Leadership of the NSO
Presentation
to the
SADC Seminar on Organisation and Administration of NSOs
Pali Lehohla
Statistician-General, South Africa
Luanda, 02 December 2006
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Leadership
•Leadership is a process of proactive social
influence intended to change the behavior, beliefs or
values of followers
•Leadership is collective, relational and purposeful
•Models and theories of leadership focus on
•Leader as an individual
•Leader and the followers
•Leader, followers and situation
•I will focus on the leader and the situation
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Leadership vs Management
Leadership
Management
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Values relationships
Low regard for positions
Takes large risks
Personal and caring
Not receptive to the rules
of others
• New ideas – high
innovation
• Non-functional – inspire,
motivate
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Values results
Relates to positions
Takes few risks
Somewhat impersonal
Conforms to rules of
others
• Status quo – low
innovation
• Functional – analyze,
evaluate, solve
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Leadership style
Leadership style
Control
Empower
Leader that focuses on Yes
what to do
Yes
Leader that focuses on Yes
how to do
No
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Character of a NSO
• Data collection
• Data processing, analysis and dissemination
• Engaging in international comparisons as well as
positioning a national statistics office nationally
and internationally
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Production and Utilisation Framework of
Official Statistics
Top
Political
Authority
Mass
Media
Resources
Authority
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Planning
Authority
Specialist
Groups
Statistical
Authority
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Transition Countries
Change in Political system 2 yrs
Change of institutions 2 yrs
Demand for
information
Change in legal system2 years
Change in
Information
Systems – 2-3 yrs
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Transition Countries
Change in the
Information
System – 10 yrs
Programme alignment
in political system
Programme alignment
in the legal system
Demand for
information
Programme alignment in
institutions
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Leadership of the NSO: the context
• Keep open relationship with the political authority
 Carving space for the role of the NSO: integrity
 Positioning the national statistics system
 Keeping leadership informed
 Political alertness not politically aligned
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Technical / intellectual competence
Social awareness
Satarical
Resourcing the agency
Short-term vs Long-term goals, clear goals
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Creating a shared vision
Obstacles are those frightful things you
see when you take your eyes off your
goal.
…Henry Ford
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Creating a vision: a broad vision
5 conditions for successful teams
• Direction: a clear and compelling direction for the team and
organization
• Structure: a focused team with established procedures and
norms of conduct
• People: technically competent and emotionally intelligent
members
• Support: members are properly trained and their efforts are
adequately rewarded
• Development: team performance is reviewed and members
learn from their successes and failures
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Leadership: a personal journey
The day I will have peace, I will know that I
have lost power.
…Simon Bolivir
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Leadership: a personal journey
• Leadership is a very lonely business
• Personally trying, dividing, dangerous
• What to do during times of crisis
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Do not do it alone
Keep the opposition close
Accept the loses
Accept casualties
Accept responsibility for your actions
Act decisively: kill it, and kill it quick
Do not miss the underlying message
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Leadership: a personal journey
The 4-things principle for a leader
• Hiring the right people
 Make up for your shortcomings in the technical areas
 Fire those not aligned to your vision
• Taking risks: appreciating failure
 You can never deliver a census without risks
• Surviving your mistakes
 We had problems with our CPI and turned it into an opportunity
 When the cow is in a ditch, pull it out first before you start milking it
• Delegating as much possible
 Get others to help, statistical series are ginomous
 Create space for yourself to chart the path for the organisation
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Leadership: a personal journey
Dismantling the legacy of apartheid
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Leading the revolution : a collision course sometimes necessary
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Determining the fate of the old CSS
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Training an urgent priority
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Addressing the apartheid space economy
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Leadership anticipates: towards the new NSO
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Leading change: Bringing in new leadership and Odett
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Getting the census done
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Getting the provinces to function: the necessary infrastructure
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Modernising the office: necessary and appropriate technology
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Leading & implementing the vision: tough job at the beginning, fulfilling in the end
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Leadership: a personal journey
The challenges
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New leadership again, the storm
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Anticipating the storm
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Taking positions against the storm
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Deploying into and destroying the storm
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The new beginning
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Leadership challenges
• Technical challenge
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Has to do with tactical choices
The problem is well-defined
The alternatives are clear
The impact is minimal and short-term
• Adaptive challenge
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Has to do with strategic choices
Sometimes the stakes are high
Ambiguity and novelty characterize the situation
Decision represents a substantial change and commitment of
resources and even emotions
• These choices occur rather infrequently
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Decision-making
Decision-making: a tool for organisational performance
• Focus your team on task conflict, not relationship
conflict.
 Task conflict is legitimate / cognitive, it strengthens decision:
decision effectiveness
 Relationship conflict is affective and emotional, it wastes time
• Consensus
 Not about everyone agreeing: leader may even make a decision
alone
 “Diversity in counsel, unity in command” — Cyrus the Great
 About implementation effectiveness
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