By Kate Harris, Director SES Design, Facilitation and Practitioner led learning, APS Academy
It is a wonderful time to be reflecting on how we all contribute to the Australian Public Service. With stewardship now being a recognised value, we all have the opportunity to consider the impact and legacy of our contribution.
So what is stewardship? Stewardship is a call for us as leaders to have a longer term view and to ensure things are better than when they started. It requires an embracing of care and concern for the whole of the institution and “stepping up” and taking responsibility.
What does that look like?
Our APS DRIVE behaviours are a wonderful way to anchor us in how we can show up at work and model ways of knowing, being and doing.
Given the focus on our four priorities of reform: integrity; people and business at the centre; model employer; and building APS capability, stewardship also offers a powerful lever to mobilise system change.
Stewardship and collective leadership is also the focus of our Deputy Secretaries and Agency Head Leadership program at the APS Academy. The Senior Executive Stewardship Program seeks to further develop their leadership capability as stewards of the APS. Over six months, the most senior APS leaders engage with colleagues to explore the complex system we work in. Through a transformative program, leaders embody the cultural shift needed to foster a more responsive, collaborative and entrepreneurial workforce.
Leadership month is an opportune time for us to all amplify our legacy through reflecting on our own personal and professional legacy for our Australian community.
We encourage you to:
- Take some time to reflect on why the APS for you? What brought you here and what has been among your proudest moments?
- Connect in a conversation with someone else about your leadership story
- Share with your team why you do what you do.
We hope you too celebrate your contribution to making the APS a better place!
Thank you for doing what you do