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Like many Nova Scotians the efforts of Dr. Strang during Covid-19 Pandemic sit front and center with me. His commitment to NS is most impressive to me. He has been a constant for us and continues to lead us down an unfamiliar frightening journey. Currently his efforts reach across all sectors, impacting all decisions. When our business world was paused, waiting to return to production, Dr. Strang had the responsibility of reviewing comprehensive plans to ensure public safety was/is paramount when business began to re-open to the public.

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After watching the video of Jacinda Ardern's speech I felt moved, she was able to connect with the audience  on a personal level.   She discussed combining resources and strengths, leaving you feeling proud of the response New Zealand has committed to.  I believe this to be a very effective leadership style.   You feel like the group is a team moving as a unit to accomplish a common goal.  This is what I found  exceptional about her style.  Her communication felt  honest, down to earth.  She was able to make me feel she is about the better good!

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After watching the video of Jacinda Ardern's speech I felt moved, she was able to connect with the audience  on a personal level.   She discussed combining resources and strengths, leaving you feeling proud of the response New Zealand has committed to.  I believe this to be a very effective leadership style.   You feel like the group is a team moving as a unit to accomplish a common goal.  This is what I found  exceptional about her style.  Her communication felt  honest, down to earth.  She was able to make me feel she is about the better good!

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The pandemic is a pretty obvious reason for most public sectors having to quickly adapt and develop new ways to conduct their core business. Our department sent most staff to work from home at the peak of the initial waves last summer. Our leadership team required new policies, practises and procedures to effectively “manage” our employees in this new virtual environment. Scheduling teams meetings has now become the norm which has resulted in some setbacks including the loss of a cooperative team approach which is traditionally achieved by having staff physically in the same office. We have now transitioned to a hybrid model for staff including work from the office for a minimum of three days a week. Prior to the pandemic, our central government would not have considered a telecommuting option for civil servants. I feel that our government has been innovative by assessing and now supporting a limited work from home model. I also envision that this strategy will become more of a permanent way to do public sector business for certain departments here in Manitoba.

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The Assistant Deputy Minister leading our division is focused on collaboration. She holds monthly leadership team meetings and monthly one on one meetings with everyone on her team. She also is very curious and asks a lot of questions within those meetings, informs leaders of what others are doing, and builds in a lot of opportunities for her team to make connections even though we are located at different offices throughout the city. Many of our offices perform similar functions, one of which are maintaining registry data. We are all at different places in making the various registries digital. Through these conversations, our Assistant Deputy Minister has linked different leaders to simply share information and within an office that was further behind on digital registry activities are now on a path to planning a true innovation in how they access past information so they can do their current work more efficiently. (Dawn Gerbrandt)

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Tizard states vision and objectives must be present to successfully lead an organization and  for successful collaboration. These are first on his list and must not only be clear but shared. Prior to starting my current position, I now realize that I didn’t appreciate the importance of a shared vision and strategic objectives. I knew about them and felt I understood but it’s a different thing to be the one responsible to implement them. In other government offices I worked in, I felt everyone understood the vision and objectives for the most part however, in my current workplace I’m not experiencing the same thing and challenged by what I must do as a leader to turn that around. What I didn’t see my leaders in the past doing in terms of implementing their vision I’m now learning how to do myself and what really resonates with me is that until recently, I didn’t understand the depth of how much self reflection that actually takes.

Tizard also discusses the importance of developing and investing in people. While we’re able to influence hiring the right people to a certain extent, I find the majority of time we’re spending time on figuring out how to develop and invest in the people who are already employed.  Historically, my office has not done a lot of work in this area and the results are visible to us today. Our challenge as a management team and now that my understanding is greater, spending time solidifying our vision and objectives so we can move forward as a unit is of utmost importance. As we do that, I can see that we’ve already identified opportunities to develop and invest in our people. (Dawn Gerbrandt)

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(ADRIA YOUNG) COVID-19 was a great example of public sector innovation happening at rapid speed; as we moved entirely online in a matter of weeks, a number of government services/functions also went online; small examples include: digital submissions of invoices to Finance (after decades of photocopies being MAILED to Finance for processing) to more complex processes like Access NS services going digital and more impressively, telehealth/virtual health and primary care access! As a result of 'crisis mode,' the public sector was able to collaborate and work fast on initiatives that otherwise would take months of meetings, committees, approvals, etc. COVID empowered leaders to act fast and create new ways of doing things out of necessity, solving long-term problems in the immediate moment. It was a pretty good example of innovation and agility that I hope government carries forward in practice, now that we know we can do it!

