For public services under increasing strain, inspired leadership will be the game changer. Modern day public sector leadership requires flexibility like never before: the ability of a senior leader to regulate their emotions, choose their behaviours and understand which communication style is needed in which situation is the new art. Underpinning our ability to change any behaviour is the ability to understand our own emotional reaction; the emotional impact we have on another, and then to regulate the underlying emotion.

It’s been well known in psychology for decades and now, proven by modern insights from neuroscience, that our emotions come first. We have an emotional reaction nanoseconds before we think and even longer, comparatively, before we react or behave. Understanding and responding to our own and others’ emotions underpins our effectiveness as leaders to create the necessary pace, partnerships and pioneers the sector now demands.