The culture issue is more pronounced when leadership is grafted on to public sector institutions from private business. Insights a business leader brings to government institutions make for better outcomes if they can be converted into a strategic organisational vision acceptable to a group of stakeholders. The public sector typically adapts slower than companies, given their wider social outreach. But changes tend to stick. A new leadership can be highly effective, though, in introducing organisational efficiency metrics that encourage continual change. Since survival makes business more adaptable to the external environment, a business leader can transmit a sense of urgency to institutional reform. This process need not be adversarial of the classic ‘testosterone-driven’ kind if the leadership gets its communication strategy right.
Communication may differ between profit-driven and non-profit organisations. Yet, both work to principles of organisational efficiency. This is critical because lateral movements between public and private sectors increase with economic sophistication. A vision of the future shared in terms an organisation can comprehend is a key employee motivator. The messaging is as important as the message.