Towards Strategic Leadership

Towards Strategic Leadership is an impactful program is designed to help senior public servants enhance their strategic capabilities. 

Public sector leaders today face unprecedented challenges within a complex and evolving political landscape. They must balance the demands of day-to-day responsibilities with the ability to maintain a clear, long-term vision. 

Tailored to fit the busy schedules of senior public sector professionals and delivered in hybrid mode, this leadership development course equips you with the tools to lead with purpose, sound judgment, and strategic insight. It encourages you to reflect on and challenge your assumptions about yourself, your leadership style, your role, and your organisation. 

You will learn how to identify the key strategic tasks amid the daily pressures and take meaningful action. By the end of the course, you’ll experience a tangible boost in both confidence and capabilities, feeling ready to take on senior executive responsibilities with assurance. 

This leadership development program is designed for you if you are: 

• a senior public sector professional  
• moving (or planning to move) from tactical to strategic leadership roles. 

Towards Strategic Leadership aims to give you a renewed strategic outlook, political astuteness, personal resilience and the capacity to reflect, collaborate, lead and learn continuously. 

 Throughout this public sector leadership course, you will: 

• identify personal and institutional strengths and weaknesses 
• explore public sector leadership themes including your role in your organisation and community, technical vs adaptive challenges, authority vs leadership and collaborative work 
• examine your personal leadership style 
• practise reflective and strategic thinking  
• develop tools to identify strategically urgent priorities 
• explore the factors influencing public institutions’ capacity to adapt 
• develop a network of high performing leaders and stay connected via our Alumni Program. 

You’ll learn from program co-directors:

• Robbie Macpherson – training and coaching public sector executives in Australia for more than two decades 
• Jill Charker – Deputy Coordinator General for Resilience and Recovery at the National Emergency Management Agency.
• Guest speakers  

The TSL leadership development program is delivered in a blended format across four modules: 

• Orientation – Online  
• Module 1: Four days, face-to-face residential  
• Module 2: One day, online 
• Module 3: One day, online 
• Module 4: One day, online 
• Module 5: One day, online 

TSL is run under Chatham House Rule to create an environment of trust where complex problems can be resolved. The spirit of Chatham House Rule: share the information you receive, but do not reveal the identity of who said it. 

This leadership course harnesses the knowledge and experience of all participants who, as professional peers, share a common language and a commitment to public service. Participants are co-contributors and integral to its success. 

Program delivery, 2025

• Orientation: 22 September, 1:30pm – 2:30pm (AEST), Online via Zoom 
• Module 1: 7–10 October, 9:00am – 5:00pm (AEST), Melbourne  
• Module 2: 20 October, 1:30pm – 5:00pm (AEST), Online via Zoom 
• Module 3: 30 October 1:30pm – 5:00pm (AEST), Online via Zoom 
• Module 4: 3 November, 1:30pm – 5:00pm (AEST), Online 
• Module 5: 13 November, 1:30pm – 5:00pm(AEST), Online 

Applications are now open for the 2025 program. 

$28,622.55 (inc. GST)

Please note:

• Students are responsible for their own travel, some meals, and accommodation to and from the residential.
• If a student has been nominated by a sponsoring agency or government, that sponsor must cover program costs, including tuition fees and program materials.
• Participants may enter into a salary sacrifice arrangement with their employer to attend the program. The participant’s employer will be billed the program fee. This will be discussed on a case-by-case basis with the applicant’s sponsoring agency.

Want an insider’s perspective?

Hear from one of our TSL alums. To arrange an introduction, please get in contact with us here.