Visionary leadership critical for sustainable development - Commonwealth official

Visionary leaders who are agile, adaptive and able to motivate others to achieve national strategic goals are vital for sustainable development, a senior Commonwealth Secretariat official has said.

Max Everest-Phillips, Director of the Secretariat’s Governance and Institutional Development Division, said their dynamic leadership in initiating innovative policies can have a positive effect on government, the business community, civil society and the public.

Mr Everest-Phillips made these observations to Commonwealth News ahead of the Eighth Commonwealth Forum of Heads of African Public Services held in Windhoek, Namibia, from 25 to 27 July 2011. It bears the theme, 'Leadership for Sustainable Development in Commonwealth Africa'.

Mr Everest-Phillips stressed the importance of good leadership and governance at all levels of government as these factors impact on accountability, transparency, productivity and progress.

“Excellence in leadership inspires high performance, coalesces development efforts, and galvanises support for public sector reform. The political-administrative interface of leadership, working together in a coherent manner to attain shared goals in national development, is critical. This co-ordination can drive capacity development, change management and accountability across government,” he said.

He then went on to explain that leadership involves skills in mobilising human and financial resources in pursuit of shared goals. This involves coalition building to garner support for targeted goals. It also involves political and social networking to build partnerships for progress.

"Effective leadership translates into strong governance and efficient public administration, which are vital building blocks of national development. All these translate into effective public policy formulation and implementation, public service reform, as well as good public service delivery to meet the needs and aspirations of citizens, civil society and the business community," said Mr Everest-Phillips.

He noted that capacity-building of leaders may be required to enhance their competencies to meet the changing demands of the citizenry in our globalised world.

He added that this is where the Commonwealth’s role lies in assisting its member governments to fill capacity gaps.

The Namibia forum will serve as a platform for heads of Commonwealth African public services to share knowledge, experiences, strategies and best practices. This will enable them to play a pivotal role in spearheading the socio-economic development of their country through greater insights on issues and trends in public sector reform and change management.

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