My candidate statement for the Future Leaders Scheme (FLS)

The FLS is a 2 year, cross-government accelerated development scheme for Civil Servants who have the potential to progress to the Civil Service’s most senior and critical leadership roles.

I applied in 2017, unsuccessfully, and have just reapplied for 2018.

This year I was required to complete a candidate statement comprising 3 sections:

• outline your reasons for applying for the Future Leaders Scheme
• how have you developed your career and how you propose to continue to develop in order to achieve your potential?
• what do you do to ensure that you are the best Civil Service leader that you can be and why?

Like last year, I was very busy around the time of the application process and was unable to give it the time it deserved. So I asked for help via Twitter and the One Team Gov Global organisers WhatsApp group.

I really liked this WhatsApp reply from Audree Fletcher:

They’re looking for commitment to the principles and ideals the civil service represents. Also on the ambition point, they’re looking for those with ambition to reform things at scale, to make a dent in the world. If it feels authentic, might be worth drawing out?

The awesome Sam Villis was really, really helpful. Not only did she share her own statement with me, but also commented on mine. Thank you Sam :-) Along with direct comments on the document from David Durant, Joanne Rewcastle and Debbie Blanchard, I also received comments and questions via Twitter:

With everyones comments taken onboard, I sat down at 8pm Wednesday 19 July 2018 (4 hours before the deadline) with the love of my life and fellow Civil Servant Janet Hughes.

Janet knows me well, better than I know myself in some areas, and was able to help me craft my thoughts into the following words:

1. Please outline your reasons for applying for the Future Leaders Scheme:

I’ve honed my people, team and community leadership skills to a really high standard, through experience and informal learning. Now I want to consolidate this and step up to the next level, using the opportunities the scheme provides. I particularly like the idea of running experiments in our cohorts, especially anything around making the Civil Service a more networked organisation — something I’m very passionate about, having seen 1st hand what happens when we become siloed.

Friends on the scheme speak highly of it and have strongly recommended I apply. I love the idea of learning with people who are on the same journey as me. I want to become a better leader and make the world a better place.

2. Please share with us how you have developed your career and how you propose to continue to develop in order to achieve your potential:

I’m naturally inquisitive and seek out opportunities to learn and improve. I work in the open, sharing ideas with the communities I’m involved in. When I discover new information my 1st thought is always, “Who needs to know?”.

I go after roles and organisations I’m passionate about, especially related to transparency and environmental issues. I want to gain more senior roles where I can have a greater impact in these areas.

I seek out mentors who are different from me. I find ways to step outside my comfort zone. I proactively find courses and events that help me grow. For example as one of the One Team Gov and UKGovcamp community leaders, I’ve substantially expanded my horizons.

I’m really proud of the people I’ve helped develop and the long term attachments I’ve formed with them. I’ll continue to use these techniques and search for new ways to develop myself and those around me.

3. What do you do to ensure that you are the best Civil Service leader that you can be and why?

As a leader I listen, reflect and draw strength from the work I do. When I’ve failed I’m open about it, sharing what I’ve learnt and why it was important. I seek out communities of practice and interest, embedding myself in them and helping to develop them. The joy I get from bringing together disparate people, facilitating their interactions and watching them flourish, is a constant source of pride in my work to positively impact the Civil Service.

A recent example is the Civil Service Live unconference taster sessions, which I ran under the One Team Gov banner. After working with experts in the field of facilitation, I used these events to experiment and iterate new approaches to leading group sessions. I then scaled this up and used the techniques at the One Team Gov Global event, attended by 700 people from 42 countries.

I believe working in the open, bringing people together and trying new things are my most effective ways to learn and improve, not least because I really enjoy them and I get a kick from seeing other people’s enjoyment.

So, there we go.

Let’s see if I get past the interview stage.