Moving from expert to leader? Build your skills wherever you are through Foundations of Public Leadership Online
One of the biggest barriers to professional development is often not lack of interest or ambition, but access. Time, location, travel costs and competing responsibilities can all make it difficult to take part in high-quality leadership learning.
To support more public servants to access training, ANZSOG is taking our Foundations of Public Leadership (FPL) program fully online, bringing together participants from across Australia and Aotearoa New Zealand in an immersive digital social learning environment designed to build the strong ties, trust and connections this program is known for.
The online delivery mode is designed to make high-quality public leadership development easier to access, particularly for people working outside major cities or in regional and remote areas. Participants can join from wherever they are, without the cost, time and disruption of travel, accommodation or extended absence from their workplace.
Practical leadership skills you can apply immediately
Foundations of Public Leadership is designed for busy public sector leaders who already have responsibility for guiding, influencing or supporting others and want to strengthen the way they lead in practice.
It is not an introductory program for new team managers, but a development experience for leaders who are already navigating the realities of working through others, managing change and leading in complex public sector environments. Participants work with real leadership situations from their own workplace, using the program to build a practical leadership approach grounded in purpose, values, self-awareness and authenticity.
Program Director Dr Paul Atkins, an organisational psychologist and expert in collaboration and team-building, takes participants on a learning journey built around three interconnected leadership tasks that are crucial to success as people move from technical experts into adaptive leaders.
Influence and have the right conversations
Explore ethical influence without formal authority: stakeholder mapping, managing up, building trust
Learn practical frameworks for difficult conversations – performance, conflict, disagreement
Learn to communicate in a way that clarifies, not just informs
Lead people and align teams
Make the shift from technical expert to people leader
Build teams that perform without the leader doing everything
Align team effort to organisational purpose through competing priorities and change
Lead inclusively. with First Nations and Māori perspectives embedded through the program
Lead yourself
Develop emotional regulation and resilience under sustained pressure
Explore values-based leadership and self-awareness
Learn to sustain performance without burning out
Dr Atkins says leaders needed to become used to working without knowing all the answers – or even all the questions.
“In many of our adaptive, strategic contexts we're not really sure what the problem is, or many people have different definitions of what the problem is – and you may be required to lead with necessarily having the experience or the authority.”
He said that the program gives leaders the practical tools and frameworks needed to manage their teams, and themselves.
“We talk about having powerful conversations, difficult conversations, coupled with some really practical tools and techniques for managing those conversations in a constructive way,” he said.
“We also look at psychological flexibility and resilience. How do you manage personally in the face of increasing pressure and stress? That’s a key part of our program because you can't be effective in the outside world if you're in turmoil internally.”
A leadership plan built around real work
Through the course of the program each participant works on a ‘leadership experiment’ based on identifying a real leadership challenge they are navigating in their current role – putting their learning straight into practice.
By the end of the program, each participant will translate their learning in a leadership plan that combines insights about their own leadership as well as an arsenal of practical tools to apply in their everyday,
“It’s not that we leave our technical expertise behind as we rise to leadership positions; we move into a space where it's much more about building coalitions, connecting people and thinking about that bigger picture. Leadership is a behaviour, which is about motivating people to tackle tough challenges together,” Dr Atkins said.
“My number one priority is for participants to develop skills and capabilities they can use on leaving the program, or even during the program, that will make a difference for them.”
Foundations of Public Leadership at a Glance
Who it’s for: Foundations of Public Leadership is designed for public servants moving into leadership roles at APS5 to EL1 or equivalent.
November 2026 delivery:
Six live two-hour online sessions plus self-paced learning, over six weeks.
Participants should allow about five hours per week.
Online sessions run from 4 November to 9 December 2026.
Applications: Applications close 14 October 2026.
What you’ll learn: Foundations of Public leadership provides practical frameworks for situations that participants are already navigating. You will leave the program better equipped to:
Influence decisions above your pay grade and manage up effectively.
Have difficult conversations by drawing on emotional intelligence.
Build a team that performs without you doing everything yourself.
For more information:
Visit: Foundations of Public Leadership
Contact: engage@anzsog.edu.au
Book a one-on-one conversation to discuss whether Foundations of Public Leadership is the right fit for you or your organisation.