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(ADRIA YOUNG) COVID-19 was a great example of public sector innovation happening at rapid speed; as we moved entirely online in a matter of weeks, a number of government services/functions also went online; small examples include: digital submissions of invoices to Finance (after decades of photocopies being MAILED to Finance for processing) to more complex processes like Access NS services going digital and more impressively, telehealth/virtual health and primary care access! As a result of 'crisis mode,' the public sector was able to collaborate and work fast on initiatives that otherwise would take months of meetings, committees, approvals, etc. COVID empowered leaders to act fast and create new ways of doing things out of necessity, solving long-term problems in the immediate moment. It was a pretty good example of innovation and agility that I hope government carries forward in practice, now that we know we can do it!

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(ADRIA YOUNG) What struck me is the concept of 'entrepreneurial mindset' as foundational to public sector collaboration -- it reminded me of Nova Scotia's participation in the MIT-REAP program (MIT's Regional Entrepreneurship Acceleration Program) which gave NS a framework for public/private sector economic growth -- all of the qualities mentioned in the Tizard article (Leadership qualities, page 184) are also qualities needed for economic growth in the region; and as such, NS public sector has been using this framework (e.g. Cape Breton Partnership, Halifax Partnership, RENs, and so on); it's a good example of these principles in action! 

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(ADRIA YOUNG) What struck me is the concept of 'entrepreneurial mindset' as foundational to public sector collaboration -- it reminded me of Nova Scotia's participation in the MIT-REAP program (MIT's Regional Entrepreneurship Acceleration Program) which gave NS a framework for public/private sector economic growth -- all of the qualities mentioned in the Tizard article (Leadership qualities, page 184) are also qualities needed for economic growth in the region; and as such, NS public sector has been using this framework (e.g. Cape Breton Partnership, Halifax Partnership, RENs, and so on); it's a good example of these principles in action! 

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One point that resonates with me is the notion of collaboration particularly the relationship between the public sector and the citizen. I appreciate the emphasis on co-design and a shared vision on mutual outcomes. I am currently directly involved in a large scale municipal program review that will impact 48 northern Indigenous communities. Our branch was mandated to “re-organize” several years ago. This process would address how our provincial government funds core community programs and services and potential re-defining what makes a community. This review was contracted out to a large financial accounting firm who did not reasonably engage or consult with the affected communities. This firm produced a final report with their recommendations to our Minister. As I suspected, the report focussed on cost-cutting and efficiencies rather than on how to improve the quality of critical programs and services. My leadership group is now designing a second review process with a renewed focus on engaging the direct stakeholders - the Indigenous communities. We are now designing an engagement strategy that will use a reconciliation lens to the overall review. I am confident that this second attempt will involve a true co-design, shared vision, shared commitment to find solutions and mutual trust and respect. This collaboration approach has not been utilized by our government in recent years.

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Leadership leads to innovation (Post by Sandra Dyal)

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Leadership leads to innovation (Post by Sandra Dyal)

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The COVID pandemic has resulted in rapid innovation across the health sector and beyond. On example of this was seen in early 2020 when number of non-medical device companies started producing masks and other health products in an effort to boost supply chain and help to mitigate shortages. This included automobile manufacturers such as GM and the Woodbridge Group in Ontario. These companies rapidly retooled their factories to shift from manufacturing automobile parts to masks and face shields.

Similarly, some liquor manufacturers started to product hand sanitizers. Even more unexpectedly, the Royal Canadian Mint in Winnipeg also announced that they would be producing hand sanitizer in April 2020.

Given the amount of time, money and effort that would have gone into overhauling existing manufacturing lines, these changes could only have happened with strong leadership and support from the executive levels of these organizations.

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The recent pandemic resulted in higher education being pushed to an online environment. Leaders in the education sector quickly sought out online platforms that could effectively produce their programs. The online environment also opened programs up to more students since there was no longer the requirement of in person learning. An article in the Harvard Business Review notes that education is one of the least digitized and most people intensive economic sectors. However, the results of the pandemic made it evident that many programs could be offered solely online. The education sector was forced into a digital environment and now has the opportunity to assess what is working and what needs to be improved.

