This year we are celebrating the 50th anniversary of the formation of the Public Services People Managers' Association (PPMA).
Having worked as a public servant for much of that time, it has prompted me to reflect on the progress we have made as a society in that time.
On many of the measures that matter – health, education, opportunity – outcomes for individuals have improved.
At the same time, many of the core challenges we face today echo those of 1975. Economic turmoil, a cost of living crisis, pressure on public finances, and deepening tensions around fairness and identity weigh just as heavily in 2025.
At times like this, the pressure and expectation on public sector organisations – and the people who lead them – only grows. And when the stakes are this high, the quality of leadership becomes even more critical to success.
When faced with challenge or crisis, one of the enduring myths about leadership is that it takes a bold, individualistic style to ‘get the job done'.
Yes, it may command attention, but it rarely delivers enduring change or impact. In my experience, the leaders who work most effectively under pressure are inclusive leaders. The kind who bring people in, draw from a wide pool of insight, and lead with an awareness of their need to understand the full spectrum of challenges faced by people in your organisation and community.
This is the type of leadership that unlocks better decisions, creates stronger teams and services that actually connect with the communities they are meant to serve.
At our recent PPMA conference in Manchester, I was pleased to hear the local government chief executives who were invited to speak there reflect this view.
Unprompted, when talking about what it takes to deliver for their communities and their organisations, they came back to inclusion as a leadership necessity, not a nice-to-have.
When inclusion is embedded, rather than just spoken about, organisations perform better.
While sometimes portrayed as such, inclusion is not a separate agenda: it is what makes everything else work. Excellence and inclusion are not competing priorities, they are interdependent.
They solve problems more effectively because they draw on the full range of their people's intelligence and capability. They attract and retain better talent, because people want to work where they can be themselves and be valued. They make wiser, more relevant decisions, because those closest to the challenge help shape the solution.
Inclusion is not just something our communities expect, it is something our teams need from their leaders.
When leadership teams model genuine inclusivity, they set a cultural norm that ripples through every level of the organisation.
This alignment, from boardroom conversations to frontline service delivery, helps ensure the needs of the communities we serve are met by design, rather than by accident.
While sometimes portrayed as such, inclusion is not a separate agenda: it is what makes everything else work. Excellence and inclusion are not competing priorities, they are interdependent.
In a sector where resources are constrained and expectations rising, this matters now more than ever. We cannot afford to waste potential or miss ideas which can help us do better. Each undervalued or unheard colleague is a resource which remains untapped. Every overlooked perspective is a risk unseen.
We must be clear that inclusive leadership is neither soft nor abstract: it is a hard, essential discipline that helps ensure organisations are fit for the future. It is about building environments where it is safe to challenge and creating a place where diversity of thought is welcomed and sought out. It is about ensuring care and fairness are part of how decisions get made, not just how values are worded.
There is a world of difference between talking about inclusion and living it as a leader. The best build inclusivity into how they recruit, how they promote, how they listen and how they learn. All for one good reason, it is the best route to effective organisations.
Being pro-inclusion means being pro-excellence. It means being open to growth, willing to confront your own blind spots, and committed to creating the conditions where everyone – at every level – can thrive.
This is not radical, it is the practice of good leadership. Surely, that is something we can all get behind as we contemplate our road ahead.
Pam Parkes is president of the Public Services People Managers' Association
