Network DASP 2026 | Evento di lancio - Le competenze politiche della direzione strategica

The relationship between top management in public organisations and the political sphere has always been a core dimension of the role. Yet it has rarely been made explicit, openly discussed, or deliberately developed. The capabilities required to manage this relationship have traditionally been treated as tacit knowledge—acquired through experience rather than through structured reflection or formal development pathways.

Today, this approach is no longer adequate. Profound changes in the political and institutional environment have made the ability to navigate political dynamics a critical strategic competence—one that is significantly more complex than in the past. At least three structural shifts have emerged in recent years, each with a direct impact on the work of Directors General. 
 

• Political cycles have become shorter and more unstable, with faster turnover among political leaders and increasingly compressed learning curves regarding governing dynamics.
•  At the same time, the transformation of communication—amplified by social media—has accelerated decision-making timelines, simplified public narratives, and reduced the space for managing complexity, placing growing pressure on administrative structures. 
• Finally, declining trust in institutions, often accompanied by anti-bureaucratic rhetoric, exposes senior public managers to a constant tension between visibility, accountability, and legitimacy. 
  
  In this context, the issue facing Directors General is not whether to preserve a formal distinction between political and technical roles—an essential principle that remains unchanged—but how to exercise managerial leadership effectively and legitimately within a radically transformed political arena. 
  
  This reflection day is conceived as a peer-to-peer forum for Directors General, aimed at clarifying which political capabilities are now required to: correctly interpret political signals, priorities, and dynamics without encroaching on the political role; anticipate emerging needs and risks, preventing decisions from being shaped around administratively unsustainable solutions; and act with timeliness, recognising that in certain contexts time is as strategic a variable as technical quality. 
  
  The objective is not to “politicise” the role of Directors General, but rather to strengthen their capacity for informed mediation between political direction, regulatory constraints, and technical and organisational feasibility. In a period marked by high instability and pressure, investing in a public leadership class better equipped to manage this relationship ultimately strengthens—rather than weakens—the quality of public decision-making and the resilience of democratic institutions. 
  
  The day therefore aims to provide Directors General with shared interpretative frameworks, a common language, and actionable criteria to address a dimension of their role that is now more exposed, more risky, and at the same time more decisive than ever before.