Strategic Public Leaders Training

Strategic Public Leaders is highly effective targeted training for senior and mid-tier public sector leaders to learn strategic skills.

• Level up your leadership: With strategic skills, you lead with more intention and confidence. Strategic leaders are goal-oriented and make consistent, intentional choices that move them in the right direction.
• Elevate your impact: Strategic public leaders rise above the operational overwhelm to see the bigger picture and move the needle on the most important stuff.
• Future-proof your career: Developing strategic skills involves a combination of communication, tactical and people skills delivering a higher return on investment.

Get a grounding in core principles of strategic leadership for government, along with a suite of practical tools and strategies you can apply for immediate progress.

Topics include:

• Strategic basics: Demystifying strategic thinking and planning frameworks.
• Role clarity: Drawing a line between governance and management.
• Bridging the gap: Aligning big picture strategy to daily operations.
• Decision-making: Planning, making, and evaluating quality decisions.
• Systems thinking: Solving tricky problems in complex systems.

Alicia’s training workshops are at the cutting edge of thinking for senior public leaders. Both inspiring and pragmatic, this training is designed to tackle limiting habits and behaviours while embedding practical skills.

At the end of this course, you will have the skills to:

• Apply strategic frameworks to align daily operations to big-picture strategy.
• Prioritise never-ending project wish lists with clarity and confidence.
• Elevate conversations with colleagues and Councillors from operational issues to strategic impact.
• Evaluate the quality of decisions effectively to improve buy-in and project success.

Public sector specific

Most leadership development programs are off the shelf and targeted at the private sector. Strategic Public Leaders is tailored specifically to the complexities of government: transparency, democracy and bureaucracy. We teach decision-making for subjective, uncertain and complex environments learn proven strategies that work for government. All content is tailored to suit government's pressures and privileges and delivered by a public sector expert.

Practical and applied

We don't lose the crowd with boring slide-shows and complex theory. We get runs on the board fast by learning skills you can put to the test in the room. 

By the end, managers have new tools and strategies to align their teams, make better decisions and move beyond the operational pull to make a real difference.

Alicia McKay is an internationally recognised public sector strategy expert. She has partnered with over 100 public sector organisations, including more than 50 Councils, across New Zealand and Australia to get clear on their direction and build the skills for leaving a long-term impact.

Alicia partners with member associations and organisations to deliver training and events and is a trusted advisor to local, state, and federal governments.

Alicia is the author of From Strategy to Action: A guide to getting shit done in the public sector, You Don't Need An MBA: Leadership lessons that cut through the crap, and Local Legends: How to make a difference in local government.

In 2025, Alicia was named one of the Top 25 Thinkers in Local Government in the world. She travels the globe speaking to local government organisations and conferences, including the USA and UK.

Public managers enjoy Alicia's straight-talking, n0-bullshit style and her deep insight into the uniqueness of working in government.

In 2026, Alicia is moving most in-house Strategic Public Leaders clients to live online training.

In the online programme, we break two dense days of content and tools into six bite-sized 2 hour sessions, in a weekly or fortnightly cadence. Sessions are held live on Zoom and are fun, interactive experiences that managers look forward to every week.

Learning builds and embeds, with time for implementation and experimentation in between.

Benefits of the online programme:

• Faster application: Managers apply their learning immediately and bring questions and troubleshooting back to me and the group.
• Deeper learning: Learning is more digestible. Rather than a fire-hose of information, managers fully grasp each concept before moving on to the next.
• Stronger relationships: Learning comes to feel like a respite from a busy week, a space they look forward to - building relationships with peers as well as a stronger appreciation for the material.

A typical Strategic Public Leaders cohort ranges from 10 to 50 managers - though we can accommodate up to 75 people in one programme.

For an in-house cohort, we recommend bringing as many managers in as possible, to maximise your investment.

For a public training workshop, send along key champions, who can come back and infect the rest of your organisation.

To attend a public two-day programme costs around $2,000 per person, though you may be eligible for member discounts through your local government professional association, depending on location.

In-house programmes in 2026 are $42,000 + GST (if any). There is no travel, venue, or catering involved, and all learning materials are provided.