Bank boss fatigued? you should try the public sector

Are senior public managers more resilient than their counterparts in the private sector? This intriguing question comes to mind as a result of two contrasting events. On 2 November, came the story that the Lloyds Banking Group has been thrown into chaos due to its new chief executive, António Horta-Osóri, taking a sudden leave of absence, due to "fatigue" . Meanwhile, the day before, from three former cabinet secretaries appearing in front of the Commons public administration select committee shone the qualities of resilience and sharpness of mind, despite their age - Sir Douglas Wass, who was joint head of the civil service from 1981-1983, started his career in 1947. Wass sat alongside Lord Armstrong, who was head of the civil service between 1981 and 1987, and his successor Lord Butler, who held the post between 1988 and 1998. The three men provided a fascinating glimpse into working practices at the top of government, and the resilience of those doing a job that took up practically all their waking hours. Wass took on the role of cabinet secretary in addition to his existing post as permanent secretary of the Treasury. Asked how he managed the two roles, he said: "You take the work home, you work on Saturdays and Sundays, you have to show great flexibility, whatever job you have in the civil service and being head of the civil service and cabinet secretary was no different. If you can't cope, don't do the job." Armstrong agreed and said one of the necessary qualities for a hugely demanding job, like combining the role of cabinet secretary and head of the civil service, is the ability to switch focus. "You have to be able to switch your attention immediately, 100% from one subject to the other," he said. "But this is a god-given thing; there's no merit in it. You can just can do it or you can't." Armstrong said that when he was cabinet secretary, he worked about 60 hours a week, Monday to Friday. "But you took work away at the weekend as well, so there was quite a lot," he added. Butler, too, worked long hours: "I worked all the time that I hadn't arranged to do something else," he said. The secret of their resilience was, all three men agreed, appointing excellent deputies and delegating. Perhaps the head of Lloyds should have tried more delegation?