It could also include eradication of poverty, reduction in crime and environmental sustainability. In the current environment of greater transparency and enhanced communication channels, there is now greater awareness of the prevailing circumstances. This has produced high expectations. It has also reduced tolerance for inefficiency, poor performance, irregular practices and nondelivery of the results. The expectations are for a public sector that best serves its nation and that delivers the expected results in the most effective and efficient manner. Similar to the private sector, the public sector is confronted with a dynamic environment of rapid change. Approaches that have produced previous successes may now have become no longer relevant. In these situations, previous skills and capabilities will no longer be adequate. In addition, it will be the cumulative efforts of all parts of the public sector that will  BIS central bankers’ speeches  1  produce the results. It will no longer depend on a specific part of the system but on several parts of the system. Previous arrangements will therefore become no longer effective. New challenges that have become more complex will require new tools and systems to solve them. The organisation will thus need to be transformed to meet the changing requirements of the new environment. To contribute to a nation’s progress and development, therefore, demands for the ability to manage these new challenges. The role of the leadership in the public sector has thus changed significantly.
Secondly, is having the ability to articulate this vision with others in the organisation and also with those that will be affected by the actions taken by the organisation. This is to ensure that the energies of the workforce will be channelled to achieving the strategic results required. Very often, the shared vision with those that are affected by the actions of the organisation also allows for the combined efforts to be mutually reinforcing. Thirdly, and importantly is knowing and understanding the business and the key elements that drive the organisation. Knowing how the system works and how the objectives might be realised. This involves having the knowledge, the skills, the information, the methodologies and the organisational structures needed to deliver the results. This is important so that the ideas can be translated into results. Fourth, given the nature of the business of the public sector and the diverse stakeholders involved, leadership in the sector requires coordination and integration skills that is able to pull together diverse thinking and diverse information and the ability to integrate the different perspectives into a solution that produces the desired outcomes. This will also involve coordination skills required to bring together not only the different parts of the organisation but also other organisations in the public sector that can contribute to achieving the desired results. Fifth, it involves managing trade-offs. Frequently, actions that need to be taken involve different implications on different target groups. This may involve interests that are conflicting.