[Washington D.C., 17 September 2024): Next week, the United Nations will convene the Summit of the Future, at which a Declaration on Future Generations will be tabled and discussed. The initial draft of this document acknowledges the complex and interrelated challenges and risks faced by present and future generations, lays out an ambitious list of obligations to those future generations, and clearly articulates that present generations carry a responsibility to act urgently to safeguard their needs and interests.

Yet delivering on these commitments will only be possible if we make substantial investments in the leadership and management skills of those who currently hold the fate of future generations in their hands, while also developing a comprehensive approach to developing those same skills in tomorrow’s leaders.

In November 2021, we, the High-Level Council on Leadership and Management for Development, a group of former heads of state, former ministers, and other leaders across diverse sectors and geographies, published a report entitled Investing in Public Sector Leadership and Management to Accelerate Sustainable Development. In it, we highlighted the need for visionary and effective public sector teams to guide government institutions and their partners as they navigate constant change and increasing complexity, and we called for a new approach to investing in leadership and management.

In addition, we noted that “to be effective in the 21st century, leaders need to develop new approaches to tackling the challenges they face and the opportunities that present themselves. They need to consider the novel context in which they find themselves and draw on acquired competencies – including leading through change, embracing ambiguity and uncertainty, constantly innovating, and engaging with multiple stakeholders. These skills are rarely taught in traditional leadership and management programmes, and when they are, the approach is often theoretical and abstract.”

We also suggested a path for developing next generation leaders, and for fostering a diverse pipeline of talent excited about entering public service. Young leaders bring fresh ideas, creativity, and innovative approaches with them. Investing in them ensures that the next generation has the skills to lead and manage effectively, and to be accountable to their commitments. Sustaining competent and vibrant institutions will require nurturing and sustaining human capital.

But none of this will happen without dedicated planning and resources. We need to take a systemic approach to cultivating leadership. Across society, including within the private sector, civil society organisations, and government institutions, leadership should be viewed as a set of skills that is practised at all levels and in all disciplines, with both junior and senior positions receiving leadership development support, as well as opportunities to apply and improve their abilities. We should also find ways of engaging with the education system to develop these skills. Work readiness programmes at educational institutions should focus on core leadership and management skills alongside the technical skills that they teach.

It is clear to us that these are precisely the sort of skills that will be required to deliver on the critically important and ambitious goals laid out in the Declaration on Future Generations.  We believe that such efforts are likely to have myriad benefits, both direct and indirect, including increased quality of and access to public services; increased efficiency, especially in resource utilisation; increased ability to navigate change and complexity; accelerated innovation uptake; increased accountability; greater job satisfaction and talent retention in the civil service; and increased trust in government and government services.

We propose that in the Guiding Principles section of the declaration, a clause be added that states that “Leadership and management skills will be essential to deliver on these promises to future generations”.

In the Commitments section, we suggest that a clause be added that calls on countries to “Invest in the development of the next generation of public sector leaders and managers with a particular emphasis on mastering the complexity of current and future opportunities and challenges”.

At the conclusion of our Report, we reaffirmed our belief that investing in leadership and management skills would “pay tremendous dividends as teams of civil servants become more effective and efficient, which in turn will attract new talent to public service. With the right investment and the right partners, we can develop the civil service teams that can help us to navigate today’s challenges, seize new opportunities, and build a better tomorrow.” Four years later, we believe that this investment is more urgent than ever and is absolutely essential if we are to reach the Sustainable Development Goals and make the Declaration on Future Generations a reality.

• Barbara Bush, Founder and Board Chair of Global Health Corps

• Helen Clark, Chair of the Boards of the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative and the Partnership for Maternal, Newborn, and Child Health; former Prime Minister of New Zealand

• Julio Frenk, Chancellor Designate, University of California, Los Angeles; former President, University of Miami; Former Minister of Health of Mexico

• Dan Glickman, former US Congressman; former US Secretary of Agriculture

• Wendy Kopp, CEO & Co-Founder -- Teach for All

• Robert Newman, Executive Director, AMP Health

• Muhammad Pate – Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare of Nigeria; former CEO of Big Win Philanthropy, former Global Director, Health, Population, and Nutrition, World Bank

• Joy Phumaphi, Executive Director -- African Leaders Malaria Alliance; former Minister of Health of Botswana

• Manuel Pulgar-Vidal, International Climate & Energy Global Leader -- WWF; former Minister of the Environment of Peru

• Jaime Saavedra, Human Development Director, Latin America and the Caribbean -- World Bank; former Minister of Education of Peru

• Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, Founder and Board Chair, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf Presidential Center for Women and Development; former President of Liberia

[Johannesburg, 8 July 2022]: The High-Level Council on Leadership and Management for Development announces the appointment of Chané J. R. Varney as Coordinator in its Secretariat and therewith celebrates its increased capacity to operationalise the Council's mission and mandate. Recruitment of talent to this post has been made possible through an existing partnership between AMP Health - the convenor of the Council - and LGT Venture Philanthropy’s Impact Fellowship.

