Ebook: Public Sector Leadership

This special issue of The Leadership &Organizational Development Journal adoptsas its theme, ‘‘Public sector leadership’’.Many would argue that the turbulence thatcurrently characterises the operatingenvironment of public sector organizationshighlights a need, more than ever before, foreffective leadership. Across the globe publicsector organizations are facing increasingdemands from government and otherstakeholders for accountability coupled withenhanced performance. As a consequence themajority are being forced to radicallytransform the way in which they operate.This in turn has caused many to embarkupon far reaching programmes of change, thesuccess of which is highly dependent uponeffective leadership. Acceptance of thisargument raises a number of questions. Inthe first instance what is meant by effectiveleadership in the public sector? To whatextent does this concern the leadership ofindividuals, groups, organizations, society,ideas and cultures? In what way is effectivepublic sector leadership complicated by thepolitical environment, and the need torespond to and work with the demands andconstraints imposed by government policy?This special issue brings together acollection of papers which engage ininformed debate around these questions, andwhich examine a diverse range of issuesconcerned with the further development ofthe public sector. The topics addressed by theauthors span leadership and managementissues in local government, employeeparticipation in organization change,leadership in education, and linkagesbetween innovation and leadership.At one level it is evident that there aremajor differences in the subjects addressedby each of the contributors. However, atanother, deeper level of analysis, it can beseen that a common theme which providesintegration and unification among the fivecontributions to this special issue is thecritical influence of effective leadership increating a more vibrant and effective publicsector. The first paper by Jean Hartley, ‘‘Leadingcommunities: capabilities and cultures’’,focuses on leadership in local governmentand the concept of community leadership.The paper refers to the UK Government’smodernisation agenda, which argues for anincreased role for local authorities in leadingtheir communities and being responsible forthe social, economic and environmental wellbeingof the locality. The paper highlights theneed to understand the concept of communityleadership, and to understand the skills andother capabilities which will be needed todeliver those aspirations of local leadershipand high quality services frequently referredto by government and the public. In herpaper Jean addresses the issue of how localauthorities might undertake managementdevelopment in order to achieveorganizational culture shifts to supportcommunity leadership. Effective leadership and management inlocal government are further emphasised inthe second paper, which addresses thesubject of absence management. HadynBennett’s paper ‘‘Employee commitment: thekey to absence management in localgovernment?’’ refers to the costlyconsequences of high levels of absence forindividuals and organizations. Within anenvironment of constrained resources andever increasing demands for enhancedperformance, Hadyn presents evidencewhich indicates that much employee absencein local government can be attributed to theadoption of a ‘‘compliance’’ or transactionalapproach to employee commitment bymanagement and employees, and the absenceof shared values between employees and theorganization. In reducing absence it isargued that local government organizationsneed to re-establish, or in some casesestablish, high levels of internalisedcommitment, predicated on shared valuesbetween the organization and the individualand mutual investment and trust by eachparty (management and employees). Those inleadership roles have a vital part to play inhelping to establish this commitment.The importance of employee participationin successful organization change forms thefocus of the third paper in this special issue.Geraldine O’Brien presents arguments whichagain emphasise the critical role played byleaders in managing change. Using a casestudy of an Irish public sector organization,she presents evidence to support theargument that direct participation involvingfront-line staff can play a key role in theacceptance of change and in creating theconditions for employees to make effectivecontributions to their organization.However, this approach places demands onorganizations to adopt a more facilitative andsupportive style of management and to put in place mechanisms that will ensure thatparticipation becomes an integral part of theprocess. Geraldine notes that seniormanagement’s role in this ‘‘bottom up’’change is to specify the general direction andprovide a climate for change as well as tospread lessons from both successes andfailures. The penultimate paper by Rick Rantzexamines the issue of leadership ineducation. The paper investigates the rolesthat public sector college and universitypresidents are expected to perform in thetwenty-first century and identifies thoseexperiences that can help them prepareindividuals to assume these roles. It is notedthat currently colleges and universitypresidents are being presented with aplethora of new social constructs, while atthe same time facing unprecedented rates ofchange and uncertainty in relation toeconomic and technological factors, coupledwith change in the political landscape. It isargued that to complicate the situationfurther, external constituencies haveincreased their demands, viciouscompetition has become commonplacewithin the education sector, and institutionalstress has become mainstay. Adopting a casestudy approach, data are presented whichsuggest that in the current environmentpresidents can no longer view their owninstitutions, the institutions of others, orother outside entities through a single lens ifthey are to keep pace with the range ofcomplexities that accompany rapid economicand technological change. The final paper by Sandford Borins focuseson linkages between leadership andinnovation. Much emphasis has been placedrecently on the importance of innovation inorganizations, with many commenting thatthe choice faced by a large number ofmanagers is ‘‘innovate or die’’. The paperexplores a number of interesting issuesincluding whether or not innovations createleadership capacity for the public sector, howleaders exercising formal authority react toinnovations, and the role that they play increating a climate for innovation.Consideration is given to the nature and roleof leadership in three ideal-types of publicmanagement innovation: politically-ledresponses to crises, organizationalturnarounds engineered by newly-appointedagency heads, and bottom-up innovationsinitiated by front-line public servants andmiddle managers. The paper concludes thatthere exists a strong link between innovationand leadership in the public sector andbottom up innovations occur more frequentlyin the public sector than received wisdomwould have us believe. The individuals whoinitiate and drive these innovations often actas informal leaders. It is noted that thevisibility that they gain and the results theyachieve through their actions frequently leadthem to be promoted to positions of formalleadership. In my role as Editor of this special issue Iam deeply grateful to a large number ofindividuals for the guidance and assistancethat they have provided; each has made aunique and vital contribution to theproduction of the issue. In particular I wouldlike to thank Professor Tony Berry andDr Susan Cartwright for their very helpfulcomments, and Paula Fernandez for herconstant support and quick response toeditorial questions. This special issue wouldnot have been possible without thewillingness of authors to submit papers andthe subsequent co-operation and support ofreferees; to each I would like to express mygratitude for your commitment and hardwork. I hope that all of those who read thisspecial issue find it informative and that itadvances our knowledge and understandingof critical issues associated with effectivepublic sector leadership in our world. Marie McHugh Guest Editor Previously published in: The Leadership & Organization Development Journal, Volume 23, Number 8, 2002