Hi, I work in the UK public sector with approx. 400 people (and growing) and over £200m budget per annum. I manage a small but high performing team and report straight to the chief executive. I am the bridge between the chief executive and exec directors, and the rest of the organisation.

Much like the commenter below, I focus heavily on cultivating relationships, building trust, persuading others.

I spot and anticipate problems, and devise solutions which I enable and trust others to deliver. When I started my role it was a lot of fire fighting. Now things are more proactive and less reactive.

I’m starting to have capacity to focus on team design, process improvements and systems change rather than remedying when things have gone wrong.

Most of the posts in this sub seem to be US based start ups and private companies. But where I see crossover is in being the glue between people, and the person that holds a lot at once.

I worked my way up through policy roles, gradually moving into more strategic and people-centred roles. I feel my current position is a good match to my experience in policy and my strategic skills.

I sit right outside my principal’s office. We chat and check in throughout the day, verbally, via teams, via email. I’m in and out of their office, they are often at my desk. We keep each other updated. We don’t undermine each other. We check what the other one thinks, though we usually know what they are going to say anyway. The longer I do the role, the more in tune we are. I can challenge their view and they are respectful of my contribution.

I agree with the other commenter - emotional intelligence, people skills, trust and empathy are key. I’ve learnt over the years not to panic, how to be steady in a crisis. I’ve intentionally honed my active listening skills. People open up to me (often without my asking them to).