Innovating leadership methods, improving leadership capacity and fighting strength of Cao Bang Provincial Party Committee

1- After 95 years of construction, development and growth, innovation in leadership and governance methods has always had an important position and role in the leadership and governance activities of the Party. President Ho Chi Minh - the person who directly founded, organized, educated and trained our Party mentioned in many articles about cadre work and building the Party's cadre team. He often used the terms: Leadership, governance, working style... to refer to the Party's leadership and governance methods to be effective and efficient and determined that this is the "correct political path", making our Party truly "ethical, civilized", becoming a loyal representative of the interests of the working class, the working people and the nation.

At the 6th Central Conference, Session VI (March 1989), our Party officially used the concept of "Party leadership method" as the totality of ways, forms, methods, regulations, rules, processes, working style... to influence the State and society in order to successfully implement the Party's platform, guidelines, resolutions and leadership policy contents. The core content of the Party's leadership method is clearly defined in the Platform for national construction in the transitional period to socialism​​​​ h i (Supplemented and developed in 2011). In the Documents of the 13th National Party Congress (2021), the Party uses the concept of "the Party's leadership and governing method" to emphasize the Party's leadership method in the condition that the Party is the ruling party, the Party has both the right to lead and must be responsible for its leadership; emphasizing that the Party's focus of governing is on the State.

2- Cao Bang is a mountainous province in the northern border of the country, with a total natural land area of ​​6,724.6 km ² , manage management, protecting the border area of ​​over 333km bordering China; has an important position in national defense - security and protecting national sovereignty and borders. As of the end of March 2025, the Cao Bang Provincial Party Committee has 15 affiliated Party Committees, 519 grassroots Party organizations with 63,522 Party members. Deeply aware of the important role of innovation and improving the effectiveness of the Party's leadership and governance methods; inheriting the experience and achievements from previous terms, in recent years, the Provincial Party Committee has always determined that innovation in the Party's leadership and governance methods is one of the decisive factors for the work of building the Party, the government and organizations in the political system, and is the "key" to stable development in the locality. It can be affirmed that the Cao Bang Provincial Party Committee has effectively implemented the Party's leadership and governing methods, without making excuses, doing things on behalf of others, or loosening the Party's leadership with many outstanding and clear points.

Effectively implement leadership methods through orientation, policies and major initiatives

To innovate the leadership method in accordance with the Central Party's policy, the Cao Bang Provincial Party Committee actively perfected the political system to ensure the Party's organizational and operational principles; actively concretized and led subordinate Party committees to effectively deploy the goals, tasks, and solutions to implement the Central Party's and Provincial Party Committee's directives, resolutions, projects, and conclusions into action programs and implementation plans suitable to practical conditions and in the direction of clearly defining policies and guiding viewpoints; and clearly defining the responsibilities of collectives and individuals in the implementation organization. Thereby, the political mettle, thinking, leadership capacity, and fighting strength of Party committees and organizations were gradually improved.

Implementing Resolution No. 28-NQ/TW, dated November 17, 2022, of the 13th Central Executive Committee, "On continuing to innovate the Party's leadership and governance methods over the political system in the new period", the Cao Bang Provincial Party Committee has concretized, developed and issued an Action Program and Implementation Plan to soon put the Resolution into practice. The Provincial Party Executive Committee has focused on specifying in more detail in the working regulations the content regulating the relationship between the Party Committee and the government in leading and directing socio-economic development, especially clearly identifying particularly important and sensitive issues, key programs and projects, mechanisms and policies with wide scope of influence and great impact...; thereby creating flexibility for the People's Council and the People's Committee of Cao Bang province to perform the tasks of the local authority and state administrative agency, while fully performing its comprehensive leadership function on important issues, without "encroaching", without making excuses, doing things on behalf of, and without loosening the leadership of the Party Committee. Major policies of great importance in the socio-economic development of the province, such as identifying 3 breakthrough contents (developing tourism - services, smart agriculture and agriculture towards the production of endemic goods associated with processing, border gate economy); 3 key programs for the 2020 - 2025 term (developing infrastructure, building and innovating mechanisms and policies to improve the investment and business environment, attracting strategic investors to invest in Cao Bang province, building a team of key officials and improving the quality of human resources); The Cao Bang Provincial Party Committee has promoted collective intelligence in researching, discussing and agreeing on major policies and orientations, and the Cao Bang Provincial People's Council and People's Committee have prescribed and implemented them. With the above policies, the province's economy has been led to develop dynamically and in the right direction, gradually exploiting and promoting the potential and strengths of the locality.

