Executive Fellows Program offers new insights and a chance to reflect

The work of the public sector has changed markedly in recent decades, and so have the skills required to be an effective senior leader, according to Robin Ryde, former Chief Executive of the UK National School of Government and facilitator of ANZSOG’s Executive Fellows Program (EFP). 

“During the last 15 years almost everything that public sector leaders had come to take for granted has changed, as they adjust to rapid change and turbulence in their external environment – whether that is digital transformation, the impact of geopolitics or social change,” Mr Ryde said. 

ANZSOG’s EFP is designed to transform and deepen participants understanding of leadership, and Mr Ryde says the need for these kinds of programs, and the space they provide for self-assessment and reflection, is greater than ever. 

“The EFP invites senior leaders to step away from the urgency of their day-to-day roles and ask the big questions: How do I lead? What should my organisation look like? What role do I play in shaping the world around me?” 

The 2025 EFP is an intensive, in-person program that will challenge senior public sector executives to develop new leadership perspectives, while exploring contemporary issues such as the digital transformation of government and global uncertainty.  

Understanding the four circles of leadership

At the heart of the EFP is a powerful leadership framework that Mr Ryde describes as “the four circles” of leadership: Leading self, Leading others, Leading organisations, Leading in the external environment. 

“The central circle is that leaders need to be able to lead themselves, which is about being resilient, being self-aware, emotionally intelligent,” he said. 

“Then, they need to know how to lead others. That’s about how they get people on board with their ideas and how they mobilise support.  

“The third circle is about how they lead an organisation. How your structures and governance systems are set up, what culture you have. 

 Then finally, leadership in relation to the external environment. This is an area that has grown in complexity, and is about understanding the shifts in your operating environment and how you respond as a leader.”   

“Leaders need to be good across all four areas because if you fail or have a gap in any of them, you’re going to get into trouble. For example, you might be amazing at leading yourself, and incredible at bringing people on board with you but if the structure of your organisation is wrong then you’re not going to achieve want you want to achieve.” 

Mr Ryde said recent years had brought a more sophisticated view of thinking about leadership. For example, notions of inclusivity, as in recognising that the people that we are leading, whether that’s in our organisations or outside, are hugely varied and different. 

“Leadership today means understanding difference, and the complicated web of different perspectives and constituencies within modern societies,” he said. 

Mr Ryde said that leaders also had to adapt to the public sector’s changing role in delivering services, which could see it collaborate with other sectors or act as a facilitator. 

The 2025 EFP will be focused on three sub-themes, which will allow participants to build a deeper understanding of key issues that will affect their organisations in the future. 

The Invisible Society: how can government better support the most vulnerable, challenged and invisible communities within Brisbane? 

International Volatility: from the global spectre of challenges to diplomatic tensions in the region. 

First Nations Leadership: taking stock of public service engagement with indigenous perspectives and models of leadership. 

A space to ‘hit the pause button’ and reflect

The 2025 EFP program consists of two week-long intensives in Brisbane and Sydney in July, following an online orientation session on 7 July.   

The EFP’s immersive design quickly builds a sense of trust within the cohort. Over two intensive weeks, participants engage with their peers, as well as practitioners, and thought leaders from a wide range of sectors and countries.  

Guest presenters for 2025 include: 

• Laura Liswood, Secretary General, Council of Women World Leaders, on inclusive leadership 
• Joan Lurie, Orgonomics, developmental psychologist and organisational ecologist, on different lenses on leadership 
• Dr Rory Gallagher, co-founder of the Behavioural Insights Team in the UK Cabinet Office, on the case for radical change 
• David Mackie, Queensland Public Sector Commissioner, on transitioning in a new government  
• Jared Mondscheim, director of research at the United States Studies Centre, on political change in the USA and its implications 
• Blake Macmillan, founder and director of 5R leadership , on social identity leadership 

“In addition to these experts, participants will also getting a genuinely diverse set of perspectives from other people in the program, from other sectors or from different backgrounds,” Mr Ryde said. 

“We consciously focus on building that trust within the cohort. People share what they found most helpful, most challenging, greatest areas of learning and in a powerful way which is more real than you get in other contexts.” 

Mr Ryde says the EFP gives participants something rare at senior levels of government: the chance to pause and reflect.  

“Most of us are caught in patterns. The EFP helps people step out of those patterns, and step back from the routines, assumptions and protocols that often go unquestioned, and reconsider how their leadership can, and should, work in a rapidly evolving world.” 

“It is a really valuable opportunity to stand back from everything you’ve been doing for years and ask: Is this the right way to go about leadership? Am I giving enough attention to all the different constituencies who relate to my organisation? Am I paying enough attention to the political power that’s going on here? Am I paying attention to the need to digitally transform or not?  

“There’s something incredibly valuable about pressing that pause button, doing some productive self-critical analysis, then returning to your role with a fresh sense of perspective.” 

ANZSOG’s Executive Fellows Program is designed for high performing leaders and public sector senior executives, such as: Deputy Chief Executive Officers (CEO), Deputy Director-Generals, Deputy Secretaries, and executives two levels below CEO, Director-General or Secretary. Applications are now open for the 2025 delivery, which will be led by Robin Ryde and features a range of guest presenters. The orientation session will be held on 7 July and the program consists of two immersive five-day modules, in Sydney from 14-18 July, and in Brisbane from 21-25 July.