The delivery and management of public services, historically provided through traditional bureaucratic organizations, today relies on networks of interdependent organizations. Effective and efficient delivery of programs and services through these networks requires interoperable systems. Leading a group of interdependent organizations to create this interoperability requires a different set of skills than those required in traditional bureaucratic organizations and traditional program and service delivery models. Crosby and Bryson describe this setting as “no-one-in-charge, shared-power world,”⁶ where a great number of organizations and groups have only partial responsibility to act on a public problem and share the power required to solve it.

Leaders in this context must understand the challenges of working in networks; they must recognize the complexities inherent in working with many agencies and levels of government to coordinate programs and services. Two fundamental assumptions of traditional leadership literature⁷ do not apply to collaborative settings. First, a leader cannot exert formal authority based on hierarchical rank because the individuals involved are from different organizations. Second, it is very difficult to agree upon a common goal because participating organizations, by design, have different missions, priorities, and, therefore, conflicting goals. Network leaders require boundary spanning skills. They must be skilled at creating the conditions for collaboration across the boundaries of these organizations. They must be able to identify shared opportunities for joint effort, to build energy and interest in working in new ways, and to navigate the complexity of network-based initiatives. They must be capable of drawing together key stakeholders to establish joint agreements about technologies, processes, policies, and practices.

Leaders in this context must understand the challenges of working in networks; they must recognize the complexities inherent in working with many agencies and levels of government to coordinate programs and services in new ways.

Creating interoperable systems across a government enterprise requires leadership that is knowledgeable about the challenges of working in networks and able to navigate the inherent complexities of this environment. Since IT permeates all business functions of an organization, IS leadership requires a holistic cross-functional view of the organization, which poses unique challenges for many chief information officers (CIOs) (Karahanna & Watson, 2006). It is imperative that government leaders recognize the importance of this type of network leadership style and put their support behind those individuals that demonstrate such skills and those programs and policies that support the development of these skills throughout the government workforce.