Leadership Lessons with Jess Frost, Partner and co-head of PA, Headland Consultancy

Managing Partner at Hanson Search, Janie Emmerson, sat down with Jess Frost, Partner and co-head of PA at Headland Consultancy, to discuss the evolving demands of leadership in public affairs, why curiosity and adaptability matter more than ever, and how EQ is shaping modern leadership.

How did you get into public affairs and politics?

I’ve always been a bit of a politics nerd. I was seven when the 1990 Tory leadership contest happened, and I remember talking to my mum about it at the dinner table. That interest stayed with me through school and university, where I studied history and politics.

I didn’t really know what my options were after I finished my studies. I knew I didn’t want to become a politician and careers advice at the time was very focused on law or banking. I applied for an internship at Lexington just before my finals and was offered a six-week placement. Within two days, I knew I’d found what I wanted to do. It brought together everything I loved – the media, current affairs and the practical application of what I’d learned at school and university. I stayed for three years, learned on the job, was promoted, then moved to Open Road – which was a new start-up at the time. That gave me early exposure to high-level work, thanks to working closely with senior partners in a growing firm and I’ve stayed in consultancy ever since.

What are the key qualities needed from leaders in public affairs and politics in 2025?

The volatility and uncertainty we’ve had to work through over the past few years mean adaptability is crucial. You can’t rely on past political patterns as you once could. Being curious, questioning your assumptions, and being willing to take in information from unconventional sources really matters. That includes developing a multi-party mindset. Right now Labour networks are critical. But engagement with the Conservatives, the Lib Dems, Reform and others still matters. It’s no longer just about who is in power. The ecosystem is wider, campaigners, civil society, media and academia, they all play a role in shaping decisions. Understanding how ideas move through this ecosystem is key.

Internally, leaders need to help their teams build meaningful, varied careers. That means giving people room to grow, rewarding strengths and helping everyone be well-rounded advisors. It also means managing generational shifts in workplace expectations. Talent today rightly expects a reciprocal relationship, they want to know what they’ll get in return for their effort.

What are the key challenges you’re facing as a leader, and how do you navigate them?

In consultancy, one of the main challenges is helping teams stay motivated and fulfilled while navigating constant change. Prioritisation becomes a challenge, deciding which projects to pursue that will shape how we’re perceived in the market, while still meeting the everyday demands of client work. The industry also shifts politically. As governments change, firms seen as close to the previous party often recede while others move into the foreground. We have to keep track of what competitors are doing and stay clear about our own positioning.

Internally, we’re also navigating a generational shift in expectations. Today’s junior talent want to understand their career path and purpose. Leading through that change requires emotional intelligence and the ability to bring diverse perspectives together in a way that feels authentic.

How important is public affairs representation at board level from your perspective?

Representation at the most senior level is absolutely critical. With crisis work I’ve seen that organisations with communications or public affairs represented at C-suite level are more agile, sensitive and effective in how they respond. The pandemic was a turning point for the industry. State involvement in private enterprise reached levels we hadn’t seen since wartime. That brought public affairs into the spotlight. It became clearer that public affairs is a strategic tool to help companies manage the impact of policy and regulation, both of which can either expand or constrain a business’s operating environment. The pandemic demonstrated how vital public affairs is to those who previously hadn’t seen that relevance. That said, PA is still structured differently across companies, sometimes it sits in corporate comms and sometimes in legal or strategy. It doesn’t always need a single Chief Political Officer, but it must have senior-level representation to be effective.

How do you see the public affairs market evolving over the next five years?

I think we’ll see more emphasis on multi-party networks and cross-party engagement. Clients will increasingly need data to understand how stakeholders consume and share information. AI will become standard across the industry, enhancing efficiency and quality, but it won’t replace the human judgment needed to interpret political nuance or emotional undercurrents. Where we add value is in helping clients judge when to use rational arguments, and when more emotional or values-driven arguments will land better. That kind of EQ-led insight will remain central. We’ll also need to get better at using data to map stakeholder ecosystems, understanding who influences whom and how.

What advice do you have for someone looking to build a career in public affairs or politics?

Be relentlessly curious. Don’t just rely on the usual sources of information, seek out different perspectives. Talk to people outside your own bubble and most importantly listen. Also, make sure you nurture  your relationships as this is a people business, within politics and beyond it. But relationships alone aren’t enough – you need to know how to frame arguments, how to anticipate what’s coming, and how to connect the dots between different parts of the stakeholder ecosystem. Finally, don’t be afraid to bring your whole self to the job. The best advisors are those who can draw on their lived experience as well as their expertise. This is a fast-changing world and we need voices who reflect its full complexity.

Whether you’re hiring top Public Affairs talent or considering your next career move, our team would be delighted to support you.

Janie Emmerson is Managing Partner, UK & Europe and Global Public Affairs Lead.

Hanson Search is a globally recognised, award-winning talent advisory and headhunting consultancy. Our expertise lies in building successful ventures worldwide through our recruitment, interim and executive search in communications, sustainability, public affairs and policy, digital marketing and sales.