Impact of strategic vision and leadership

Provider:

Training and Development Agency

Topics:

Targeted youth support

Type:

Emerging practice

Date:

September 2006

Region:

The East Midlands

This case study relates to Mobilise achievement 3: Senior management is committed to improving targeted youth support.

The level of strategic vision and leadership at director of children's services level has had an instrumental effect on the success of the Leicester City pathfinder.

Situation

Developing a vision for integrated services within the local authority and establishing partnerships outside the local authority is essential for the sustainable implementation of targeted youth support (TYS).

Challenge

To get service leads and key partners (e.g. health and police) to agree to a shared vision of integrated services and to gain their commitment to working differently in the interests of children, young people and their families. The real challenge is to get this to work at both an intellectual level strategically and to translate that down to a practical level.

Response
 

The director of children's services in Leicester City has a clear vision of integrated services what it means for children and young people and what it necessitates in terms of the professional response. A huge investment has been made in the identification of key stakeholders, sharing the vision with them, listening to their agendas and objectives, and reaching a partnership-based agreement on a way forward. This investment is an on-going activity and requires much time, effort and energy. 

This vision has been clearly articulated within the pathfinder. The sponsor and project coordinator have contributed enormously to the communication of key messages, the effort of establishing commitments to partnership working and its practical application through the change teams. This ongoing effort is evidenced by the 35 people at the Fast Start event swelling to nearly 70 people eager to be involved at the Options Development workshop. More and more people are gradually being pulled into the TYS agenda.

The strong leadership at director of children's services level has ensured that TYS has received the level of attention and importance required and that the programme has remained on track in terms of what needs doing and in terms of timescale. 

Results and benefits

The clear strategic vision and strong leadership in this pathfinder has ensured Leicester City is well positioned for a sustainable TYS model for the future benefit of its children and young people.

Click to read the achievements for the Mobilise stage of the targeted youth support change process. 

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Last updated on 28/04/2009