 Chané J.R. Varney joins the Council with a decade of experience in international partnership development, cooperation, and trade between Southern Africa and other countries and regions of the world. Among these, she has notable experience working with/in Austria, Germany, and the United Kingdom, as well as with the Group of Latin America and Caribbean Countries (GRULAC). She steps into her role after graduating from the Diplomatic Studies Programme at St. Antony’s College, University of Oxford. She holds further postgraduate degrees in cultural studies and gender studies from the University of Pretoria (South Africa) and Karl-Franzens University of Graz (Austria) respectively. Chané is fluent in English, German and Afrikaans, and is a student of Brazilian Portuguese, Zulu and French. She is based in Johannesburg, South Africa.

The High-Level Council is the only platform of its kind advocating for investment in leadership and management on a global scale and across all sectors. After its inception in September 2019 on the sidelines on the 74th annual meeting of the UN General Assembly, the Council Members compiled a report to share its conviction and evidence that investment in leadership and management will unlock progress on the path to achieving the SDGs by 2030. The report is a key tool to changing the conversation in development. As such, the Council’s Coordinator will take on the important task of its global dissemination while working with the Council Secretary and Council Members to expand active advocacy so that funding practices, development approaches and discourse reflect this urgent need to capacitate people and teams in new ways.

For more information please email info@leadmanagedevelop.org.

[Washington, DC, 19 November 2021]: The High-Level Council on Leadership and Management for Development, which is hosted by the Aspen Institute, has called on governments and development institutions to ramp up investment in building public sector leadership skills. The Council, which includes former heads of state and cabinet ministers as well as senior leaders at international institutions and in philanthropy, cautions that underinvestment in these skills will limit progress towards achieving the Sustainable Development Goals.  

MEDIA ENQUIRIES:

ROBERT NEWMAN, COUNCIL SECRETARY

robert.newman@aspeninstitute.org

“Collectively, we recognise the need for visionary leadership to successfully confront our biggest challenges when it comes to health, the economy, food security, education, and the environment,” said former Liberian President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, a member of the High-Level Council. “This could herald an era of remarkable collective leadership – an opportunity to not only overcome COVID-19 as the most widespread public health and economic crisis of the past 100 years, but also to turn it into one of our greatest leaps forward.” 

The call for greater investment is made in a report released by the Council today.  

“In an increasingly complex and interconnected global operating environment, there is urgent need to invest in developing visionary leadership and effective management skillsets that are critical for the optimal functioning of public institutions, and this investment should be increasingly seen as a public good,” said Dr Robert Newman, the Council Secretary.  

The report calls for a shift in approach to developing public sector leaders and teams, and emphasises on-the-job approaches that address existing gender inequalities and that incorporate coaching, experiential learning, and peer learning. The paper makes the case that this effort will pay dividends as teams of civil servants become more effective and efficient, which in turn will attract new talent to public service.   

 The report estimates that lower- and middle-income countries will need to invest an average of US$500 per person annually in strengthening leadership and management skills for the public sector, which represents approximately 0.4% of Gross National Income (GNI). It argues that the efficiency gains resulting from better-managed public spending will far exceed the investment required.  The Council also proposes that countries develop their own scorecards to track progress towards their leadership and management goals and measure the impact of their investments. 

Former New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clark, a member of the council said “Experience has shown that the most important determinants of progress in meeting global goals include strong and committed leadership and proactive and capable governance institutions at the national and local levels to ensure that the global agenda is translated into national strategies, budgets and actions. We need to invest in developing these leaders.”

Click here to view the full report.

 The Aspen Institute is a global nonprofit organization committed to realizing a free, just, and equitable society. Founded in 1949, the Institute drives change through dialogue, leadership, and action to help solve the most important challenges facing the United States and the world. Headquartered in Washington, DC, the Institute has a campus in Aspen, Colorado, and an international network of partners. For more information, visit www.aspeninstitute.org  

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Although we are still far from fully understanding why COVID-19 spares some places while battering others, it has become clear that thoughtful, data-driven, accountable, and engaged leadership is an important determinant of the trajectory of this emergency – locally, nationally, and globally.