The Standing Committee and the Standing Committee of Cao Bang Provincial Party Committee regularly give opinions and major orientations on the programs and contents of activities of the Vietnam Fatherland Front and socio-political organizations; focus on promoting the role of the Vietnam Fatherland Front and socio-political organizations, coordinate with authorities at all levels to gather and mobilize the strength of the political system and the entire people to solve new problems, difficult, complicated, urgent and outstanding tasks. Basically, the leadership method and mechanism of Cao Bang Provincial Party Committee towards the government always ensures the principle that the Party Committee leads with major policies and orientations, the government concretizes and implements according to the mechanism of "the Party leads, the State manages", both avoiding the situation of making excuses and doing things on behalf of others, not loosening the leadership role of the Party organization, and having innovations suitable to local realities; better promoting the proactiveness and creativity of state management agencies and socio-political organizations.

Effectively implement leadership methods through propaganda, persuasion and mobilization.

Thoroughly grasping the viewpoint that "propaganda and mobilization are effective tools and sharp weapons in Party building work", the Cao Bang Provincial Party Committee always pays attention to and focuses on innovating leadership methods through propaganda, persuasion, and mobilization of organizations in the political system and the people to agree, support, and actively implement the Party's guidelines and policies and laws of the State. The Cao Bang Provincial Party Committee has issued and well implemented the project on political work, ideology, political theory, protecting the Party's ideological foundation, and fighting against erroneous and hostile viewpoints. In addition, the Party Committee has done a good job of propaganda and education on traditions; oriented the organization of commemorative activities, holidays, events, and outstanding political tasks of the country and the province; Proactively implement Conclusion No. 01-KL/TW, dated May 18, 2021 of the Politburo, "On continuing to implement Directive No. 05-CT/TW "On promoting the study and following of Ho Chi Minh's ideology, morality and lifestyle", in conjunction with implementing Conclusion No. 21-KL/TW, dated October 25, 2021, of the 4th Central Conference, 13th tenure and effectively resolve difficult, prominent and pressing issues in localities, agencies and units. Well organize political and ideological activities on the content of articles by General Secretary To Lam, works by late General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong, creating consensus in awareness of new issues in Party building and the political system in the current revolutionary period.

The Cao Bang Provincial Party Committee promptly deployed and creatively and effectively applied the Party's guidelines and policies, the State's policies and laws on mass mobilization work; issued and implemented directives and projects of the Standing Committee of the Cao Bang Provincial Party Committee on ethnic and religious work; promoted the emulation movement "Skilled mass mobilization"; paid attention to implementing well the Grassroots Democracy Regulations and the coordination regulations between organizations in the political system on mass mobilization work; proactively coordinated to resolve complicated issues that arose; organized regular and periodic meetings and dialogues between leaders of Party committees and authorities at all levels and the people. The highlight in recent years has been the effectiveness of propaganda, mobilization and persuasion of the people to support the policies and guidelines for site clearance of a number of major projects of the province, such as the Southern Road Project of the New Urban Area of ​​the City (now Vo Nguyen Giap Street, Cao Bang City); Cao Bang Provincial Border Gate Economic Zone Project; Dong Dang (Lang Son province) - Tra Linh (Cao Bang province) expressway project...; actively participating in the implementation of the Program to eliminate temporary and dilapidated houses, currently the whole province has basically supported the elimination of temporary and dilapidated houses.

Effectively implement leadership methods through party organizations and party members operating in organizations of the political system and through organizational and personnel work.

