WIG's 40th anniversary panel discussion | Key insights

At our 40th-anniversary celebration last November, over 140 cross-sector leaders from our membership, alumni, and board came together to reflect on WIG’s legacy of fostering cross-sector collaboration and discuss future avenues for shared learning and growth.

The evening featured a thought-provoking panel discussion moderated by Dr Neil Bentley-Gockmann OBE, WIG’s Chief Executive Officer, followed by an engaging audience-led discussion.

Cross-sector leaders Gareth Davies CB, Louise Kingham CBE, and Dame Ann Limb DBE DL shared valuable insights on collaborative leadership, systems thinking, investing in future leaders, embracing diversity, porosity in governance, and leveraging AI to drive productivity, innovation and lasting change across sectors.

As we step into 2025, these insights feel more pressing than ever.

Key Takeaways

• Cross-sector collaboration is a non-negotiable for lasting change: The complex interconnected challenges of today—whether in public services or business—require a multi-sector perspective and unified action across sectors for lasting change.
• Building a culture of systems thinking, trust and shared success to foster cross-sector collaboration: Overcoming hurdles to collaboration like lack of trust, dealing with ambiguity, and competition requires fostering a culture of iterative discussions, mutual learning, and shared success.
• Investing in skills and leadership is key to futureproofing the economy: Building a workforce with the right technical expertise, collaborative mindset, and leadership capabilities, starting with next-generation talent is crucial for tackling future challenges.
• Diversity brings different perspectives vital for cross-sector collaboration: A diverse leadership and workforce enable organisations to unlock new ideas, make better decisions and achieve better outcomes.
• Embracing porosity to enhance public services: The Civil Service can greatly benefit from embracing flexibility and promoting cross-sector mobility, unlocking fresh perspectives to enhance and strengthen delivery.
• AI is a partner, not a replacement: Leaders should embrace AI as a tool to augment human capabilities, streamline operations and boost productivity while learning cross-sector best practices for impactful deployment.

Cross-sector collaboration: A non-negotiable for lasting change

Cross-sector collaboration is not just important – it’s the only way forward to help navigate the country through the ‘wicked’ challenges of today.

• The government is focused on driving economic growth and building vital social infrastructure. Achieving this growth requires reforms in policies, public services, and business investments—all of which can only be achieved through better collaboration across sectors.
• UK businesses are competing globally for limited capital. To succeed, they must adopt more creative and collaborative approaches at the senior level, securing the investments and talent needed for sustainable growth.
• A multi-sector perspective enables leaders to embrace collaboration, innovate, and develop a forward-looking, unified vision to drive meaningful, lasting change.

Overcoming cultural barriers to cross-sector collaboration

Collaboration across sectors can be challenging, particularly in working cultures that warrant clarity and certainty. Collaborative processes often involve building trust, navigating power dynamics, dealing with ambiguity, taking risks, facing potential failure, and managing unpredictable, non-linear results.

To overcome these hurdles, organisations can:

• Foster a culture that discourages the negative dynamics of competition - where the focus is often on invalidating others -and incentivises collaboration and shared success.
• Encourage systems thinking across teams. This requires clearly defining success from the start, taking manageable steps, and facilitating open and balanced conversations among all stakeholders.
• Shift away from rigid, final-stage consultations to dynamic, iterative discussions that encourage broader input and innovation. By gaining a deeper understanding of incentives from interested parties—whether in business, higher education, or civil society—and maintaining a clear focus on the public interest, government departments can maintain a collaborative approach and avoid potential perceptions of lobbying.

Investing in skills and leadership

The conversation highlighted the critical steps towards futureproofing the economy: building skills from the bottom up and instilling collaborative leadership values in future leaders.

• Educational institutions should align their training with the skills needed for future industries, ensuring that students are equipped not just with specific technical expertise but also with a collaborative and adaptable mindset. Dame Ann Limb cited examples of initiatives like Girl Scouts that nurture leadership capabilities, including emotional and psychological confidence, early on.
• Young talent entering the workforce brings purpose, fresh ideas, and a willingness to take on challenges. By investing in talent development and providing role-modelling and reverse mentoring opportunities, organisations can foster a learning environment where today’s and tomorrow’s leaders can exchange insights on risk-taking, innovation, and cross-sector collaboration.

Driving cross-sector collaboration through diversity of perspective

A strong theme emerged around the importance of diversity in leadership and workforce as crucial for cross-sector collaboration. The speakers emphasised that by enabling diverse perspectives, experiences and insights, organisations can unlock innovative thinking and make better-informed decisions.

• Better decision-making and outcomes follow when diverse perspectives are actively included.
• Create inclusive environments that empower individuals to collaborate at every level, not just senior positions.
• Focus on measurable outcomes, robust data collection, and accountability frameworks to track progress and ensure sustained impact.
• Recruit for potential in addition to experience. This approach nurtures diverse talent with transferable skills across sectors, fostering adaptability and growth.

Porosity in civil service and the boardroom

Civil Service and boards can unlock the collective strengths of business, academia, and civil society by embracing cross-sector porosity, helping drive more impactful and inclusive outcomes.

• Perceptions regarding Civil Service careers as static careers need to change. The Civil Service must introduce flexibility with opportunities for cross-sector mobility, job shares and diverse roles, particularly at senior levels, to infuse fresh perspectives and skills.
• Senior roles like Non-Executive Directors (NEDs) and Trustees that span across sectors play a vital role in offering independent oversight and bridging perspectives to enhance governance in all sectors.
• Effective governance must embrace cross-sector talent to create a balanced, forward-looking team.

AI as an enabler of productivity across sectors

AI holds immense potential, and cross-sector leaders can fully harness its potential to boost productivity, enhance decision-making, and drive innovation.

• AI should be leveraged across sectors to enhance human talent, not replace it.
• By automating routine tasks and processes and providing data-driven insights, AI has enabled leaders and talents across sectors to optimise their workflows and improve efficiency. Louise Kingham shared an example of how BP leverages AI to enhance safety in its offshore operations through remote monitoring and inspection.
• Exchanging shared insights, challenges, and best practices across sectors on AI adoption trends is crucial for organisations to remain agile and responsive to this fast-evolving technology.

Conclusion

The panel and audience-led discussion highlighted the critical role of cross-sector collaboration in advancing the UK government’s growth agenda.

The need for systems thinking, diverse leadership, and investment in future talent to drive economic progress was made clear.

As we look ahead to 2025, fostering cross-sector collaboration, embracing diversity, and leveraging AI will be essential in supporting sustainable growth and innovation.

By continuing to build collaborative leadership capabilities across sectors, WIG remains committed to facilitating the dialogue, partnerships and insights necessary to drive the growth and prosperity the UK needs in the years to come.

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