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I think a great example of effective leadership and innovation, would be Elon Musk and Tesla/SpaceX.
Elon Musk is known to be a creative and innovative leader, who encourages his employees to work hard, and he leads by example. Elon has created successful companies because of his leadership style, even if it is very different than most. Because Elon is a creative leader, he encourages his employees to come forth with new ideas and think outside the box. I've also read in an article about Musk, that he encourages communication in a quick and direct manner- not necessarily through "proper chain of command" which, is sometimes a huge factor in delays and inefficiencies.
I don't think anyone can disagree that Tesla has changed the automotive industry- this could not have been done without effective  (and inspiring) leadership.

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The part that resonated most with me, with me was "Good leaders will recognise that it is absurd not to invest in and develop
their organisation’s people. A failure to do so is: a waste of resource; risks top talent
and knowledge leaving as soon as they can find a better opportunity; can reduce staff
motivation and productivity; and means that the organisation misses huge
opportunities."
The reason for this, is during my career within the Federal Public Service, I have seen first hand the difference this can make within an organization. I have watched excellent employees leave because they are not provided with opportunities for growth and advancement. Employees not only want the opportunity to advance, but to have a Manager who supports those things and values growth.

Managers who don't understand the value of investing in their people are the ones who are frequently having to post job competitions because their staff are leaving for opportunities where they will be provided with the ability to grow and develop. I am extremely fortunate to have a Manager who understands the importance of this and encourages growth within his section. Because I feel valued and am provided with education, acting opportunities, cross training, etc. I am happy to show up each day and am not seeking other opportunities. This is not the same for all sections within my specific department, as Management style varies greatly.

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As a federal public servant within Health Canada, there were a few points that really resonated with me in the Tizard article, but I'll focus on only two in this discussion.

The first was the discussions throughout the article referencing various collaborations. As mentioned in this week's lecture, multi-level governance is starting to come more and more into play. While each level of governments within Canada have their specific responsibilities as detailed in their relative Acts and Regulations, there is also an increasing amount of collaboration and cooperation between these levels of government within the health sector. I have personally worked directly and closely with some provincial health authorities in my role as a medical devices inspector. In addition, I've also participated in meetings with international regulatory bodies.

A second point that really hit home was the fact that leaders should invest in and help to develop their organization's people. In my last assignment for the HRM course a few weeks ago, I discussed the issue of career development and succession planning within government. While Tizard states that leaders would support investing in their human resources and support their development, the reality is that, within my team's program, there is no succession planning. I discussed this issue with my supervisor a few years ago and he agreed that it was a big gap within our directorate. However, the issue is that the executive levels do not view this as a real priority and have not taken action towards rectifying this problem. It seems very inconsistent in that some programs within the directorate are supporting career advancements and succession planning while others are not.

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I thought this article did a good job in outlining the changes that are going to need to occur in leadership. What I found particularly interesting was the point around public service leadership beyond the public sector and the need for leaders to be informed of the public sector, beyond just their sector. Having completed the Conceptualizing Leadership Questionnaire, I had ranked skill emphasis as the highest dimension of leadership. In order for leaders to exceed beyond the public sector, they need to be informed and knowledgeable in what is occurring around them. I think the evolving expectations being put on leaders is definitely moving leadership from a trait emphasis to a skill emphasis.

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I thought that Jacinda's speech was very well delivered an was inspiring at times. She provided a lot of expression while delivering her speech, evening smiling at times, which made her come across as relatable and sincere. I think it is leadership, she is inspiring others to make a change and is addressing concerns. As well, she speaks with confidence and authority.

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One famous example of someone's innovative leadership is Netflix’s CEO Reed Hastings. His approach gives his workers a high level of autonomy, but they have high expectations on their work. The style has been described as “upfront” resulting in overly direct feedback that can sometimes be too direct. Despite the downsides of his leadership style, the company has grown exponentially the last ten years. In short, the company has a higher turnover rate, as people can fall below the “standard” of the day. Elements of this style may be useful in the public sector, but unlike the private sector, high turnover in the public sector will lead to diminishing returns.

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The Tizard article was a great overview of the current, present, and future of public sector leadership. It is also a great piece on the general idea of leadership for the modern era. One line that stuck out to me is “leaders have to be ready and prepared to say un-popular things and to take un-popular decisions”. I find that this quote highlights a running theme in supposed inadequate leaders. That courage is in short supply. I think if the leaders of many public sector or even private entities were encouraged to be brave, I believe a lot of the detrimental indecisiveness would be avoided. History always remembers the brave.

