Hello bloggers

The showing of the Channel 4 series ‘Undercover Boss’ on Thursday 22 July 2010 was impeccably timed by their TV scheduling team, as it followed neatly after recent Government announcements on public spending cuts and featured the London Borough of Tower Hamlets in East London.

The one-hour programme followed Tower Hamlets Chief Executive, Kevan Collins, as he got back to the floor and had to identify ways to reduce expenditure.

At this early point of viewing I braced myself for another media bashing of the so-called ‘useless’ Public Sector…however I was pleasantly surprised by the unbiased reporting from Channel 4 producers with Kevan Collins, Tower Hamlets and Local Government all coming across very positively. 

Kevan Collins, in my view, presents as a great leader, prepared to listen, and very much in touch with his employees (who are all hard working and dedicated) - even more importantly he genuinely cares about the people of his borough.

The challenges facing Kevan Collins and his staff at Tower Hamlets were vividly portrayed through cameos of work to support older people, homelessness, pest control and market trading - not to mention the daunting strategic fiscal and service delivery issues.

It was not a surprise, but a shame, that I read in the Daily Mirror the following day their reporters pouring cynicism on the production - suggesting the staff were not randomly selected but were all part of a stitch up to make Tower Hamlets ‘look good’.

Mind you, such was the accuracy of the Mirror’s reporting I noticed they had mis-spelt Kevan Collins’ name - I strongly suspect that wasn’t the only thing they were wrong about.

Dean

Apologies bloggers…

I couldn’t resist the play on words. As something of a skirmish has been raging in the media this week concerning the 22 June 2010 emergency budget and the condition of the UK economy…the dark clouds of a double-dip recession appear to be billowing our way from across the Atlantic Ocean. Co-synchronously, the state of public sector leadership capability has also entered the fray - see an article by Claire Churchard, of People Management magazine, ‘Leadership Challenge as budget cuts bite’ (page 6 July 2010).

Picking up the nautical captaincy theme, a related question emerges for me about public sector leadership…are we more like Captain Bligh (infamous for his team mutiny) or Captain Cook, intrepid explorer who led his crew to wonderful new discoveries - notching up the first European contact with the eastern coastline of Australia and the Hawaiian Islands?

The Captain leads the team into uncharted territory, taking calculated risk, seeking out new environments and new ideas for the philanthropic good of society - isn’t that analogous to the current public sector leadership challenge?

New research from Ashridge Management Centre (Ashridge Magazine, issue 4, pp 23-25, summer 2010) reflects the current leadership state, albeit the Ashridge Management Index (AMI) covers all UK sectors, comprising of 1,200 senior and middle managers a survey respondents. The survey is longitudinal - having gathered data since 1994.

The results are revealing. Over 50% of respondents expressed concern that top leaders do not spend sufficient time communicating with employees. Those working in smaller organisations showed more positivity that we will achieve business benefits from transformation. Perhaps most telling of all, the AMI shows that those respondents who feel motivated, answered more favourably on any other survey areas including the ability of top leadership.

So do you think we are about to set sail, or are we stranded in dry dock?

Dean