Developing Human Capability to Believe in Bhutan

Abstract

The Kingdom of Bhutan is an exemplar of ongoing sustainable transformation. From realising over 20% growth in literacy rates in the last 15 years to sustaining an average economic growth of 7.5% per year since 1980 to becoming the world’s first carbon-negative country with forests covering over 70% of the land, Bhutan quietly continues to lead the way with unique foresight and resilience. This tradition of leadership continued in 2020 when His Majesty, the Fifth King of Bhutan’s urgently called upon Bhutanese civil servants to ‘prepare for the future’ as a ‘self-reliant’ nation. In response, the Royal Civil Service Commission of Bhutan launched a development accelerator called the ‘Nurturing Leadership Program’ which leveraged community-based participatory research methodologies to launch 125 innovation projects and build leadership capacity among over 625 civil servants. In total, 98.6% of more than 3,000 stakeholders surveyed at the end of the program agreed that project efforts positively impacted target outcomes, demonstrating that Bhutan can continue its unique role as a human capability incubator by transforming talent, organisation, leadership and HR into a shared and sustained brand of believe.