Clearly identifying the grassroots party organization as the foundation of the Party, the political nucleus at the grassroots level; the contingent of cadres and party members has a direct role and is the fundamental factor determining the leadership capacity and fighting strength of the grassroots party organization, the Cao Bang Provincial Party Committee focuses on innovating the leadership method through the party organization and party members operating in organizations of the political system, including strengthening the review, adjustment and supplementation of the working regulations of the Party Committee, promptly concretizing the regulations of the Central Committee on functions, tasks, powers, working relationships, implementation processes; overcoming the situation of duplication, overlap, omission or unclear functions and tasks. The innovation of leadership methods associated with the arrangement of the apparatus of the political system to be streamlined, effective and efficient in the spirit of Resolution No. 18-NQ/TW, Resolution No. 19-NQ/TW of the 12th Central Executive Committee has achieved important results, especially the innovation and improvement of the organization of types of grassroots party organizations in sync with the innovation and arrangement of the apparatus of the political system and personnel work. Implementing Conclusion No. 09-KL/BCĐ, dated November 24, 2024, of the Central Steering Committee summarizing the implementation of Resolution No. 18-NQ/TW, dated October 25, 2017, of the 12th Central Executive Committee, the Standing Committee of the Cao Bang Provincial Party Committee has directed relevant agencies and units to develop a project on the arrangement and merger of the apparatus, thereby ending the activities of party delegations, party executive committees under the Provincial Party Committee, the Party Committee of the Bloc of Agencies and Enterprises of Cao Bang Province; Establish 2 grassroots Party Committees; merge 4 pairs of departments, 2 advisory agencies to assist the Provincial Party Committee, restructure the organization, apparatus, functions and tasks of 1 unit. Currently, the Standing Committee of the Cao Bang Provincial Party Committee is directing the implementation of the Project to rearrange commune-level administrative units, implement the 2-level local government model, streamline the apparatus to operate effectively, efficiently and effectively according to the direction of the Central Government.

To improve the quality of organizational work and cadre work, Cao Bang Provincial Party Committee directed the acceleration of major programs and projects, such as the Action Program on strengthening and consolidating grassroots party organizations and improving the quality of party members in the new period; the Program on building a team of key cadres at all levels, especially at the strategic level, with sufficient qualities, capacity and prestige, equal to the task; the Project on improving the quality of the team of leaders and managers at all levels in Cao Bang province for the period 2021 - 2025; the Directive on strengthening leadership in implementing cadre work for Mong, Dao, San Chi, Lo Lo and other ethnic minorities in Cao Bang province for the period 2021 - 2025... Cao Bang Provincial Party Committee directed to strictly implement the work of planning, appointing and rotating cadres; Detect, select, arrange, and assign cadres with strong political will, innovative thinking, outstanding capacity, and young cadres to leadership and management positions at all levels; strengthen the review, adjustment, supplementation, and completion of regulations on cadre standards and cadre evaluation; complete the set of criteria for evaluating and classifying leaders and managers in a consistent, continuous, and multi-dimensional manner, associated with improving the quality of building and organizing the implementation of individual action programs; specify criteria for evaluating the quality of party members according to each type of grassroots party organization; strengthen internal political protection work; orientate to successfully organize the Competition for excellent leaders and managers at the department level in 2024. Currently, 100% of key cadres at the provincial level have university degrees or higher, 100% have advanced political theory qualifications; 84.9% of key commune-level cadres have university degrees or higher, 91% have intermediate political theory qualifications.

The administrative reform work in the Party has been promoted. The Standing Committee of Cao Bang Provincial Party Committee has issued a Directive on strengthening leadership and direction in implementing administrative reform in Cao Bang province for the period of 2021 - 2025; Project on administrative reform in Party agencies, Vietnam Fatherland Front Committee and socio-political organizations in Cao Bang province for the period of 2022 - 2025...; initially creating synchronization in the entire political system, unifying and connecting administrative reform of state agencies with administrative reform of Party agencies, Vietnam Fatherland Front Committee and socio-political organizations.

