Understanding Leadership

• Leadership involves inspiring and influencing others towards shared goals through trust, collaboration, empowerment, and growth

Key Elements of Leadership

• Inspiration motivates people to work without supervision
• Influence ensures people move in the right direction
• Shared goals align everyone's efforts
• Trust and collaboration are built through listening, respect, and teamwork
• Empowerment and growth involve helping others improve and facilitating knowledge transfer

Leadership Defined

• Leadership is the ability to inspire and motivate others towards a common goal and influence them with trust and clear direction
• It fosters collaboration, empowers growth, and ensures everyone's efforts contribute to success, driving meaningful change

Perspectives on Leadership

• Some believe leaders are born with inherent qualities like confidence, charisma, and intelligence
• Others believe leadership can be learned and developed over time through communication, problem-solving, decision-making, and emotional intelligence
• Vince Lombardi: "Leaders are made, they are not born"
• John Gardner: "Leadership is a learned process"

Public Sector Leadership

• Public sector leadership guides and inspires people in government to work for the community's benefit, focusing on public service
• It is not limited to high-ranking positions, addressing the problem of public service not fully meeting the people’s needs by prioritizing public interest and inspiring urgent, compassionate action

Challenges in Public Sector Leadership

• Thinking globally and locally
• Competing with the private sector
• Adapting to change

Shifts in Leadership Style

• Old style managers were work/result-oriented, demanding overtime without explanation, and people worked because they had no choice
• New style managers are people-oriented/centered, explaining the importance of projects and offering support, which motivates and inspires teams

Leadership vs. Management

• Leadership involves guiding, inspiring, encouraging innovation, and change
• Management involves organizing, controlling, and ensuring smooth systems and processes

Levels of Leadership

• Strategic leadership involves top leaders making big decisions about the future of the government or organization
• Team leadership focuses on guiding and supporting teams to ensure smooth operations
• Technical leadership involves leaders using their skills to guide teams in completing specific tasks

Leadership Development Strategies in OECD Countries

• Centralized Approach: Leaders are chosen early, carefully trained, and managed by the government
• Market-Based Approach: Less government intervention in recruiting and developing public sector leaders

Examples of Country Approaches

• Germany uses a centralized approach with the Germany Federal Academy (GFA) for PA training new civil servants
• Sweden uses a decentralized/market-based approach where individual agencies manage their leadership programs
• Mexico's civil service has undergone reforms to train leaders for better public services, using a centralized approach

Leadership Models and Theories

• Leadership Trait Theory
• Behavioral Theories
• Contingency Theories

Leadership Trait Theory

• It suggests people are born with leadership traits, which remain consistent throughout their lives
• Great Man Theory: Perfect leaders are destined to be great

Challenges of Defining Leadership Traits

• Flexibility is key, as traits are difficult to define universally
• Culture: Traits valued in one culture may not be as important in others
• Context: Traits that define a good leader can change depending on the situation

Key Traits of Effective Leaders

• Intelligence
• Creativity
• Self-Confidence
• Drive
• Task-Relevant Knowledge
• Credibility
• Motivation
• Flexibility

Personal Traits

• Intelligence enables understanding and analyzing information
• Creativity enables thinking outside the box
• Self-confidence enables trusting oneself and one's abilities
• Drive gives high energy and motivation

Practical & Situational Leadership Traits

• Task-relevant knowledge is being knowledgeable about one's field or industry
• Credibility means being trustworthy and reliable
• Motivation allows adjusting to different situations and needs

Challenges of Trait Theory

• Shift to Behavioral Theories which occurred in the 1950s & 1960s

The Shift to Behavioral Theory

• The shift moved from personality traits to observable actions
• Examples include listening to team members to understand their concerns and encouraging and motivating others to believe in their team’s abilities
• Emphasis on growth-oriented view promotes progress, innovation, and creativity, encouraging feedback and constructive criticism, making leaders effective and efficient

Managerial Grid

• By Robert R. Blake & Dr. Jane S. Mouton
• Two key factors: Concern for People, Concern for Tasks

Five Leadership Styles (Managerial Grid)

• Country Club Style: High concern for people, low concern for tasks
• Impoverished Style: Low concern for people, low concern for tasks
• Middle-of-the-Road Style: Medium concern for people, medium concern for tasks
• Produce or Perish Style: Low concern for people, high concern for tasks
• Team Style: High concern for people, high concern for tasks

Examples of leadership style

• Country Club: Director Maria prioritizes a harmonious work environment but avoids enforcing strict deadlines
• Impoverished: Director James is uninvolved, showing little concern for employees or performance
• Middle-of-the-Road: CEO Karen balances employee satisfaction and efficiency, achieving moderate success
• Produce or Perish: Director Michael is authoritative and results-driven, prioritizing output over employee well-being
• Team: Director Evelyn ensures efficient emergency tasks while maintaining a supportive, collaborative environment

Hersey & Blanchard’s Situational Leadership Model (1970)

• Leadership styles and followers’ readiness
• Directing style (telling) focuses on giving clear, specific instructions
• Coaching style (selling) gives direction with more support
• Supporting style focuses on building relationships and supporting the team
• Delegating style gives full responsibility for tasks with minimal direction or support

Follower Readiness

• Ability vs. Willingness
• Follower Development Stages
  • Low Development (D1): Inexperienced, lacking confidence, needing clear direction and supervision
    • Example: A new government employee needs instructions on basic tasks
  • Moderate Development (D2): Possesses some skills but lacks motivation/confidence, initiative, and a sense of responsibility
    • Example: An employee handles routine tasks but lacks initiative for complex projects
  • High Development (D3): Competent and needs occasional guidance
    • Example: A mid-level worker independently analyzes data and contributes to policy drafting but needs feedback for improvement
  • Very High Development (D4): Highly skilled, self-sufficient, and takes on leadership roles
    • Example: A senior official manages complex legislation and leads critical initiatives