ABSTRACT
Earlier in this book, we examined different perspectives on leadership and how these relate to innovation in the public sector (see Chapter 4). Five different perspectives on leadership were described, and a number of characteristics of each of these were identified. In this chapter, we use these five perspectives to empirically examine public managers’ perceptions of what is important for public innovation. The analysis proceeds by first examining the five types using a theory-driven approach. Some of the leadership types (transactional, transformational, interpersonal, entrepreneurial and network governance) proved to be more robust than others. We then undertook a comparison across the three cities in our survey. This reveals both similarities and differences in terms of which types were seen to be effective in supporting innovation. It also reveals a nuanced set of leadership styles, which include a transformational style, and one that is more dedicated to motivating employees, risk taking and including others in decision making.
