20 March 2009
Do you work with someone who has strong leadership skills and the potential to become a finance director? Then consider nominating them for Future Leaders, the awards that recognise finance talent. Anat Arkin explains what it takes to stand out from the crowd
The search is on for the rising stars of public finance as nominations open for the 2009 Future Leaders awards. Now in their second year, the awards are designed both to celebrate excellence in the public finance arena and to identify leadership potential. So they will be presented to ten talented individuals who have shown they have what it takes to become tomorrow’s directors of finance, chief executives or even permanent secretaries.
At a time when the public services, like other parts of the economy, are facing unprecedented challenges, outstanding leadership has never been more important. Yet there is still a massive shortage of people with the right leadership skills at senior levels, says Adrian Pulham, chair of the judging panel for the Future Leaders challenge, which Public Finance and CIPFA organise in association with Hays Accountancy & Finance.
‘So we’re looking for people working in accountancy or financial management in the public services who have not yet attained leadership roles, but have clearly shown that they have the skills, knowledge and ability to do so in the future,’ he explains.
Those who win the awards can expect their careers to receive a significant boost, according to Pulham. ‘A number of last year’s award winners got in touch with me subsequently and told me how they’d progressed in their careers, sometimes within the same organisations, sometimes moving on to other organisations, and that the experience of winning this prestigious accolade had really helped them move on more quickly than they had anticipated,’ he says.
Pulham, who is CIPFA’s director of education and training, calls on public sector employers to nominate members of their finance staff, stressing that it is not only the future leaders themselves who stand to benefit from taking part in this initiative. ‘This can help employers with talent spotting and succession planning, while also recognising excellence in the public financial workplace and providing a stimulus for continuing work on leadership development,’ he suggests.
Last year’s awards attracted nominations from many parts of the public sector, including local and central government, higher education and leading audit firms. But Pulham hopes that this year’s entries will come from an even broader range of organisations. ‘While we would welcome nominations from across the public services, we must recognise that the third sector is now deeply involved in the delivery of all types of public services,’ he says. ‘So I’d really like to encourage employers and managers in third sector organisations to think about nominating their star financial managers.’
In assessing nominations for the awards, the judging panel will be looking for evidence of both technical proficiency and leadership potential. ‘We are looking for people who are good accountants but who also know how finance can support public sector bodies achieve their corporate objectives and deliver services efficiently and more effectively,’ says judging panel member Andy Robling, director of public services at Hays Accountancy & Finance.
‘They also need to understand and engage with the business. So they should be able to demonstrate an awareness of the purpose of their organisation, where it fits into the wider economy and how the finance function can support the delivery of quality services.’
In addition, the future leaders need to be focused on value for money and return on investment – not only in financial terms but also in the sense of improving outcomes for the communities they serve. Last but not least, they should be good communicators, who can lead by example, give purpose and direction to their teams and get the best out of their colleagues.
It’s a tall order, but the calibre of last year’s winners suggests that there is no lack of star quality in the public finance profession. ‘We are confident that there are a lot of people out there who have got the right stuff and we are keen to attract as many of those into the nomination process as possible,’ adds Robling.
PF editor Mike Thatcher points out that many of last year’s nominees received strong endorsements from their immediate colleagues and junior staff, as well as from their bosses. This goes to show that far from being seen as somehow “elitist”, celebrating an individual’s excellence can make the rest of a team’s members feel good about themselves,’ he said.
‘In fact, celebrating an individual is often another way of celebrating the whole team. So if you work with someone whose leadership skills stand out, we’d really like to hear from you.’
2009 Future Leader challenge
Future leaders can come from central or local government, the health service, education, charities or any other part of the public services. They have to be CIPFA members, but can be relatively newly qualified or already in junior or middle management positions.
Whatever their current roles, they will need to possess qualities that set them apart and demonstrate their leadership potential to colleagues and managers alike.
Nominations for this year’s Future Leaders challenge will be assessed by a judging panel chaired by CIPFA’s director of education and training, Adrian Pulham (see below for full list of judging panel). The judges will assess nominees with the help of tried and tested criteria developed by Hays to identify leadership skills.
The ten successful nominees will be announced during the summer and will be honoured at a high-profile ceremony in September. Details and profiles of the winners will be included in a special supplement to be published after the ceremony.