As we read the news every day, the difference between stories that inspire us, that help us to believe in a brighter future beyond the pandemic, and those that make us worry that life is bleak, is leadership. When we read about the courage of health care workers facing unimaginable challenges, or local officials who have put aside party politics to make complex -- and sometimes unpopular -- decisions to safeguard public health, or national leaders who have laid out thoughtful strategies informed by evidence, our belief in the transformative power of leadership is renewed. When we read about individuals who spread misinformation or provide false reassurances, we are reminded of how a leadership vacuum can have catastrophic consequences, particularly in times of crisis.

One thing that this pandemic has repeatedly underscored is the difference between being in a position of authority and being a leader. True leaders can be found everywhere, at every level, staying home to safeguard others, delivering essential community services, and repurposing production lines to manufacture essential medical equipment. They are the people shining in the face of adversity. They are the ones making good things happen. They are the ones finding common ground, uniting us in the face of a formidable and invisible enemy. We need to visibly celebrate these leaders, to hold them up as beacons of hope, as has been done in many places each night to give noisy thanks to front-line health care workers.

To be sure, it is not enough to have a visionary leader charting the way for a clinic, a company, a community, or a country. The current crisis has also called attention to the importance of teams, and of meticulous management in overcoming complex challenges. We need vast numbers of people with the doggedness and determination to execute plans, to ensure that test kits are available, food supplies are maintained, personal protective equipment distributed, and essential social services continued – to name just a few.

It is increasingly clear that COVID-19 is going to be a long emergency, and that the challenges that we will face as a global society are unprecedented in our lifetimes. It is equally clear that this terrible crisis offers us an unparalleled opportunity to re-imagine a better world on the other side of the pandemic, one with universal access to essential healthcare, diminished inequality, increased rights for workers everywhere, more sustainable food supplies, re-imagined educational systems, and a greater emphasis on the long-term health of the fragile and beautiful planet which we all share.

Already we see signs of hope. The world appears to be learning that facing off against a common enemy such as COVID-19 requires a collective and multi-sectoral approach to everything from vaccine development and production, manufacture and distribution of personal protective equipment, and the sharing of data. COVID-19 is also forcing us to rethink our priorities, leading to a renewed cherishing of our common open spaces and fundamental questioning about rampant consumerism.

We are a group of former heads of state, former ministers from diverse sectors, CEOs, and civic leaders who recognize the strong association between values- and virtue-based leadership and success in confronting significant threats, be they related to health, the economy, food security, education, or the environment. We recognize that these are times of uncertainty and insecurity. Yet this could be an era of unprecedented collective leadership to not only overcome what is the most widespread public health and economic crisis of the past 100 years, but also turn it into one of the greatest leaps forward for humankind.

We understand that cultivating leaders and managers does not happen through magic, but through consistent collective action, prioritization, and investment. There is an urgent need for meta-leadership, for leaders who understand the importance of leadership, and who are willing to advocate for the resources needed to develop leadership and management capabilities for public service, at all levels of the system, and across all sectors. We believe that massive investment in these skill sets is both the only way to defeat COVID-19, and also the best hope that we have to reach the sustainable development goals, and ensure a bright future for all of us, our children, and the generations to follow.

Barbara Bush, Founder and Board Chair of Global Health Corps

Helen Clark, Chair of the Boards of the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative and the Partnership for Maternal, Newborn, and Child Health; former Prime Minister of New Zealand

Peggy Clark, Executive Director, Aspen Global Innovators Group, The Aspen Institute

Dan Glickman, Vice President and Executive Director -- Aspen Institute Congressional Program; former US Congressman; former US Secretary of Agriculture

Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, Former President of Liberia

Wendy Kopp, Co-founder and CEO -- Teach for All; founder and former CEO of Teach for America

Robert Newman, Director, AMP Health, The Aspen Institute

Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Chair of the Board, Gavi Alliance; former Finance Minister of Nigeria; former Managing Director of Operations -- World Bank

Muhammad Pate – Global Director -- Health, Population, and Nutrition (as well as the Global Financing Facility) at the World Bank; former Minister of State for Health of Nigeria; former CEO of Big Win Philanthropy

Joy Phumaphi, Executive Director -- African Leaders Malaria Alliance; former Minister of Health of Botswana

Manuel Pulgar-Vidal, International Climate & Energy Global Leader -- WWF; former Minister of the Environment of Peru

Jaime Saavedra, Senior Director of Education Global Practice -- World Bank; former Minister of Education of Peru

Reflections from the high-Level council on leadership & Management for development

[New York, September 2019]: On the evening of September 22, 2019, there was a public panel discussion & reception following the inaugural closed meeting of the Council in the margins of the UN General Assembly. Several Council members spoke in a discussion moderated by AMP Health Director Robert Newman about the results of the meeting and the future of leadership & management in development.