Building leadership capability in Papua New Guinea

In 2025, Altis Consulting, with support from the Australian Government, partnered with senior public sector stakeholders in Papua New Guinea to design and deliver a large-scale leadership development program for leaders operating in complex, high-accountability, and community-facing environments. Across four programs delivered over 13 training days, Altis supported more than 100 participants across multiple cohorts. Participants represented a broad cross-section of the justice and public service system, including leaders from the Office of the Public Solicitor, the Royal Papua New Guinea Constabulary, senior legal officers, corrections representatives, and operational leaders from across the public sector. The client brief was clear: to strengthen practical leadership capability for emerging, mid-level and senior leaders navigating complex operational environments and heightened public and organisational scrutiny.

The opportunity

Many participants brought deep technical, legal, and operational expertise to their roles but had limited access to formal leadership development. Leaders were required to operate under constant pressure, manage competing stakeholder expectations, and lead teams through sensitive and often high-impact situations. Effective service outcomes increasingly depended on collaboration across agencies, yet inconsistent communication practices, limited feedback capability, and varying levels of accountability were impacting performance. Psychological safety and open feedback cultures were still emerging and needed to be developed in a way that respected cultural and organisational context. Altis was tasked with designing a program that was highly practical, immediately applicable, culturally and organisationally sensitive, scalable across multiple cohorts and agencies, and focused on achieving real behavioural change rather than teaching leadership theory alone.

The solution

Altis designed the programs around three core capability areas. The first focused on self-leadership, helping participants clarify their leadership identity and mindset, strengthen emotional regulation under pressure, and understand how their behaviour directly shapes team culture, trust, and performance.

The second area, communication and influence, enabled leaders to develop practical skills in clear and direct communication, giving and receiving feedback, navigating difficult conversations, and leading effectively across hierarchy and agency boundaries. Particular emphasis was placed on influencing without authority and building credibility in complex stakeholder environments. The third area, accountability and performance, supported participants in setting clear expectations, strengthening ownership of outcomes, delegating effectively, and shifting from reactive problem-solving to proactive leadership. Leaders practised structured performance and accountability conversations and applied these skills to realistic operational scenarios.

The programs were delivered using a highly applied learning model that included real workplace case studies, peer-based learning, facilitated discussion, structured reflection, behavioural practice, scenario-based exercises, and structured action planning. 4 programs, delivered across 13 days of facilitation, Altis maintained a consistent focus on translating leadership principles into practical, culturally relevant actions that participants could apply directly in their teams and agencies.

The impact

Across more than 100 leaders, the programs delivered clear and sustained capability uplift. Participants reported increased confidence in leading teams and high-stakes conversations, greater clarity and consistency in expectation-setting, improved quality of cross-agency communication and collaboration, stronger ownership of leadership behaviours, and immediate application of feedback, delegation, and performance tools in their workplaces. A significant shift occurred in how participants understood leadership. Leaders moved from viewing leadership primarily as positional authority to recognising it as behavioural influence, shaped by consistency, communication, and personal conduct. Delivered at scale across multiple cohorts and agencies, the program established a shared leadership language and a common behavioural baseline across participating organisations, supporting stronger alignment and more effective collaboration across the public sector.

We believe leadership development in complex environments is not about importing generic frameworks. It is about translating proven leadership principles into local context and building practical capability at scale. This engagement reinforced that when leaders are provided with practical, workplace-ready tools, structured reflection, opportunities to practise and receive feedback, and culturally relevant learning experiences, meaningful and sustainable change occurs. 

Altis has a further 11 delivery days already confirmed for 2026 and looks forward to continuing this partnership to support the next phase of leadership capability development across the Papua New Guinea public sector.

Unlock your leadership potential with Altis

The capability uplift achieved across Papua New Guinea’s public sector can be replicated for any organisation looking to strengthen leadership at scale, build a shared behavioural culture, and equip leaders to perform in complex, highaccountability environments.

For more information about this project or to learn how Altis can help your team develop practical, lasting leadership capability, contact us today.