This hub is aimed at those who are aspiring to become a leader and are not yet in a formal leadership role.
Whether you want to be a people manager or progress further as a technical specialist, there are resources here to support your development. It introduces the essentials of effective leadership to equip you with the knowledge, mindset and skills you need to lead from where you are within your organisation.
You need to be employed by one of our member agencies to create a login and access the activities and resources below.
We’ve pulled together learning activities in 6 key areas to help build your understanding of the public sector, and some of the skills and knowledge required to become a leader. Each activity has content for you to read or watch and some reflection questions. As you complete the activities, your reflections can be added to your own downloadable Reflective Journal so you can review or refer back to it anytime.
Reflective Journal [PDF, 212 KB]
The process of writing your reflections (journaling) helps to you to document your journey, capture key learnings, and explore new perspectives. It helps you in setting and achieving personal and professional goals as well as cultivating a habit of mindfulness and making thoughtful and informed decisions. This article provides more information about journaling: Journaling for professional development
You can work through this hub at your own pace and in any order, however we suggest you start with “Leading in the Public Service” to gain context of the Public Service and where you work. Additionally, “What’s Next?” is a great topic to finish on as it looks at development and learning opportunities.
As part of your learning and discovery about leadership, you may also like to read the Overview of the Leadership Success Profile Capabilities [PDF, 135 KB]. The capabilities in the LSP, highlighted with an asterisk, indicate areas of potential in aspiring leaders and have been covered in different areas of the Hub.
If you previously completed some modules in our Aspiring Leaders Learning Hub before June 2025 and wish to continue with this version email ldcprogrammes@ldc.govt.nz and we can provide a link for you.
Build your understanding of what it means to work in the NZ Public Service, the spirit of service and the principles of the Public Service. As an aspiring leader, you will need to be a role model to others around you as you develop in your leadership capabilities.
Learn what it means to be a leader, and understand if leadership is right for you. As an aspiring leader, you need to understand what leadership is, hear advice from others, and learn more about your own strengths, mindset and curiosity.
Being clear and impactful in your communication with others is a critical skill for a leader. As you aspire to move into leadership roles, it's important to understand how to communicate in a variety of situations with a wide range of people.
Leaders need to have an awareness of their influence and use their influence appropriately with others. As an aspiring leader, these topics will help build your understanding of different ways and opportunities to influence others, even without formal authority.
Being a leader means you will need to understand how to achieve outcomes by working effectively with others. As an aspiring leader you need to build your knowledge about effective ways to manage your workload and work with others around you.
To make a move into a leadership role you need to understand what the shift from team member to people leader means. As you aspire to move into leadership, these topics will help you understand how to successfully make the shift to a leadership role, demonstrate your strategic thinking and find opportunities to develop and learn.