Build your strategic influence for game-changing impact (now)

Of all the skills you could build during your career, strategic influence is maybe the most essential and valuable. It grants you a seat at the ‘big’ table – empowering your voice to shape outcomes and drive the positive change you want to see today.

But strategic influence isn’t something you’re simply given. It’s something that effective leaders actively build. In fast-moving public sector environments, leaders who make space for strategic thinking are the ones who shape the future, rather than just reacting to it.

To expand your impact, you need to strengthen your ability to:

• increase your influence in decision making
• create real impact in leadership and outcomes
• maximise efficiency without adding to your workload
• safeguard wellbeing while driving performance

From firefighter to chess player

Do you lead as a reactive firefighter or a proactive chess player?

Great leaders balance both. Sometimes, you must be a firefighter, responding quickly to urgent issues and managing crises. But to increase your leadership influence, you also need to think like a chess player and anticipate challenges, shape decisions early, and position your team for long-term success.

To better understand where you sit in the reactive/proactive leadership paradigm, consider the following behaviours:

1. Proactive leaders zoom out to examine the broader ecosystem when there’s a problem. Reactive leaders zoom in.
2. Proactive leaders love to anticipate what’s coming and instigate change. Reactive leaders wait for a crisis before acting.
3. Proactive leaders see how systems, policies, teams, and organisations intersect and interconnect. Reactive leaders focus on their immediate responsibilities.

Which modus operandi resonates with you more? Do find yourself leading reactively but wish you had the skills to lead proactively?

Learn to play chess

If your leadership style leans towards reactive responses, now is the time to recalibrate.

Here’s a few questions to start shifting your mindset:

1. Situational awareness – What external trends, policy shifts, or system changes could impact my team? How can I proactively respond, rather than waiting for impact?    
2. Strategic positioning – Where do I want to be in 5 years and what am I doing now to build the skills, relationships, and experience I need to get there?
3. Influence + action – When I speak with people am I shaping the discussion or just responding?

Strategic influence is critical for effective public sector leadership and this program is designed to help you apply it in real-time. The Leadership Strategies Series gives you:

• practical tools to build influence and navigate complexity
• expert insights from experienced public sector leadership coaches, advisers and strategists
• structured time to reflect, refine, and apply new leadership strategies
• maximum value with zero overwhelm

Designed by public sector leadership experts for public sector professionals, the series delivers targeted insights and skills that address the specific challenges you face as a public sector leader. This includes overcoming reactionary leadership for more immediate and meaningful impact in your role.

Join us and walk away with the clarity and control to master both immediate demands and long-term strategy. You’ll receive unique coaching and cutting edge leadership strategies from:

• Dr Kim Vella – Executive coach and leadership mentor (former public sector senior executive)
• Portia Hickey – Global occupational psychologist and leadership expert
• Dr Ian Langford – Brigadier (Retd) and expert in strategic planning
• Emma Prime – Organisational psychologist, wellbeing and performance expert
• Peter Bowers – Commodore (Retd), public sector lawyer and leadership mentor
• Anca Costin – Barrister and legal mentor

The public sector is calling for confident leaders with the capability to deliver today while aligning with public sector vision and values – including ‘stewardship’ which asks leaders to deliver results today while shaping a stronger public service for tomorrow.

Don’t miss your chance to develop these skills in an environment designed for your challenges, context, and career growth. Time is running out to book, and spots are limited:

Register for the Autumn in-person Leadership Strategies Series. Starts May 6.  

If you can’t make it in person, register for Autumn online (starts May 9).