Collaborate, connect and lead: A co-leadership approach to enhance public service leadership and cross-section collaboration

The realities of public health leadership demands interdisciplinary and interagency collaboration. The development and implementation of public health strategies and interventions, whether routine or crisis oriented, require communication, commitment and leadership from the fields of public health, public safety and public administration. The adoption of a co-leadership model in a school of public service leadership exemplifies the application of systems-thinking and the importance of cross sector collaboration; enhances the credibility of the school's multidisciplinary curriculum; and provides guidelines to future leaders on how to collaborate, connect and lead across professions, organizations, and communities.

The presentation will highlight the professional experience and skills of a successful co-leadership team, and delineate how this team insures open communication, shared decision-making and the application of shared governance within the organization's structure. Approaches will be identified that have proved successful in generating support from the executive leadership as well as from the multidisciplinary professional workforce to the concepts and managerial realities of a co-leadership model. Opportunities to enhance organizational and program relevancy will be discussed, as well as challenges to lead and make decisions in a rapidly changing internal and external environment.

This session introduces and describes a co-leadership model that builds upon the disciplines of public health, public safety and public administration, and provides insights into how this co-leadership team has enhanced the creation of a value-based public service leadership programs that foster multi-sector collaboration and commitment to address public health concerns and issues.