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Taking on Difficult Change
The creation of the Nova Scotia Health Authority in 2015 is, I think, a recent example of how leadership led to an innovation. The government at the time certainly faced criticism and opposition to a change it believed would lead to better governance. To be sure, this criticism and opposition still exists. But a belief that there is a better way and following through on that belief despite opposition is an element in the amalgam of leadership. Maybe even a crucial one. Moreover, while the issue is certainly open to debate, I believe the Nova Scotia Health Authority handled the COVID-19 pandemic effectively, indeed more effectively than other jurisdictions where control over vaccine rollouts and testing was less centralized.

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The Assistant Deputy Minister leading our division is focussed on collaboration. She holds monthly leadership team meetings and monthly one on one meetings with everyone on her team. She also is very curious and asks a lot of questions within those meetings, informs leaders of what others are doing, and builds in a lot of opportunities for her team to make connections even though we are located at different offices throughout the city. Many of our offices perform similar functions, one of which are maintaining registry data. We are all at different places in making the various registries digital. Through these conversations, our Assistant Deputy Minister has linked different leaders to simply share information and within an office that was further behind on digital registry activities are now on a path to planning a true innovation in how they access past information so they can do their current work more efficiently. (Dawn Gerbrandt)

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Tizard states vision and objectives must be present to successfully lead an organization and  for successful collaboration. These are first on his list and must not only be clear but shared. Prior to starting my current position, I now realize that I didn’t appreciate the importance of a shared vision and strategic objectives. I knew about them and felt I understood but it’s a different thing to be the one responsible to implement them. In other government offices I worked in, I felt everyone understood the vision and objectives for the most part however, in my current workplace I’m not experiencing the same thing and challenged by what I must do as a leader to turn that around. What I didn’t see my leaders in the past doing in terms of implementing their vision I’m now learning how to do myself and what really resonates with me is that until recently, I didn’t understand the depth of how much self reflection that actually takes.

Tizard also discusses the importance of developing and investing in people. While we’re able to influence hiring the right people to a certain extent, I find the majority of time we’re spending time on figuring out how to develop and invest in the people who are already employed.  Historically, my office has not done a lot of work in this area and the results are visible to us today. Our challenge as a management team and now that my understanding is greater, spending time solidifying our vision and objectives so we can move forward as a unit is of utmost importance. As we do that, I can see that we’ve already identified opportunities to develop and invest in our people. (Dawn Gerbrandt)

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One example of innovation within the public service that first comes to mind for me is each organization’s response in the implementation of teleworking for staff at the beginning of the pandemic. At least in my organization, teleworking agreements always seemed like something that was reserved for very limited/specific circumstances and impossible to apply on a larger scale.  The fact that many organizations were able to implement this change in the work environment so quickly and rather successfully (especially considering the rollout of new government programs/services to respond to the pandemic; now processed by officers remotely) is quite impressive. The challenge for leadership was to guarantee that they were able to procure the necessary teleworking equipment, coordinate with a number of teams within their departments, ensure that network capabilities would be sufficient, manage any necessary (now virtual) training for staff (especially as some workers were asked to work in other/new programs), etc. And despite some expected growing pains, the future of the public service will likely see teleworking as a much more accessible option for workers.

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Public Sector Innovation – Salesh Prasad

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Public Sector Innovation – Salesh Prasad

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While emerging technologies can increase our capacity to deliver results, there are no substitute for good people and good leadership. One example of effective leadership has led or is leading to an innovation in the federal department is the desire to make federal service more diverse and inclusive. The desire was further amplified by the Clerk of the Privy Council and Secretary to the Cabinet Call to action on anti-racism, equity, and inclusion in the Federal Public Service. As a most senior leader in the federal public service, the Clerk has asked senior leaders of all departments such as Deputy Ministers to develop practical actions that will bring about systematic change to eliminate racism and discrimination. Since clerks call to action, the deputy heads of the department has been with hard with senior leaders of their departments to create measurable outcomes that will demonstrate that public service is becoming more diverse and inclusive.

Deputy heads are supporting this call to action by becoming champions of several working groups within their departments to advance the call to actions and reporting back to the clerk. Once the core working group is established the leaders trust the core expertise, which translates into a healthy degree of freedom that enables members to be creative in creating action items. The leaders are very open to practice, attend meetings, and build relationships. The leaders are open to making changes to departmental polices and directive that will create the path to diverse and inclusive public sector.

