Horses aren’t always for courses-variety, culture and language: a think piece

The purpose of this paper is to stimulate thinking about the future of leadership development in the emergency services, drawing on effective practice from a variety of different sectors in the UK.

The paper provides a leadership think piece from an experienced practitioner in the field. It emphasises the benefits of a suite of development practices as opposed to a predominantly course-based approaches. It also stresses the importance of organisational culture and the use of contemporary leadership language and dialogue.

The paper highlights practice in police, education and health illustrating the way in which a variety of approaches to leadership development can be used. The approaches show a move towards variety in development methodologies with a strong emphasis on the job and practical development rather than a traditional course-based model. It links the evidence of short-term retention of learning through course attendance vs the benefits of learning reinforced with applied learning as well as peer support and reflection. The paper also provides a number of questions to assist the reader in considering their own organisation’s maturity in the development of leaders.

The paper provides a series of views, issues and challenges for consideration based on the author’s experience and insight as well as evidence of leadership development across different sectors.

The paper should stimulate those who lead and influence leadership development to consider their own organisation’s practice and effectiveness. This includes looking at whether their planning is short-term or strategic, future-oriented, and whether it considers the nature of the future workforce as well as the future competition to attract, retain and develop highly capable leaders.

The paper highlights evidence that great leadership and leadership development does not happen by chance and that variety within a suite of evidenced practices can lead to significant positive impact.

This paper provides a resource and opportunity for reflection for organisations and individuals.