptional without solid leadership, but what type of leadership is necessary to maintain, or even recapture, this status?
“Leaders of the public service will need to set the tone and guide by example,” said Louise Levonian, Associate Deputy Minister for the Department of Finance.
“In this dynamic environment, leadership will be increasingly important to finding fresh ways to uphold the tradition of excellence that is the hallmark of Canada’s public service,” said Levonian.
Recruitment of key talent will be vital to the Service’s success, according to Levonian. These future leaders will need to deal with issues such as an increasingly connected society, massive transformation of global and domestic economies, increasingly complex policy issues, an aging population and, of course, rising citizen expectations.
“Building the public service of tomorrow requires a culture change and therefore must take place from the ground up by empowering our employees,” said Levonian.
As the Chair of the Sub-Committee on Public Service Engagement, Levonian is leading the public service-wide engagement efforts surrounding Blueprint 2020.
“Blueprint 2020 has proven to be the ideal vehicle to engage employees on how we can strengthen and improve our capacity to contribute to Canada’s successes and better serve Canadians through the delivery of excellent services and policy advice,” said Levonian.
Those interested in contributing to the Blueprint 2020 process can do so here.
Levonian will be participating in a panel at our Leadership Summit, titled Leadership Challenges and Bluprint 2020, along with Kevin Leahy, RCMP inspector and chair of the National Managers’ Community; Andrew Treusch, Commissioner and Chief Executive of the Canada Revenue Agency; and moderator Karen Ellis, President of the Federal Economic Agency for Southern Ontario.
Registration for our 2014 Leadership Summit is now open. If you wish to attend the event, please visit our leadership website to register.
Jeff Mackey is an intern with Canadian Government Executive, Vanguard and WRLWND magazines. Before joining us, Jeff worked with the Canadian Press in Toronto and Metro News in Regina. Now, back in his native Ottawa, Jeff is excited to cover everything from the public service and the military to today’s modern technology.
