Public Service Confidential is a workplace advice column for federal public servants. The following question has been edited for clarity and length. Read MoreA longtime federal employee paid out of pocket for leadership development. They’re worried the next generation won’t get the same chance.
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A longtime federal employee paid out of pocket for leadership development. They’re worried the next generation won’t get the same chance.
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Public Service Confidential is a workplace advice column for federal public servants. The following question has been edited for clarity and length.
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Dear Public Service Confidential,
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As a federal public servant for just over 10 years, I took on my own training in leadership, management and team building. And I paid my own way.
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Some of this training was through my church, and some was through a U.S.-based program. I got to know many employees of the federal government, including public servants, Mounties and military personnel at a level and depth that would never otherwise have been possible.
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Given that so many of today’s public servants are relatively new to their jobs and mostly focused on mastering and delivering their specialty files, what provision is there now and could there be for leadership formation in the public service of the future?
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— A public servant who worries about the future
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Thank you for your letter. Good for you. It’s commendable that you took the initiative to pursue leadership, management and team-building training independently and at your own expense. I’m sure the relationships you forged across the federal landscape during your pursuits were invaluable.
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You asked, “…what provision is there now and could there be for leadership formation in the public service of the future?” At present, leadership development opportunities do exist within the federal public service, though their accessibility can vary significantly across departments.
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Some departments offer in-house training, while the Canada School of Public Service provides a wide array of leadership programs and learning resources. In addition, external academic institutions, professional associations and non-governmental organizations offer further avenues for development.
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However, budgetary constraints in certain departments have limited formal training options. In such cases, some employees have chosen to pursue self-directed development by way of unpaid or self-funded leave. Furthermore, informal leadership development in the public service remains equally critical.
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Many public servants grow as leaders through acting assignments, mentoring relationships, cross-functional projects, and secondments or deployments. These experiential learning opportunities build the essential competencies needed to navigate the complexity of today’s public sector environment.
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While these approaches to leadership development have proven effective over time, a critical rethinking of what constitutes a renewed leadership profile is undoubtedly top of mind for both senior management and leadership development providers alike.
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Looking to the future, leadership formation must evolve to meet the demands of a fast-changing world marked by technological disruption, hybrid workplaces and global uncertainty.
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A modern approach to public sector leadership should include redefining leadership for hybrid environments, emphasizing team cohesion across virtual and in-person settings, and shifting evaluation from presence to outcomes.
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It should also include implementing a structured, tiered development framework, aligned with career stages and featuring micro-credentials in areas such as ethical decision-making, digital fluency and change management.
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This approach should involve developing the capacity to responsibly harness AI-powered platforms — emphasizing ethical data use, bias mitigation and transparent decision-making — within a nuanced understanding of the institutional boundaries that protect democratic accountability, individual privacy and public trust.
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There must also be an emphasis on preparing leaders for emerging threats, with rapid-response training in cyber resilience, misinformation management, policy agility and complex decision-making.
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This brief list of leadership training priorities underscores just how compelling the task has become in equipping the leaders of today and tomorrow to meet ever-increasing complex challenges.
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Many newer public servants are still mastering the technical and procedural elements of their roles. That foundational work is vital. At the same time, if Canada’s public service is to remain resilient, adaptive and mission-driven, leadership development must be embedded early and consistently; starting not in mid-career or for executives only but supporting growth throughout the whole journey.
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Ultimately, your question highlights the need for renewed investment in leadership development; investment that is inclusive, future-oriented, and aligned with the evolving needs of Canadians.
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Thank you for raising this important issue.
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Sincerely,
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— V. C. de la Ronde, Public Service Confidential
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A person of Indigenous descent, V. C. de la Ronde worked in the federal public service for 25 years in a variety of roles and departments. She has been a mentor and role model for dozens of employees and associates, both in and outside of the public service. She is a martial arts master, holds a teacher’s certificate in yoga, has completed two law degrees and is a motivational speaker. She has done all of this while dealing with vision loss since her teenage years.
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Are you a public servant with questions about your workplace? Write to us anonymously at PSConfidential@postmedia.com and we’ll pick our favourites to send to an expert columnist. No gripe is too small. No topic is too big.
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Public Service Confidential is an advice column, written for the Ottawa Citizen by guest contributors Scott Taymun, Yazmine Laroche, Daniel Quan-Watson, V. C. de la Ronde and Chris Aylward. The information provided in this series is not legal advice and should not be construed as legal advice.
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