What you need to know about being a systems leader and collaborating positively with children and young people, internal and external stakeholders to achieve strategic goals – in order to deliver better outcomes for children, young people and families.

Chief executives’ ‘must know’ for children’s services

This document has been shaped by chief executives who are either former directors of children’s services or for other reasons have been closely associated with leading improvement journeys in council children’s services.

Read time: 15 minutes

Principles of Adaptive Leadership

This paper looks at using Heifetz’s principles of adaptive leadership to diagnose and take action in your system.

Read time: 10 minutes

VUCA – A Resource for Leaders Working Through Disruption

This collection of tools is designed to support leaders and organisations to develop skills, approaches and qualities in Volatile, Uncertain, Complex and Ambiguous (VUCA) environments. Each toolkit addresses a unique aspect of leadership and organisational development, helping to develop resilience, inclusivity, and strategic approaches.

Alongside the VUCA video which sets the overall context, this suite of tools enables reflection, discussion, and engagement.

Watch time: 3 minutes

Your first ten days as a lead member for children’s services

The role of lead member for children’s services gives you the opportunity to make an enormous difference to the lives of your youngest residents – but it also comes with significant responsibility. This guide is intended to help provide some structure to your first few days in office, and to cut through some of the initial ‘noise’, so that you can focus on what’s important straight away, and what you need to be thinking about going forward.

Read time: 15 minutes

Integrated care systems explained: making sense of systems, places and neighbourhoods

Integrated care systems (ICSs) are partnerships that bring together providers and commissioners of NHS services across a geographical area with local authorities and other local partners to collectively plan health and care services to meet the needs of their population.

Read time: 15 minutes

Interview with Cllr Anntoinette Bramble

Councillor Anntoinette Bramble, Deputy Mayor and Lead Member for Children’s Services in the London Borough of Hackney, is interviewed by participants on the Aspirant DCS programme about the role of Lead Member.

Watch time: 20 minutes

Interview with Terence Herbert

Terence Herbert, Chief Executive of Wiltshire Council (and a former DCS) shares his thoughts, including 3 top tips for DCSs on working effectively with Chief Executives.

Watch time: 8 minutes

The role of a council leader in improving outcomes for children

A guide, specifically developed for the council leader.

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