ABSTRACT
At least three new challenging locations for public sector leaders come to mind when thinking about the leadership in a public sector characterized by new forms of public governance. First, with the shift of government’s focus from service delivery to an enabling role, government leaders have to become strategists who can work on important long-term goals that will depend for their success on the actions of citizens, partners and stakeholders in civil society. One of the most important challenges today concerns the creation of sustainable economic growth, which government will often try to do by supporting businesses and creating a business-friendly environment for the private sector. Second, with the rise of the strategic state there has been much rethinking –
especially during the period from 1997 to 2010 – of the aims and methods of government regulation. What has emerged is a concern for ‘better regulation’ and regulatory impact assessments. But we still live in a world where people and organizations do not really like being regulated. The leaders who lead regulatory bodies have to use their organization’s room for manoeuvre and capabilities to find a middle way between regulation being too lenient and too tough. The leadersmay give their attention to building organizational reputations thatmean they are respected for their expertise, and for being fair, independent and objective. Third, however much governments have aspired to reinvent themselves and
become enablers, they are still directly involved in some public service delivery.
In some countries, austerity pressures mean that leaders of public services organizations may face constant pressures to ensure that the services of their organization are designed and delivered efficiently. There may even be an expectation that leaders will drive productivity gains and find ways of ‘doing morewith less’. Leaders of these public services are nowvery frequently faced by requirements to work in partnerships while delivering an efficiency conscious and responsive service. In this chapter we look at each of these three leadership locations in turn.
