Leadership Learned

by Art Daniels

I learned leadership from good leaders I worked with, including Peter Barnes and Rita Burak. I tried to emulate their style. A real leader helps you grow and be a better person. I learned from thinkers and writers like Brian Marson, Ralph Heintzman, Sandy Borins and Ken Kernaghan.

I read widely and benefited from attending lectures by my favourite authors and CEOs, and speaking with them afterwards. I learned from my colleagues in professional associations.

LEADERSHIP PRINCIPLES ARE THE SAME ACROSS CULTURES. I just came from a session where we had trainers from five continents; our material fit very well together. Mandela and Ghandi used the same leadership skills you need to work in government: foster creative innovation; build a culture where risk is okay and new ideas can flourish; use technology, share information, empower the front line, meet citizens' needs. And avoid command and control.

People feel better if they are allowed to grow and not kept in a box. Consider yourself a customer service representative rather than ‘an officer of the crown.’ Coming from a social services background, it was perhaps easier for me to embrace a consensus style of management before it became popular. Working for Glenn Thompson in Correctional Services, I felt part of a leadership team, right from the start. He made it possible for me to make a contribution, to add value, by giving me freedom and showing trust. That led to innovation and moving the agenda forward. And Glenn would protect us on those occasions that our innovations were not stellar.

INNOVATIONS ARE BUILDING ACROSS THE WORLD. Some of the best are coming from places you don't hear a lot about, including India and Brazil. Malaysia now uses a smart card that has all citizen data on it – health card, birth certificate, passport, drivers licence - it's even a bankcard. It is fully privacy protected - service providers can only access the data relevant to them. The greatest satisfaction in my career came from winning the gold medal at the Commonwealth conference in 1998. We were competing against national governments with big projects. We won for creating a citizen centric approach to service we called Ontario Delivers. The innovation demonstrated that services should be bundled around life events, ignoring organizational structures. It included: early adaptors of single window services including Ontario Business Connects, which reduced new business start up from 16 weeks to 20 minutes; electronic kiosks which let you renew your drivers permits in less than three minutes; and Teranet, an electronic land registry service. We won again in 2002 for connecting governments at all three levels with the private sector and voluntary sector around customers needs.

SO MUCH OF OUR SUCCESS DEPENDS ON MOTIVATED EMPLOYEES. I have been working internationally with BearingPoint, IPAC, and CAPAM. Recently, as part of a CAPAM project with John Wilkins of the federal Treasury Board Secretariat, we have been helping the Jamaican public service build a leadership framework. They have similar demographics, a baby boom, a feeder group as old as the leaders, and few young employees. Together we developed a strategy to (in David Ulrich's terms) build a leadership brand. It is called The Seven Seas - commitment, creativity, customer-centred, collaboration, communication, continuous learning, and celebration of success.

Implementation includes a strategy for young workers, a service-wide recognition program, leadership values development (building on John Tait's work), and consistency across the public service.

GOOD LEADERS KNOW ABOUT BEST PRACTICES. They learn from others. You can't lead with your
head down, you need to stay current, watch for trends, invest in your own knowledge, discuss ideas, continue to update your knowledge base and grow. Don't be afraid to challenge, be out there in the world. The most important lesson I've learned - have a vision, have values, and stick to it. Have an anchor. A lot can happen to knock you off stride. Don't let the cynics get you down. Be optimistic and seek opportunities to achieve change.



Art Daniels, who served as ADM Ontario Public Service Restructuring from 1997 to 2003, consults internationally on public service development in emerging countries. He was recruited during an on-campus search for "administrative trainees" in 1966. The internship exposed him to different jobs and departments, and gave him responsibility early. Eight years later, he was appointed assistant deputy minister for community corrections. Other ADM postings were with Community and Social Services, the Civil Service Commission, and Business Development. Throughout his career he was known as an early adapter and a champion of innovative ideas - but with solid implementation based on learning from others' experiences. "What a great career," he enthused. "I had a variety of jobs, continuous learning, great exposure, and the privilege of making a contribution. Where else could you achieve that meaning and purpose?"