New Public Leadership (NPL) Framework - The Selfless Leader

Universal System

New Public Leadership considers leadership as a System ....

... but there is only one Universal System ... and
that is the Universe!

Stay here for a five minute tour of the magic of geometry
in support of looking at leadership as a system. Click below if you wish to skip the tour.

This part of the research journey was the most captivating of all. By discovery rather than design, the leadership framework is consistent with Buckminster Fullers’ concept of synergetics in which he said that mathematics gives both structure and direction (to any exploration) and that the magic of geometry helps to identify synergy in considering the “whole.”

Fuller’s geometric preference was for the tetrahedron (a combination of triangular solid shapes) but within the Metatron and more robust than the single tetra (triangle). The Metatron also originated from ancient religion but is consistent and works well with the meaning of ‘meta’ (the ‘whole’).

New Public Leadership through the Magic of Geometry

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Named after the angel Metatron, a spiritual being, it is often referred to as ‘the flower of life’.

The Metatron is made up of thirteen circles and when straight lines are drawn to inter connect all thirteen, the pattern delineated by the lines portray the first three platonic solids including projections of a double tetrahedron (two triangles), a cube within a cube and an octahedron (eight equilateral triangles, four of which meet at each vertex.

The Collective Leadership Framework which comprises the 20 Ps of New Public Leadership is therefore based on the synergetics of Buckminster Fuller and is reflective of the interactions of the Metatron and the underpinning tetrahedrons. This encompasses the external contexts of public leadership (P.E.S.T.L.E – political, economic, social, technical, legal and environmental). The external contexts then interact with the internal contexts of the public leadership institutions, the operating mechanisms and the public interest outcome patterns. This is briefly illustrated in the final slide but discussed more in the detail that follows.

Applied Leadership Space background

New Public Leadership

Understanding the Leadership of Systems through the magic of geometry

The alignment between the Metatron and the New Public Leadership Framework is illustrated in figures 1 and 2.

The six external contexts of collective leadership in the public interest are shown to represent the six outer circles whereas the six internal contexts are represented by the six inner circles within the tetrahedron star. In all cases, public value as the outcome of public leadership – sits at the heart of the framework].

Figure 1: The Metatron Cube

Figure 2: The NPL Framework

New Public Leadership

Figure 3: The NPL Framework

Figure 3 draws the NPL framework together and includes both mechanisms and outcomes. This is discussed in more detail in this section.

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Innovative Leadership makes change possible

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New Public Leadership is driven by its ContextsMechanismsOutcomes in influencing change and innovation

Remember, Effective Leadership comprises patterns … we just need to find them
… and this applies just as much to leadership system behaviours
as it does to leader behaviours.

Watch this introductory video which describes the key components of the New Public Leadership Collective Framework (15 minutes)

E LEARNING NUGGET FOR NEW PUBLIC LEADERSHIP — Click here to watch this video

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In supporting a shift towards collective leadership, NPL encourages an approach that has more potential to translate shared values towards relevant and appropriate leadership behaviours. This in turn is more likely to lead to increased trust, confidence and legitimacy. In his book ‘The Selfless Leader’, Stephen Brookes explored whether there has been a false distinction between ‘public leadership’ and ‘non-public’ (or commercially based) leadership.

“Perhaps we should all aspire towards a model of New Public Leadership the key purpose of which is to ‘lead in the public interest’. This would apply whether you are a CEO in the banking industry or the Chief Officer of a public service organisation (PSO). Principles of selfless leadership underpin this purpose.”

The New Public Leadership Model (NPL) has been developed based on extensive research using a realistic evaluation framework. The three key elements of Realistic Evaluation also defines the three elements of the model

- Contexts

- Mechanisms

- Outcomes

Context ...

shared leadership chain and rings

Mechanism ...

Outcome ...

Improvement!

Read more about the New Public Leadership (NPL) Framework

Read more about New Public Leadership (NPL)

Leaders emerge from any point within the context of leadership at different levels

Read more about the NPL Framework

Read more about Compass Leadership Limited (Hover on the image below)

Compass Leadership Limited

Read more about Collective Leadership

Collective leaders working together towards a common aim in the public interest

Read more about how we can help you to develop and practice Collective Leadership