Promoting the role and responsibility of setting examples of cadres and party members

Along with the innovation of leadership methods of Party committees at all levels, the work of innovation, improving the quality of activities of the political system at the grassroots level, promoting the role and responsibility of setting examples of cadres and party members has received special attention from the Cao Bang Provincial Party Committee, focusing on measures to promote the role of cadres and party members; continuing to review, supplement and perfect regulations on the responsibility of setting examples of cadres and party members. Promoting responsibility, especially of leaders, managers, heads of organizations in the political system, in conjunction with promoting the study and following of Ho Chi Minh's ideology, morality and style according to the breakthrough content in the 2020 - 2025 term "proactive, responsible, saying goes hand in hand with doing, fighting against the mentality of waiting and relying on others"; effectively implement Project No. 03-DA/TU, dated July 15, 2021 of the Standing Committee of the Cao Bang Provincial Party Committee on improving the quality of party members and admitting new party members in the period of 2021 - 2025; promptly detect and correct unexemplary behavior of cadres and party members; strictly handle cadres and party members who violate the law. Party committees and grassroots party organizations focus on innovating and improving the quality of party cell activities; continue to promote extensive political activities with the theme of "self-examination, self-correction", resolutely fight against and strictly handle signs of degradation in political ideology, ethics, lifestyle, "self-evolution, self-transformation"; develop party members to ensure quantity and quality; proactively review, screen, and remove unqualified party members from the Party. The highlight in recent times is the effective implementation of the model of "4-good Party Cells" and "4-good Party Committees" ⁽¹⁾ , making promoting the role and responsibility of Party members to set an example a voluntary and regular activity and a cultural habit of each person, the higher the position, the more exemplary one must be, creating a spread from top to bottom, contributing to firmly consolidating the people's trust in the Party. Since the beginning of the term, over 8,630 new Party members have been admitted; every year over 90% of grassroots Party organizations have fulfilled their tasks well; reviewing and screening 805 Party members, contributing to enhancing the Party's prestige.

Implement well the Party's inspection, supervision and discipline work.

Identifying the important role of inspection and supervision work as not only a step in the leadership process, but also one of the main leadership methods of the Party, the Cao Bang Provincial Party Committee focuses on innovating and improving the effectiveness and efficiency of the Party's inspection, supervision and discipline work. The Standing Committee of the Provincial Party Committee and the Inspection Committee of the Cao Bang Provincial Party Committee have issued many documents on inspection and supervision work, focusing on reviewing, researching and promulgating guidelines for the overall framework of inspection and supervision work to systematize and close the inspection and supervision process to ensure that inspection and supervision conclusions are monitored and processed to the end. The content of inspection and supervision has a focus and key points associated with political tasks, focusing on key programs and breakthrough contents to implement resolutions of Party congresses at all levels; implementing the announcement of conclusions after inspection and supervision; the responsibility of setting an example for leaders in performing assigned duties and tasks; Conduct inspections when there are signs of violations against party members who show signs of degradation in political ideology, morality, and lifestyle, and resolutely enforce discipline against party organizations and party members who violate the law. The coordination between the Party's inspection and supervision with the inspection work and the investigation, prosecution, and trial agencies is increasingly tight and effective; avoiding duplication and overlap. From 2020 to the end of March 2025, Party committees at all levels conducted inspections of 4,779 party organizations and 11,059 party members; supervised 2,506 party organizations and 5,985 party members; enforced discipline against 5 party organizations (3 reprimands, 2 warnings) and 578 party members (282 reprimands, 230 warnings, 9 dismissals, 57 expulsions). Inspection committees at all levels inspected 8 party organizations and 88 party members when there were signs of violations; inspected the implementation of inspection and supervision tasks, enforcement of discipline within the Party and party finances for 4,214 party organizations; supervised 1,601 party organizations and 2,842 party members; and disciplined 387 party members (92 cases were reprimanded, 78 cases were warned, 1 case was dismissed from office, and 216 cases were expelled).

Cao Bang Provincial Party Committee always pays attention to directing the synchronous implementation of solutions to combat corruption and negativity, considering this a regular task, playing an important role in Party building and political system building. Establishing and promoting the effectiveness of the provincial steering committee on corruption prevention and combat, waste and negativity. Up to now, no cadres, party members, civil servants and public employees in the province's political system have been found to be involved in major cases monitored and handled by the Central Steering Committee on corruption prevention and combat, waste and negativity.

