Public Sector Leadership

This book presents tools, techniques, and best practices to develop public-sector leadership. Based on scholarly research as well as the authors’ professional experience as leadership trainers and consultants, it offers guidance and practical know-how for public-sector managers, civil servants and policymakers in public administration on how to create and develop leadership skills and practice. By analyzing the particular nature of political processes and public policy decision-making as well as the complex challenges of public organizations, the authors identify competencies, leadership skills and methods required for successful governance, administration, and management of public organizations. The authors also discuss different leadership styles and philosophies, cover topics such as public sector leadership training of 2020’s, and present case studies on successful public-sector leadership development and future-oriented leadership models. Balancing public-sector leadership theory with practical illustrations and examples, tools and techniques, the book helps managers master the art of public-sector leadership.

This is the first report to examine key leadership issues across OECD Member countries, including the strategies and practices governments are adopting, and the lessons from country experiences so far.

The authors of this book define the issues facing public authorities and organizations in a range of developed nations as they address the challenges of the 21st century. They examine an array of ways leaders across these nations are addressing these challenges. the result is a comprehensive analysis of ways to improve leadership in the public sector and of the role of political and administrative leaders in shaping the future of the public sector. the overriding question addressed by this volume is how public leadership across the globe addresses new challenges (e.g., security, financial, demographic), new expectations of leaders (e.g., New Public Management, multi-sector service provision), and what leadership means in the new public sector.

In view of the approaching age of austerity for the public sector, leadership is likely to continue to become a key theme. This edited volume brings together a host of material from the public sector to analyze the issue internationally. Teelken, Dent & Ferlie lead a team of contributors in examining three key aspects of this increasingly important theme: the meaning of public sector leadership, and how this changes in different contexts the implications for leadership style given the growing role of the private sector the response to the leadership issue from professionals moving into senior management roles. With contributions from respected academics such as Jean-Louis Denis, Mike Reed and Mirko Nordegraaf, this book will be an invaluable supplementary resource for those undertaking studies across public sector management and administration.

Administrative Leadership in the Public Sector is an ideal resource for any Public Administration course involving leadership and public management. Each of the book’s nine main sections begins with introductory text by the volume’s editors, Monty Van Wart and Lisa Dicke, followed by relevant readings. The volume includes some of the most important readings on public leadership published in the last eight decades. More than just an anthology, Administrative Leadership in the Public Sector provides a unique and useful framework for understanding the vast subject of leadership.

Successful change in the public sector can be supported or hindered by political and administrative leadership, individual and group motivation, and the public’s perception of the effectiveness of public officials and government structures. But do the very characteristics of public sector organizations present obstacles to successful transformative change? This book assesses the current state of the literature on leadership and change in government and public policy, and introduces the reader to innovative new ways to demonstrate leadership in times of change. Contributions from accomplished scholars in the field cover the traditional public administration areas of performance and management, as well as the diversity of issues that surround public leadership and change, both domestic and global. Chapters on public sector innovation, performance leadership, governance networks, complexity in disaster management, change initiatives in educational systems and local government, citizen advisory bodies, and gender and race equality, to name but a few, provide important case studies throughout the volume. Leadership and Change in Public Sector Organizations will be required reading for upper level undergraduate and graduate courses in public administration/management, leadership, and public policy analysis.

Six OECD countries are discussed: U.K., U.S.A., Germany, Sweden, Norway and Mexico.