SynthesisOpen research Europe2025
Systems Leadership: a qualitative systematic review of advice for policymakers.
Synthesis in Open research Europe, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
1 citing paper in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- The pursuit of equity in COVID-19 policy and policymaking: A qualitative systematic review.Open research Europe · 2025Pooled it
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
2 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Background: 'Systems leadership' research rejects the idea that complex policy problems can be solved by a few heroic leaders in the centre of government or at the top of organisations. Many people need to contribute to systems leadership by collaborating to harness the skills of actors across government and outside of government. At times, this proposition is vague and it is difficult to know who should change or what to do. We searched the academic and grey literature for further advice on how to foster effective systems leadership. Methods: We conducted a qualitative systematic review (2024) of peer reviewed journal articles (Web of Science) and grey literature reports (Policy Commons, Overton). Each text had to inform advice on systems leadership. We used an immersive inductive approach to identify key sources of ideas, highlight common themes, and relate the results to insights from policy theories. Results: 84 texts met the inclusion criteria (39 Web of Science, 34 Policy Commons, 11 Overton), then we included 80 snowballed academic and grey references (total 164). Some relate leadership to complexity theory, but most provide broad accounts of systems leadership that emphasise decentralisation and collaboration. These accounts describe high aspirations and essential skills but limited evidence from activity. Nevertheless, this literature helps us produce a coherent synthesis of common insights and advice on how to foster systems leadership. Conclusions: We identify key features of systems leadership: reject heroic top-down leadership and central control in favour of collaboration across boundaries; develop attributes (e.g. humility), mindsets (e.g. big picture), and skills (e.g. facilitation) to act in complex systems (albeit without a common view on what a complex system is); and, seek organisational and political support for this approach. Some accounts identify barriers to systems leadership and negative experiences, while others redefine such obstacles as learning opportunities.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.