So, you want to be a systems leader?

The changes needed to accelerate progress against society’s most intractable problems require a unique type of leader – the systems leader. An article in Policy Design and Practice discusses the role of systems leaders. They are practitioners who empower others to produce transformative change through collaboration and boundary spanning. They need attributes such as humility and compassion as well as flexible mindsets and awareness of the big picture. These systems leadership traits can be developed.  

About systems leadership

New leadership is necessary to address wicked problems that transcend traditional boundaries. Contemporary thinking about leadership has transitioned from heroic leaders toward collective leadership. This shift acknowledges collaborative mindsets and relational skills as essential to organisations. Systems leadership connects the relational and collaborative to the dynamics of complex policy and policymaking systems. 

This type of leadership requires: 

• collaboration: developing a shared vision and building coalitions. 
• boundary spanning: working across government departments, levels of government, public sector agencies or organisations outside government. 
• systems thinking: new ways of thinking to understand the underlying causes of wicked problems and the unpredictable dynamics of systems. 
• capacity: a shift from top-down to distributed responsibility requires a major boost to leadership capacity to support a shift in mindsets and equip people with systems leadership skills. 

Systems leadership attributes and mindsets

Systems leadership has a combination of three attributes: 

1. Humility: focusing more on the perspectives and values of others. 

2. Self-awareness and reflection: being open to learning from feedback. 

3. Empathy and compassion: seeking to understand what others are going through in a supportive environment where everyone can be heard. 

Mindsets sit somewhere between attributes and skills. Systems leadership mindsets include: 

• Big picture: seeing-the-big-picture to understand the same problem from multiple perspectives and respect the perspectives offered by others. 
• Open-minded and collaborative: this relates to an individual’s willingness to listen to others and the flexibility to adapt. 
• Agile and open to learning: staying open to learning is needed in complex systems with uncertainty and unpredictable outcomes. 
• Moral purpose: elements of a moral purpose include a commitment to democratic and participatory ways. 
• Ambitious and realistic: systems leaders need tenacity and resilience especially when new approaches rub up against more established and routine ways of doing things. 

The systems leadership skills to learn

Systems-focused training builds new approaches to leadership and ways of thinking about policy problems and processes. 

• Delegation: recognising that meaningful delegation will give many the space to be creative and collaborative while contributing to shared responsibilities.  
• Enabling and facilitation: enabling harnesses attributes of humility and empathy while facilitation skills allow people to create a shared sense of commitment to work together. 
• Evaluation and making the case for change: not everyone supports systems leadership with some doubting its value within established political processes. Evaluation skills are key to demonstrating its potential and success. 
• Conflict resolution and political skills: conflict may be inevitable when new ideas or agendas threaten the established status quo. Political skills such as coalition building and negotiation are essential. 

Putting it all together 

 There are five features of systems leadership: 

1. Adopt a systems leadership mindset. Reject heroic individualist leadership styles in favour of flexible and open-minded collaboration, focusing on the big picture, and co-producing a vision.

2. Seek to understand wicked problems and complex policymaking systems. Learn together about how wicked problems transcend traditional boundaries and defy solutions. Anticipate the emergent effects of complex policy mixes and the dynamics of policymaking systems.

3. Bolster capacity. Begin with the development of mindset and understanding, then develop skills to facilitate action, broker agreement and resolve conflict.

4. Maintain a supportive architecture and culture. Make the case for new ways of working and new ways to evaluate progress. Provide the resources, time, and space to work collaboratively, creatively and build trust.

5. Encourage continuous innovation and learning. Wicked problems and systems dynamics are characterised by uncertainty and ambiguity. Innovation and trial-and-error learning by many actors is key to a working understanding of a system  

The bottom line

Systems change is disruptive to the usual ways of acting which means that systems leadership is difficult, contested and often unrewarding. Demonstrating the success of systems leadership as a process and the outcomes of new ways of working is essential to overcome scepticism or opposition from detractors. It helps advocates of systems leadership to redouble their efforts rather than give up in despair. 

• So you want to be a systems leader? – Paul Cairney and Claire Toomey, Policy Design and Practice, July 2025 

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