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Tizard Article – Salesh Prasad

The first element from the Tizard’s article that stood out for me was that “Whether in local or central government and to some extent in the NHS and the police, ultimately responsibility and accountability for policy and operational performance rests with elected politicians be they ministers, council leaders or elected mayors or police and crime commissioners. Whilst there are some similarities with the business sector, the executive leader’s relationship to his or her board/council is very different in the public from the business sector.” It stood out for me because never before I realized that public leaders are more visible than leaders of other sectors because of the role in supporting the political leaders. Trizard clearly outlined roles of the public sector leaders – advise the political decision makers, be accountable to the political leaders,  and ensure probity, fiduciary standards, and legal compliance.

As public sector leaders support political leaders in achieving the departmental priority and ultimately the government objectives, their work is under continuous media scrutiny, external audits and inspections. This creates additional pressure on the public sector leaders to perform well in many dimensions. The private sector leaders does not have the same pressure.

In the same vein, this “ Some media and political generalist attacks on the integrity, performance and even pay of public sector leaders has been unfortunate and makes leadership that much more difficult” is another element that stood for me. This reminded me of the time when the Clerk of Privy Council and head of the federal public service was called upon to testify in the SNC-Lavalin scandal. This shows just how vulnerable public sector leaders are and the reasons why they must do their job by practicing all of public sector values and ethics.

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The first point that stuck out to me in the Tizard article was the point that there is a growing need “for greater collaboration within and between sectors.” This has been a common theme throughout the courses in the certificate. However, specifically in this reading, it is pointed out that the ability for leaders to co-operate with other departments/agencies will be crucial in dealing with complex issues (I am thinking especially for so-called ‘wicked problems’); as finding desirable outcomes for these problems will require solutions across multiple sectors. This is especially important when dealing with factors like “reductions in public expenditure, fragile economic growth, demographic changes and increasing public expectations.”

The second point that stuck out to me was Tizard’s disparaging response to the “more for less” mantra which he believes is often echoed throughout public sector organizations as they deal with budget reductions. This is something I can relate to as it is a refrain that I have often heard from those in leadership positions in the public service as they respond to budget cuts; an expectation that the level of service continues (or sometimes even an expectation that it improves) despite less resources to do this. This sometimes leads to a short term increase in production among workers in an effort to meet expectations, but it often leads to workers feeling overworked and burnt out; Affecting worker morale and leading to production issues in the future. Tizard’s suggestion is that public sector leaders must be prepared to make difficult decisions that are strategic and long term focused on the organizations objectives (shaping the future)  as opposed to tactical and short term (potential creation of longer term pressures).

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Pre-pandemic, could we have fathomed the federal government dispersing the amount of relief they did as quickly as they did? With worrisome memories of the Phoenix payment system, I don’t think many would have thought it was possible. Yet, with a clear vision and the public service effectively rallied, it seems all went well with only minor hiccups. This clearly was a massive feat of leadership at many levels of the federal level, but did it involve any form of innovation? I would argue so. Innovation comes in all forms, be it thought a new product or service, a new business model, process, experience, or even simple an increase in efficiency to a level not previously attained. Innovation could be any of the previous things, but it does have to make it to market or the people for it to be an innovation, otherwise it is simply an idea or theory. In this case, the federal government found a path forward to achieve something they hadn’t before and they delivered it to their customers. Innovation was at play here. Likely, at many levels of the government and was spurred on by a singular vision for support from federal leaders.

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“There may be times when a straight apology and acceptance of personal responsibility is the only appropriate response to a major failure. Honesty, good communication, excellent briefing and preparation and humility are essential for the public sector leader in such circumstances.” - This statement personally resonated with me as I see this type of statement appear several times in literature about the public sector but I must say I saw it far more exemplified in the oil & gas sector during my time there than in any part of the private sector I’ve personally worked with, especially when it comes to programs, funding, or services that completely missed their mark. Too often I’ve seen professionals in the public succumb to the sunk cost fallacy than I’ve ever seen in the private sector. I do believe, as an ideal, this statement means more to the public sector…but in practice, I’m not sure it is acted on more than the private sector.

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There seems to be nothing like a good crisis to prompt innovation! An example of public service innovation that is top of mind to me relates to the sudden need for medical equipment at the outset of the COVID-19 pandemic- in this example, ventilators. The federal government moved swiftly to implement a funding competition, available to organizations (private, public or partnership) who could design and scale up production of made in Canada ventilators. Government collaborated across sectors (engineering, healthcare, etc.) involving a broad range of perspectives when implementing the initiative (e.g. having front line respiratory therapists and engineers critically evaluate the designs and determine design that would be funded). The Government’s collaborative approach (the Ministry’s sharing in leadership) was in my view a key reason for the initiatives success. For the first time in history Canadian ventilators are in hospital use and are being exported around the world to help in countries where health systems have been crippled. And it all happened in mere months.

