The Challenge of leading a regulator

The Challenge of Leading a Regulator: So how do you minimise harm, build an effective regulatory culture, withstand scrutiny and manage competing demands?

The challenge of being a regulator is well captured by the work of Professor Malcolm Sparrow who summed up the pressures on regulators in meeting competing demands:

• be less intrusive, but more effective
• be kinder, but don’t let them get away with anything
• be quicker, but more careful
• deal with important issues, but stay within authority
• be responsive, but don’t get captured.

It is one thing to be a good leader of an organisation and adopt leadership styles that bring out the best in your people, deliver on your vision and maintain your social licence to operate, but how does that change when you lead a regulator?

How do leadership capabilities of influence, collaboration, delivery to name a few, change when your role may be closer to distributing obligations than distribution of funds or delivery of services? How do you lead people and create a positive culture when your role is focused on preventing harms and often involves working with individuals and organisations that don’t value you or what you do?

Join Cheryl Batagol, experienced Board Chair and former Chair of EPA Victoria, and John Merritt, Chair of WorkSafe Victoria and former Executive Director of WorkSafe and CEO of EPA Victoria, for a discussion on the challenges of leading a regulator.

• Facilitator: Adam Beaumont
• Speaker 1: Cheryl Batagol
• Speaker 2: John Merritt