ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the status of public leadership as a field of scholarship, with a focus on its context in the mainstream literature. It provides an overview of recent trends in leadership research and to provide a sense of where public sector leadership theory has been of late. The chapter defines the boundaries and context of public leadership. In defining the broad boundaries of public leadership, Morse, Buss, and Kinghorn note that there are at least three types of public sectors. The chapter presents the 'postmodern' paradigm that is likely to supplement rather than supplant the 'modern' paradigm in the field of organizational leadership. It concludes with a review of the opportunities and challenges for a public leadership research agenda. In addition to public leadership scholarship, enough materials have been generated with a public sector focus that classes in the area are no longer entirely derivative of materials from business, psychology, and education scholars.