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Key elements in the Tizard article that stood out to me relate to the attributes needed for effective collaborative leadership. Some seemed obvious (e.g. effective communication, negotiation), but two aspects seemed more related to “EQ” – the willingness to cede and share power, and an ability to control ones own “ego”. It has been my experience in leading collaboration within and outside of my own organization that these are absolutely the primary barriers to success that I run into. This is especially notable when working across organizations, where leaders may put their self-interests before the great potential to be had through collaborative efforts (and reading the paper reminds me to always check my blind spots to ensure I am not doing the same!). Similarly, in describing the role of public service leadership ‘beyond the public sector Tizard notes “humility and mutual respect are essential”. Understanding across contexts is absolutely imperative to ensuring effective collaboration. From the perspective of someone working outside of government, understanding leadership across that context is absolutely necessary to even facilitate opening up a conversation.

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Discussion 2: Exemplary Leader – Salesh Prasad

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Discussion 2: Exemplary Leader – Salesh Prasad

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Discussion 2: Exemplary Leader – Salesh Prasad

Being from BC, I might sound biased. But, there is no doubt in my mind that Dr. Bonnie Henry is an exemplary leader. She has demonstrated excellent leadership by staying focused and using evidenced based information to make hard decision, even when she received death threats and in appropriate comments on the social media. One the strong leadership competencies demonstrated was communication. Her communication early in the pandemic and even now is effective in helping to keep public safe. Her has been transparent,  consistent and timely. It gained public confidence and calm, and motivated people to change their behavior by following public health guidelines. She has been calm, collected, and informative in mitigating the transmission of virus, keeping the public informed and flattening the curve in BC.

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Hi students, could you please start the post with your name, as otherwise it comes out as Anonymous

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Hi students, could you please start the post with your name, as otherwise it comes out as Anonymous

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Martine: Thank you!

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The observation that stood out most from Tizard's article was that "whilst there are some similarities with the business sector, the executive leader's relationship with his/her board/council is very different in the public from the business sector." He points out why. In the public sector the boardroom level, for lack of a better term, is an elected official. In the business sector, the leadership and executive levels are all really pulling in the same direction: the success of the business and, ultimately, it profitability. This is the scale by which successful leadership at all levels is measured. In the public sector, the ultimate goal of the elected official (that boardroom level) is to be re-elected. I agree with Tizard that the public sector executive role is to provide advice to political leaders, and be accountable for the performance of their organization; I disagree that part of their role is to be accountable for "securing political objectives." It is important for the public sector leader to balance the political objectives of political leaders, with the governance objectives of their departments.

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During the Covid-19 pandemic, I think that the leaders that have stood out in my mind have mostly been public health leaders (e.g. Chief Medical Officer of Health). It seemed like many of these leaders experienced a surge in popularity in the beginning; followed by an sharp decrease. Being from Alberta, I will pick out Dr. Deena Hinshaw for my choice here. Recognizing that the position is more of an advisor to the Premier on health matters, it is still the CMOH's advice that influences the final political decision and the CMOH has mostly been the one expected to relay the information to the public.
It is this last point that has impressed me the most. The pandemic has pushed the CMOH into a significantly more public/visible role than I think they ever really expected. The adaptability demonstrated in response to this is quite impressive and a great quality in a leader. Especially when considering the "Horizontal or collaborative leadership theory" from the reading for the week.

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I watched this video again after reading through the "Lessons from Leadership Theory and the Contemporary Challenges of Leaders" reading. One thing that stuck out to me was how I could the tie points in her speech to the theories of leadership in the readings; Most notable were Transformational, Horizontal/collaborative, and Ethical:

Transformational - Recognizing that change is necessary to respond to global issues and crises like Covid-19, climate change, etc. and providing solutions (e.g. Emphasizing commitment to Sustainable Development Goals, Climate change risk assessment, etc.)

Horizontal/Collaborative - A recognition of the importance of collaboration and "combining efforts to accomplish our aims." (e.g. looking beyond government, inclusive multilateralism, open to expertise, etc.)

Ethical - Display the virtues of public service ('People, People, People'), a  commitment to the common good (e.g. equitable access for all, creating a better world for future generations) and dedication to the law (e.g. Charter, 'law of the sea convention', etc.)

