MAKING PUBLIC SECTOR REFORM POSSIBLE

 Skills that enable change within government may not be visible, but shape how institutions function, and how policies are implemented, writes CHIOMA NJOKU

Public sector reform is often discussed in terms of policies, programmes, and institutional frameworks. Yet for those who work within government, experience quickly reveals something else: the success of reform rarely depends on design alone. More often, it depends on leadership.

Every year, the Aig-Imoukhuede Foundation receives applications from accomplished public servants across Africa for its flagship public sector executive training programme, the AIG Public Leaders Programme. Their credentials reflect years of dedication to public service: advanced degrees, extensive professional experience, and responsibility for complex government functions. On paper, they arrive well prepared.

But as the programme progresses, an important insight begins to surface in conversations among participants: the most difficult part of reform is rarely technical. It lies in navigating the institutional realities that determine whether good ideas move from proposal to practice.

The Things to Learn: Public servants are typically trained in areas such as economics, law, engineering, public administration, or sector policy. These technical competencies are essential for effective governance. But implementing change inside large institutions often requires another set of capabilities that are less frequently taught.

It requires building cooperation across departments that may have different priorities. It requires sustaining initiatives through administrative transitions and evolving policy cycles. It requires recognising that institutions are shaped not only by formal mandates but also by relationships, incentives, and organisational culture.

These dimensions of leadership become particularly visible during the AIG Public Leaders Programme, delivered in partnership with the University of Oxford’s Blavatnik School of Government.

What I See in the Classroom: Participants engage in modules on negotiation in the public interest, strengthening public organisations, digital transformation, integrity in public life, and strategic communication, especially storytelling. These provide valuable analytical frameworks. But some of the most meaningful learning happens in the exchanges between participants themselves.

When leaders from different sectors and countries share experiences, a common pattern often emerges. Challenges that appear unique to one institution frequently mirror those faced elsewhere: aligning stakeholders around reform priorities, navigating complex organisational environments, and sustaining momentum for change over time. Through these discussions, participants begin to view reform not simply as a technical exercise, but as a leadership practice.

The Skill of Reading Power: One exercise illustrates this well. Participants are asked to map the formal decision-making structure within their institutions and then reflect on how decisions are actually influenced and implemented in practice. The two do not always perfectly align.

Somewhere in many organisations, there is a person who holds no senior title but whose opinion shapes outcomes. Somewhere there is a committee that exists on paper but never meets, and a corridor conversation where real decisions are made. Somewhere, there is a stakeholder who will not voice opposition openly, but will quietly ensure that implementation fails.

This is not unusual. Institutions are living systems, shaped by both formal authority and informal dynamics. Leaders who understand this complexity are often better positioned to advance reforms in ways that are both practical and sustainable.

The Skill of Strategic Patience: Another recurring lesson concerns the pace of change. Public life rewards action. There is pressure to announce, to launch, to show progress. But reform that moves too fast often collapses. It outruns its coalition, achieves visibility, and then fails.

In public institutions, progress often requires sequencing reforms carefully, building consensus where possible, and recognising that durable change sometimes develops incrementally rather than instantaneously.

The most effective reformers I have watched are not the fastest. They are the ones who understand that timing matters. They know when to wait for a stakeholder to come around. They know when to pilot quietly before scaling publicly. They know that a reform implemented in year three is better than a reform announced in year one and abandoned in year two.

People don’t often applaud leaders for waiting. But waiting, when done strategically, is not passivity. Strategic patience can be as important as urgency.

The Skill of Absorbing Resistance: Equally important is resilience. Reform initiatives frequently attract scrutiny, differing perspectives, and legitimate debate. Navigating these dynamics constructively while maintaining focus on long-term outcomes is an essential part of public leadership. Perhaps the hardest skill, and the one I think about most often, is the ability to absorb resistance without breaking.

Reform attracts criticism. Some of it is fair. Some of it is not. Either way, it lands on the same person. Day after day. Meeting after meeting. I have watched participants describe moments when they wanted to stop. When the weight of opposition felt heavier than their will to continue. When they questioned whether any of it was worth it. What kept them going, in most cases, was not heroic resolve. It was something smaller. A colleague who listened. A peer who said, “I know that feeling.” A small win that reminded them why they started.

The programme does not give public sector leaders a thick skin, but it gives them something more valuable: a network of people who understand. People who have absorbed the same resistance and kept going. People who can then say, “Keep going,” and mean it.

The Invisible Difference: Over the past five cohorts of the AIG Public Leaders Programme, more than three hundred public servants have participated in this shared learning journey. They leave not only with new perspectives but also with a network of peers across sectors and countries who understand the realities of institutional reform.

The public may never see many of the leadership skills that enable change within government. They are rarely visible in headlines or official announcements. Yet they shape how institutions function, how policies are implemented, and how public systems gradually improve.

The 69 public servants who recently graduated from the fifth cohort of the AIG Public Leaders Programme now return to their respective institutions across Africa. The challenges they face will remain complex. But they do so with a deeper understanding of the leadership dimensions that underpin successful reform.

Over time, it is through the steady work of leaders like these that institutions evolve. Progress may not always be dramatic, but it is often cumulative. And when enough capable leaders persist within the system, public institutions become stronger, more effective, and better able to serve citizens.

Njoku is Director of Programmes, Aig-Imoukhuede Foundation