As part of its Capacity Building programme, the WCO organized a Leadership and Management Development (LMD) workshop from 12 February – 2 March in Brasilia, Brazil.  Twenty senior and middle managers of the Secretariat of the Federal Revenue of Brazil (Receita Federal) had the opportunity to strengthen their leadership and management capacities, as well as their personal effectiveness to drive reforms within their organisation.

During the workshop the participants demonstrated a high level of commitment to their organization, willingness to participate, and great enthusiasm for the activities and topics that were addressed during the two weeks.   The participants were very interested in all the topics covered in the workshop but the one that drew the most interest was on enhancing self-knowledge. The LMD workshop confirmed and reinforced what many participants already perceived as a missing link, namely that self-knowledge, self-management and really understanding the members of the team are critical attributes of a leader.  The participants also confirmed that the scope of the LMD workshop on the human/leadership side plays an important role on the road to sustainable reform and modernization of their administration.

The opening and closing ceremonies of the workshop were attended by the Secretary of Receita Federal Mr. Ronaldo Medina. He stressed the importance of improving leadership and management skills for driving the Secretariat of the Federal Revenue reforms and expressed the commitment of the federal presidency to these types of event.  He stated that the Federal Revenue of Brazil considers the development of leaders as fundamental for the future. During the closing ceremony, participants shared their personal “take-aways” from the workshop.

The LMD workshop was made possible thanks to the financial support of the China Customs.  For more information on the WCO Leadership and Management Development Programme, please contact Capacity.Building@wcoomd.org