Guest editorial

Citation

McHugh, M. (2002), "Guest editorial", Leadership & Organization Development Journal, Vol. 23 No. 8. https://doi.org/10.1108/lodj.2002.02223haa.001

Guest editorial

This special issue of The Leadership & Organizational Development Journal adopts as its theme, "Public sector leadership". Many would argue that the turbulence that currently characterises the operating environment of public sector organizations highlights a need, more than ever before, for effective leadership. Across the globe public sector organizations are facing increasing demands from government and other stakeholders for accountability coupled with enhanced performance. As a consequence the majority are being forced to radically transform the way in which they operate. This in turn has caused many to embark upon far reaching programmes of change, the success of which is highly dependent upon effective leadership. Acceptance of this argument raises a number of questions. In the first instance what is meant by effective leadership in the public sector? To what extent does this concern the leadership of individuals, groups, organizations, society, ideas and cultures? In what way is effective public sector leadership complicated by the political environment, and the need to respond to and work with the demands and constraints imposed by government policy?

This special issue brings together a collection of papers which engage in informed debate around these questions, and which examine a diverse range of issues concerned with the further development of the public sector. The topics addressed by the authors span leadership and management issues in local government, employee participation in organization change, leadership in education, and linkages between innovation and leadership.

At one level it is evident that there are major differences in the subjects addressed by each of the contributors. However, at another, deeper level of analysis, it can be seen that a common theme which provides integration and unification among the five contributions to this special issue is the critical influence of effective leadership in creating a more vibrant and effective public sector.

The first paper by Jean Hartley, "Leading communities: capabilities and cultures", focuses on leadership in local government and the concept of community leadership. The paper refers to the UK Government's modernisation agenda, which argues for an increased role for local authorities in leading their communities and being responsible for the social, economic and environmental well-being of the locality. The paper highlights the need to understand the concept of community leadership, and to understand the skills and other capabilities which will be needed to deliver those aspirations of local leadership and high quality services frequently referred to by government and the public. In her paper Jean addresses the issue of how local authorities might undertake management development in order to achieve organizational culture shifts to support community leadership.

Effective leadership and management in local government are further emphasised in the second paper, which addresses the subject of absence management. Hadyn Bennett's paper "Employee commitment: the key to absence management in local government?" refers to the costly consequences of high levels of absence for individuals and organizations. Within an environment of constrained resources and ever increasing demands for enhanced performance, Hadyn presents evidence which indicates that much employee absence in local government can be attributed to the adoption of a "compliance" or transactional approach to employee commitment by management and employees, and the absence of shared values between employees and the organization. In reducing absence it is argued that local government organizations need to re-establish, or in some cases establish, high levels of internalised commitment, predicated on shared values between the organization and the individual and mutual investment and trust by each party (management and employees). Those in leadership roles have a vital part to play in helping to establish this commitment.

The importance of employee participation in successful organization change forms the focus of the third paper in this special issue. Geraldine O'Brien presents arguments which again emphasise the critical role played by leaders in managing change. Using a case study of an Irish public sector organization, she presents evidence to support the argument that direct participation involving front-line staff can play a key role in the acceptance of change and in creating the conditions for employees to make effective contributions to their organization. However, this approach places demands on organizations to adopt a more facilitative and supportive style of management and to put in place mechanisms that will ensure that participation becomes an integral part of the process. Geraldine notes that senior management's role in this "bottom up" change is to specify the general direction and provide a climate for change as well as to spread lessons from both successes and failures.

The penultimate paper by Rick Rantz examines the issue of leadership in education. The paper investigates the roles that public sector college and university presidents are expected to perform in the twenty-first century and identifies those experiences that can help them prepare individuals to assume these roles. It is noted that currently colleges and university presidents are being presented with a plethora of new social constructs, while at the same time facing unprecedented rates of change and uncertainty in relation to economic and technological factors, coupled with change in the political landscape. It is argued that to complicate the situation further, external constituencies have increased their demands, vicious competition has become commonplace within the education sector, and institutional stress has become mainstay. Adopting a case study approach, data are presented which suggest that in the current environment presidents can no longer view their own institutions, the institutions of others, or other outside entities through a single lens if they are to keep pace with the range of complexities that accompany rapid economic and technological change.

The final paper by Sandford Borins focuses on linkages between leadership and innovation. Much emphasis has been placed recently on the importance of innovation in organizations, with many commenting that the choice faced by a large number of managers is "innovate or die". The paper explores a number of interesting issues including whether or not innovations create leadership capacity for the public sector, how leaders exercising formal authority react to innovations, and the role that they play in creating a climate for innovation. Consideration is given to the nature and role of leadership in three ideal-types of public management innovation: politically-led responses to crises, organizational turnarounds engineered by newly-appointed agency heads, and bottom-up innovations initiated by front-line public servants and middle managers. The paper concludes that there exists a strong link between innovation and leadership in the public sector and bottom up innovations occur more frequently in the public sector than received wisdom would have us believe. The individuals who initiate and drive these innovations often act as informal leaders. It is noted that the visibility that they gain and the results they achieve through their actions frequently lead them to be promoted to positions of formal leadership.

In my role as Editor of this special issue I am deeply grateful to a large number of individuals for the guidance and assistance that they have provided; each has made a unique and vital contribution to the production of the issue. In particular I would like to thank Professor Tony Berry and Dr Susan Cartwright for their very helpful comments, and Paula Fernandez for her constant support and quick response to editorial questions. This special issue would not have been possible without the willingness of authors to submit papers and the subsequent co-operation and support of referees; to each I would like to express my gratitude for your commitment and hard work. I hope that all of those who read this special issue find it informative and that it advances our knowledge and understanding of critical issues associated with effective public sector leadership in our world.

Marie McHughGuest Editor