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I'm choosing a group of leaders instead of just one person because when COVID 19 hit, our office had to spend alot of time planning and implementing changes so we could meet public health order requirements. We were a newly formed team at that time but we all understood the importance of the work ahead of us and as a result became a stronger team for it. COVID 19 highlighted our vulnerabilities and what I found remarkable is that each person contributed their own strengths without any bias, defensiveness or negative comments and we came up with a great plan. While it wasn't without struggle, these folks never took their eye off the target because they genuinely care about their work and the people within it. I was impressed by their professionalism, intelligence and commitment and feel very honored to work with them.

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I was moved by Jacinda Ardern's speech. She appealed to humankind, not just New Zealanders. Collectively working towards common goals within each country can lead to achieving those same goals across the world if leaders commit and apply their efforts outside of their own country. She's not only asking other leaders to join her in this commitment, she's also showing how she is leading her country by example for the rest of the world. I think this is leadership because any company is successful when all of it's sections work together and towards the same goals. I don't see leading the world any different.

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Yes, this is leadership.

In this video, Jacinda is inclusive and representative of the people she represents (she leads the whole country, not just certain demographics of it). She also speaks passionately about climate change and adaptation and uses concrete examples and presents solutions.

Some of New Zealand's approaches to climate change (i.e. direct approaches) is refreshing in a context of global leaders who either aren't willing to acknowledge climate change, or are beholden to industries that are actively causing it.

I also think the link she makes between COVID as a 'communal' experience and climate change as a 'communal' experience makes challenges universal and therefore the responsibility of the world to solve. I think it's a really effective rhetorical strategy -- motivation through unification.

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In a Nova Scotian context, Dr. Robert Strang (Chief Medical Officer of Health) stands out as a leader during the (ongoing) COVID-19 pandemic. He seems an unlikely 'hero' but has become somewhat of a celebrity as the 'face' of the pandemic (including on the cover of photographer Len Wagg's new book We Rise Again). It seems unlikely in the sense that unelected public servants rarely become the epicenter or voice of a crisis.

In terms of what 'leadership' he's exhibited, I'd have to say his emphatic messaging around compassion and kindness set him apart from other leaders who downplayed the very human element of the pandemic. His 'common sense' approach was accessible. He didn't speak down, he spoke to. His messaging was consistent and evidence-based, which established trust over time, and he was very relatable (i.e. some sense of humour, some foibles). I'd say his personal qualities were a big piece of why NS was so successful (globally speaking) in following public health guidelines. As a comparison, Ontario & Albertas CMOs had an entirely different attitude, responses, and lower adoption rates of health public health measures. In this case, human behaviour was significantly shifted with a leader who was a very human, approachable person.

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Leaders in the Pandemic (Post by Sandra Dyal)

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Leaders in the Pandemic (Post by Sandra Dyal)

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An interesting but concerning trend that has arisen in a couple of provinces during the pandemic is that there have been leaders that have emerged at the beginning of the pandemic that have since fallen from grace.

One of these leaders was Doug Ford. Prior to the pandemic, he was a divisive leader who was greatly criticized. However, when the COVID pandemic took a hold in Ontario, Doug Ford was praised for his handling of the pandemic; not only by his long time supporters but also by those who had previously been against him. The choices he made during the first wave ensured that  the province had some of the lowest rates of infection and death. Rather than shifting blame and dodging questions, he took firm control of the situation within his province and made sure to engage his constituents.

With the subsequent waves, including the current one, this initial praise has turned to intense criticism. He has returned to his pre-pandemic way of not handling issues and, once again, become a divisive political figure. Unfortunately, it is Ontarians who are paying the price.

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Jacinda Ardern was lauded as an exceptional leader before the pandemic when the Christchurch mosque attacks occured in March 2019. Her strong leadership has continued to be discussed throughout the pandemic and this video is a good example of how she has maintained this standing on the global stage.

She manages to maintain a balance of authority and compassion which combine to come across as being genuine and capable. She also focuses on community and togetherness rather than being divisive. In this speech in particular, for example, she makes what seems like a passing remark about appreciating and thanking those who have been vaccinated for the good of their community without shaming, blaming, scolding or otherwise attacking those who may not have been vaccinated and/or may hold attitudes against vaccinations.

Also, she begins by focusing on New Zealand and then broadens this to place New Zealand within the global community by referencing the UN's Sustainable Development Goals.