However, the implementation of the leadership and governance methods of the Cao Bang Provincial Party Committee still reveals some limitations, such as the completion of regulations and compliance with working regulations of some Party Committees is still not strict, there is still a situation of interference in the management and operation activities of the government; administrative reform; the working style and methods of some Party Committees and governments are still unscientific, slow to change, not keeping up with the development trend of the society which is changing rapidly and increasingly dynamic; there are still a number of cadres and Party members who have not strictly complied with working regulations, words do not match actions, and have degraded in ethics and lifestyle.

3- To continue successfully implementing the Party's policy of innovating leadership and governance methods to meet the urgent requirements of the new revolutionary stage, on the basis of promoting the achieved results and thoroughly overcoming limitations, in the coming time, the Cao Bang Provincial Party Committee has identified a number of key tasks and solutions as follows:

Firstly, continue to promote innovation in the leadership methods of Party committees in the political system in conjunction with implementing Conclusion No. 21-KL/TW, dated October 25, 2021 of the 13th Central Executive Committee on promoting Party building and rectification and the political system; resolutely prevent, repel, and strictly handle cadres and Party members who have degraded political ideology, ethics, lifestyle, and manifestations of "self-evolution" and "self-transformation". Take the motto of "self-reflection, self-correction" as a fundamental measure to have a profound and consistent impact in innovating the Party's leadership and governance methods from the provincial to grassroots levels.

Second, comprehensively review, adjust and supplement the working regulations of Party committees, agencies, organizations and units in the political system at all levels after rearranging the organizational apparatus and administrative units towards innovating working methods, ways, and operating mechanisms scientifically, substantially and in accordance with principles, strictly regulating tasks, powers, relationships, and working processes, thoroughly overcoming the situation of making excuses, doing things on behalf of others, violating the principle of democratic centralism, imposing or loosening the leadership role of Party committees and organizations, associated with promoting administrative reform, applying information technology, and digital transformation in agencies and organizations of the political system.

Third, continue to innovate and reorganize the political system to be lean, compact, strong, and operate effectively, efficiently, and effectively, and improve the quality of the staff, especially key leaders at all levels. Prioritize resources for training and fostering staff; continue to adjust mechanisms and policies to attract and reward high-quality human resources in accordance with reality to create a source of staff with sufficient qualities, capacities, and qualifications to meet the requirements and tasks in the new situation.

Fourth, continue to innovate thinking, leadership methods, and working style; perfect regulations and promote the exemplary responsibility of cadres and party members, especially leaders, managers, and heads, in association with studying and following Ho Chi Minh's ideology, morality, and lifestyle. Party committees, party organizations, and party members must promote the spirit of self-awareness, self-examination, self-criticism, and criticism, and seriously cultivate and train political qualities, morality, and lifestyle. Timely reward exemplary and exemplary collectives and individuals of party members. Detect and correct unexemplary behavior of cadres and party members; strictly handle cadres and party members who violate the law.

Fifth, develop and perfect regulations, rules and procedures to tighten discipline and order, improve the effectiveness and efficiency of inspection and supervision work. Conduct extensive supervision, focused and key inspections; focus on inspecting and supervising party organizations, leaders and key cadres; proactively prevent and stop shortcomings and violations of party organizations, cadres and party members early, not allowing small violations to accumulate into major ones.

Facing a new historical moment with many new opportunities and challenges, the Cao Bang Provincial Party Committee continues to make efforts and determination to innovate more strongly the methods of leadership and governance, improve the leadership capacity and fighting power of grassroots party organizations and the quality of party members throughout the Party Committee, building a truly clean and strong Party Committee; Build Cao Bang into a dynamic and developed province, contributing to the whole country moving steadily into the era of strong, prosperous development of the nation./.

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(1) 4 good things include: completing political tasks well; good quality of living; solidarity, good discipline; good officials and party members

Source: https://tapchicongsan.org.vn/web/guest/thuc-tien- Kinh-nghiem1/-/2018/1122302/doi-moi-phuong-thuc-lanh-dao%2C-nang-cao-nang-luc-lanh-dao-va-suc-chien-dau-cua-dang-bo-tinh-cao-bang.aspx