Future Government
What government must become: anticipatory, digital, citizen-centred and capable of governing problems that did not exist when its institutions were designed.
PGT Certifications/Level 5/Leader
PGT 500 · Level 5 · Shape Nations
PGT Leader
Leading National Transformation and Future Government
Twenty days at the summit of the pathway, for those whose decisions set a nation's direction. Leader covers future government, national competitiveness, systems leadership, whole-of-government transformation, economic policy, strategic foresight and legacy — closing with a national transformation master plan.
20
Days · Level 5 of 5
Ten modules across twenty days, working from the widest reference base in the programme — 40+ global and continental sources.
- Course code
- PGT 500
- Primary focus
- National transformation leadership
- Duration
- 20 days
- Modules
- 10 modules
- Body of knowledge
- 40+ references
About the certification
The level where the question
becomes what you leave behind.
Professional transforms an institution. Leader is about the nation those institutions serve — and the horizon beyond any single tenure.
At this level the hard problems are not technical. They are questions of direction: what a country is trying to become, which reforms actually move it there, how to lead across a whole government rather than a single ministry, and how to build institutions that keep performing after the leader who started the work has gone.
Twenty days work through future government, national competitiveness, systems leadership, whole-of-government transformation, economic policy, institutional reform, strategic foresight, national resilience and legacy leadership — the areas where a minister, governor or head of civil service is genuinely tested.
The reference base is the widest in the programme at 40+ sources. It adds OECD Government at a Glance and Trust in Government indicators, UN Human Development Reports, World Bank development and governance instruments, the African Union's Agenda 2063 monitoring framework, African Governance Architecture and AfCFTA implementation resources, and — new at this level — the IMF Fiscal Transparency Code and Public Investment Management Assessment.
Every leader inherits a country in progress. The only real question is what condition it is in when you hand it on.
Learning objectives
- Shape national transformation agendas
- Lead whole-of-government reforms
- Build future-ready institutions
- Improve economic competitiveness
- Influence regional and global governance
Target audience
For those who set a nation's direction
Leader is written for authority whose reach extends beyond a single institution — the people who decide what a country will pursue and what it will leave behind.
Ministers
Political leadership carrying a portfolio and answering for it publicly.
Governors
Sub-national executives responsible for a whole jurisdiction's development trajectory.
Members of parliament
Legislators shaping law, appropriation and the oversight of national programmes.
Heads of civil service
Those responsible for the capability, integrity and continuity of the whole service.
Presidential advisers
Advisers shaping what reaches the highest office and how it is framed when it does.
National planning executives
National planning commission leadership setting and monitoring the development plan.
Development partner country directors
Country leadership of partner institutions aligning support with national strategy.
Where Leader sits
PGT Leader is Level 5 of the five-level PGT pathway, focused on national transformation leadership. Professional transforms an institution; Leader shapes the national agenda those institutions serve, and completes the certification pathway.
Course outline
Ten modules across twenty days
From the shape of future government to the legacy a leader leaves — closing with a national transformation master plan.
National Competitiveness
The determinants of national competitiveness — productivity, investment climate, infrastructure, human capital — and the policy levers that actually move them.
Systems Leadership
Leading where you do not command: aligning ministries, tiers of government, private sector and civil society around a shared national outcome.
Whole-of-Government Transformation
Reform across the entire machinery rather than one institution — coherence, coordination architecture, and the discipline that keeps a national programme moving.
Economic Policy
Fiscal, monetary and structural policy as instruments of transformation, and the trade-offs national leaders must weigh between them.
Institutional Reform
Rebuilding institutions that have stopped performing: mandate, structure, capability, culture and incentives — the work that outlasts any single programme.
Strategic Foresight
Scenario planning, horizon scanning and futures thinking — preparing a nation for conditions that cannot be forecast but can be prepared for.
National Resilience
Building a state that absorbs shocks — economic, climatic, security and health — and continues to deliver for citizens through them.
Legacy Leadership
Integrity at the summit, succession and institutional memory, and the ethical weight of decisions whose consequences arrive long after you leave office.
National Transformation Master Plan
The culminating module: a complete transformation master plan for your own nation, state or sector — vision, diagnosis, priority reforms, financing, delivery architecture and legacy.
Body of knowledge
40+ references
The widest reference base in the PGT programme — because at this level you are expected to know not only what your own system says, but what the world has already learned.
Everything in Professional, carried forward
The full OECD, UN, World Bank, African Union and ISO reference set from Levels 1 to 4 remains in scope — Leader adds the strategic leadership references, national benchmarks and fiscal instruments below.
OECD
Added at Level 5- Government at a Glance
- Trust in Government Indicators
- Public Governance Reviews — country cases
United Nations
Added at Level 5- Human Development Reports
- Global Sustainable Development Report
World Bank
Added at Level 5- World Development Report — latest edition
- Worldwide Governance Indicators
- Global Knowledge for Development
African Union
Added at Level 5- Agenda 2063 Monitoring & Evaluation Framework
- African Governance Architecture
- AfCFTA implementation resources
International Monetary Fund
New at Level 5- Fiscal Transparency Code
- Public Investment Management Assessment (PIMA)
2Foundation
12Executive
20+Practitioner
30+Professional
40+Leader
Learning outcomes
What you leave with
By the end of PGT Leader you hold a transformation agenda for your own jurisdiction and the strategic capability to carry it — through a system, a political cycle and beyond your own tenure.
- Lead national transformation at the highest strategic level
- Build resilient, trusted and high-performing institutions
- Integrate governance, finance, innovation and sustainable development into coherent national strategies
- Deliver long-term public value
- Influence policy and governance regionally and globally
- Leave an enduring legacy of institutional excellence and national prosperity
TN
PGT Leader Certification
Level 5 of the Policy, Governance and Transformation pathway — the highest certification in the programme.
- Course code PGT 500 · primary focus: national transformation leadership
- 20 days · 10 modules
- 40+ references, including IMF fiscal instruments
- Completes the five-level PGT pathway
The pathway
Leader completes the five
Understand. Apply. Design and implement. Transform. Shape nations. Each level is a complete certification in its own right; together they form one continuous pathway.
Great nations are built deliberately
They are built through great policies, effective governance and successful transformation — led by people who chose to learn how. Leader is where that pathway ends and the work it was built for begins.
PGT LeaderYou are here · Shape Nations
Questions
Before you register
How is Leader different from Professional?
Professional is about transforming an institution — portfolio governance, innovation, organisational change, performance excellence. Leader is about the nation those institutions serve: future government, national competitiveness, whole-of-government transformation, economic policy, foresight and legacy.
Must I complete Professional first?
Each level is a complete certification in its own right, and the levels are written for different audiences rather than as a compulsory sequence. Professional prepares you well, but Leader is written for ministers, governors, heads of civil service and their equivalents.
What is the national transformation master plan?
The culminating module of the certification — a complete transformation master plan for your own nation, state or sector, covering vision, diagnosis, priority reforms, financing, delivery architecture and legacy.
Why does the IMF appear only at this level?
Because fiscal transparency and public investment management are national-scale instruments. The IMF Fiscal Transparency Code and PIMA are the tools by which a country's fiscal credibility is judged internationally — which is a Level 5 concern.
Can a state government send a leadership team?
Yes. When a governor and their executive leadership build master plans for the same jurisdiction, the result is a single coherent agenda rather than competing plans. Contact the programme team with the composition of your team.
Twenty days is significant. How is it scheduled?
Scheduling is arranged with each cohort so that leaders can remain in post throughout. Contact the programme team with your calendar constraints and we will structure the cohort around them.