I think the most exceptional part of Jacinda Ardern's story in both the Christchurch mosque attacks and the COVID pandemic are that fact that she has managed to be seen first and foremost as a capable leader rather as being a woman first. The COVID pandemic has seen a rise in various women in leadership positions, especially those in the health-related roles, being attacked because they are women. Jacinda Arden has managed to dodge this trend, even when she is being criticized.

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One person who stands out to me as an exemplary leader through the pandemic is Bonnie Henry, Provincial Health Officer for BC. Like many Health Officers, her the reach and responsibility associated with her leadership role rose exponentially during the pandemic.  She has been exceptionally effective as a leader, I feel. She is steadfast, reliable, evokes trust and demonstrated patience and kindness. She’s someone people can rally behind despite the difficult decisions that have needed to be taken.
(Andrew W.)

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Ardern's address is inspiring. I believe she is demonstrating leadership in that she is motivating others (in the UN) to act on important issues. Her approach is poised, confident - and always personable, kind and caring. Her language is direct and action oriented.

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Jacinda Ardern demonstrates qualities of a strong, powerful leader who is not only connected to Zealanders but recognizes that New Zealand is remote but well connected to the rest of the world. Her persona reminds me Margret Thatcher, whom I grew up watching and reading about. I found Margret Thatcher to be an exceptional leader. No wonder she was called an “iron” lady.

Jacinda Ardern shows courage in her leadership. I believe New Zealand one of the countries what closed it borders early in the pandemic. I relatives were not able to fly back to Fiji. She the courage to make hard decisions.

Also she has the courage to wear the scarf and appear in public after the shooting at the mosque. I thought that showed that she was compassionate and values people. Even the video, she acknowledges values of the New Zealanders. She gives credits to the New Zealanders and not her government. Often many other world leaders, when talking about their parties accomplishments, gives credit to their by saying “my/our government” achieve this…implemented that…

I find Jacinda to be compassionate, caring and genuine individual. Her views and position on any subject is very clear. In dealing with pandemic and even the video she talks about making decisions based on science and will to act quickly and decisively.

Therefore, I think ability to be honest, transparent, keeping an open and timely communication, empathy and strong decision making skills make Jacinda Ardern an exceptional leader.

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Jacinda Ardern demonstrates qualities of a strong, powerful leader who is not only connected to Zealanders but recognizes that New Zealand is remote but well connected to the rest of the world. Her persona reminds me Margret Thatcher, whom I grew up watching and reading about. I found Margret Thatcher to be an exceptional leader. No wonder she was called an “iron” lady.

Jacinda Ardern shows courage in her leadership. I believe New Zealand one of the countries what closed it borders early in the pandemic. I relatives were not able to fly back to Fiji. She the courage to make hard decisions.

Also she has the courage to wear the scarf and appear in public after the shooting at the mosque. I thought that showed that she was compassionate and values people. Even the video, she acknowledges values of the New Zealanders. She gives credits to the New Zealanders and not her government. Often many other world leaders, when talking about their parties accomplishments, gives credit to their by saying “my/our government” achieve this…implemented that…

I find Jacinda to be compassionate, caring and genuine individual. Her views and position on any subject is very clear. In dealing with pandemic and even the video she talks about making decisions based on science and will to act quickly and decisively.

Therefore, I think ability to be honest, transparent, keeping an open and timely communication, empathy and strong decision making skills make Jacinda Ardern an exceptional leader.

Salesh Prasad.

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Jacinda Ardern demonstrates qualities of a strong, powerful leader who is not only connected to Zealanders but recognizes that New Zealand is remote but well connected to the rest of the world. Her persona reminds me Margret Thatcher, whom I grew up watching and reading about. I found Margret Thatcher to be an exceptional leader. No wonder she was called an “iron” lady.

Jacinda Ardern shows courage in her leadership. I believe New Zealand one of the countries what closed it borders early in the pandemic. I relatives were not able to fly back to Fiji. She the courage to make hard decisions.

Also she has the courage to wear the scarf and appear in public after the shooting at the mosque. I thought that showed that she was compassionate and values people. Even the video, she acknowledges values of the New Zealanders. She gives credits to the New Zealanders and not her government. Often many other world leaders, when talking about their parties accomplishments, gives credit to their by saying “my/our government” achieve this…implemented that…

I find Jacinda to be compassionate, caring and genuine individual. Her views and position on any subject is very clear. In dealing with pandemic and even the video she talks about making decisions based on science and will to act quickly and decisively.

Therefore, I think ability to be honest, transparent, keeping an open and timely communication, empathy and strong decision making skills make Jacinda Ardern an exceptional leader.