Competencies for strategic leaders

Last updated: November 18, 2021

Read about competencies for strategic leaders in Core Competencies for Strategic Leaders (PDF, 402KB).

All strategic leaders in the BC Public Service are expected to demonstrate both core and role specific competencies.

Core competencies

The core competencies are as follows:

  • Building strategic alliances
  • Vision and goal setting
  • Creating and managing change
  • Solving problems creatively
  • Promoting empowerment
  • Executive presence

These competencies are common to strategic leadership positions and critical in most roles.

They've been identified as key to strategic leaders through a series of consultations:

  • A survey of strategic leaders
  • A focus group of selected strategic leaders
  • Input from an ADM advisory council

Role specific competencies

There are 5 competencies that apply to specific job profiles for strategic leaders:

  • Service delivery: motivating for peak performance
  • Project management: building team orientation, design strategy and structure
  • Governance: design strategy and structure
  • Negotiations: negotiating/conflict management
  • Stakeholder relations: communicating effectively

These role specific competencies are defined in Core Competencies for Strategic Leaders (PDF, 402KB).

A job profile may also include other competencies in addition to the core and role specific competencies. For example, Indigenous relations behavioural competencies might be key in some positions while financial competencies are more important in others.