It is widely known that senior leadership is critical to embedding transformation, but moving from vision to practice also requires a system leadership approach.
The Local Government Association (LGA) has published some guidance and stories from places already doing this, as well as an in-depth evaluation of the programme undertaken by the University of the West of England.
One thing often cited when we talk about community capacity building is the need for strong leadership to oversee transformation. This is true, but it is not enough. Effecting culture and behaviour change are seismic tasks and require a systems leadership approach to move from the strategic to the operational.
The Revolution will be improvised (Part II) describes how systems leadership can embed long term behavioural change and secure sustainable change by involving as many people’s ‘energies, ideas, talents and expertise as possible’ and by leading across boundaries, including organisations.
The LGA’s national Systems Leadership programme has been supporting this approach for the last three years and the report provides key insights from nearly 40 sites illustrate some do’s, some don’ts, the eureka moments and the outcomes.
The difference that makes the difference, is an evaluation by the University of the West of England and provides a clear evidence base for the effectiveness of systems approaches, in changing mind-sets and leadership behaviours and thereby having a positive effect on outcomes and services on the ground.
