One of the biggest surprises for new APS leaders is this simple truth.
Being a great APS6 will not automatically make you a great EL1.
And being a great EL1 will not automatically make you a great EL2.
That’s not a criticism. It’s a reality of how leadership works in the public service.
Each level is a different role, with different expectations, pressures, and ways of adding value. The mistake many leaders make is assuming they just need to do more of what made them successful before.
In most cases, that’s exactly what holds them back.
Why the Step Up Feels So Hard
At APS6 level, success is often built on:
- Technical expertise
- Reliability and delivery
- Being the person who gets things done
- Solving problems personally
When you move into EL1, and again into EL2, the value shifts.
You are no longer rewarded for being the smartest person in the room or the most productive individual contributor. You are rewarded for how well you:
- Set direction
- Enable others to perform
- Manage complexity and ambiguity
- Influence without authority
- Exercise judgement under pressure
The work becomes less visible, less linear, and more relational.
That can feel deeply uncomfortable, especially if your identity has been built on competence and delivery.
What Actually Changes Between APS6, EL1 and EL2
The APSC Integrated Leadership System makes this distinction clear.
While all levels draw on the same core capabilities, the emphasis changes as you move up.
At EL1, the shift is often from doing to coordinating and enabling.
At EL2, the shift is from managing teams to shaping systems, priorities and culture.
In practice, that means:
- Less time producing outputs yourself
- More time making decisions with incomplete information
- More responsibility for how work gets done, not just what gets done
- Greater exposure and scrutiny
- Broader stakeholder and organisational impact
What worked before can quickly become a bottleneck if you don’t adapt.
The Hidden Risk of Staying the Same
Many new EL1s and EL2s keep operating like high performing APS6s or EL1s because it feels safe.
They stay close to the work.
They jump in to fix things.
They hold onto tasks that should be delegated.
Over time, this leads to:
- Overload and burnout
- Team dependency
- Frustration on both sides
- A sense that leadership is harder than it should be
This is where confidence often wobbles, not because capability is lacking, but because the rules of the game have changed.
How Coaching Supports APS Leaders Through the Shift
Coaching provides a structured, confidential space to recalibrate how you lead.
Not by teaching generic leadership theory, but by helping you think clearly about:
- What your role actually requires now
- Where you are over-functioning or under-leading
- How your strengths may need to be used differently
- What to stop doing, not just what to start
For EL1 and EL2 leaders, coaching often focuses on:
- Developing judgement rather than answers
- Leading through others instead of around them
- Navigating ambiguity and competing priorities
- Building confidence grounded in role clarity, not reassurance
It’s less about fixing problems and more about strengthening how you show up.
A Different Way to Think About Progression
Strong APS leaders don’t just climb levels. They make deliberate shifts.
They let go of parts of their old identity.
They learn to value influence over output.
They become comfortable not being the expert in the room.
That transition is rarely automatic, and it’s rarely something people can do well on their own while carrying a full workload.
Coaching supports that shift by creating space to think, reflect, and experiment in ways that are hard to do inside the day to day noise of government work.
If you’re stepping into, or already operating at, EL1 or EL2 level and things feel heavier than expected, it may not be a capability gap.
It may simply be that the role has changed, and your leadership approach needs to change with it.
Book a 15-minute leadership conversation
Stepping into an EL1 or EL2 role and feeling the stretch?
Coaching gives you a confidential space to think clearly, reset how you lead, and build confidence that fits the role you’re in now, not the one you’ve outgrown.
to explore how coaching can support your transition and help you lead with clarity and impact.