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This paper explores some of the gaps and contradictions that can often be found in public sector leader development approaches and then examines some of the theoretical assumptions related to these gaps and contradictions. The purpose of this examination is to further identify and define some corresponding gaps within public sector leadership development theory, as well as to encourage future theory development.

Using three common examples of contradictions often found within the leadership literature, gaps within public sector leadership development theory are identified and then linked to relevant components of leader development models found within other disciplines. As they were developed in other contexts, these components were then further reviewed to determine their potential applicability in speaking to the gaps often found in public sector leader development theory.

Proposals are made to address some of the common gaps and contradictions often identified in some public sector leader development approaches, along with the detailing of future research directions for the further development of theory.

This exploratory review highlights some of the central assumptions and gaps in the literature for the purpose of clarifying future directions of research into public sector leadership development theory.

The story of the Bangladesh public sector is not a happy one as it has often failed to uphold efficiency and equality in delivering services to the people. Hence leadership has a critical role to play to ensure equality, effectiveness and efficiency. The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the present condition and future prospect of leadership development in the Bangladesh public sector by focusing on the efforts initiated both by the government of Bangladesh and international organizations during the last ten years.

This paper has reviewed available literatures on theories of public sector leadership development and its application in Bangladesh to identify the state and future prospect of public sector leadership development utilizing available theories.

The analysis shows that partisan politics, dominance of generalists, absence of long-range feedback and monitoring systems and lack of efficient and knowledgeable trainers are the major impediments to public sector leadership development. International organizations provide proposals, frameworks, technical assistance along with funds to develop the public sector leaders but in implementing the schemes they have a very limited role in the implementation process.

This paper does not offer much empirical evidence on public sector leadership development in Bangladesh, but creates the platform for further research on public sector training and leadership development with empirical data. Significant variables can be drawn out of this piece of work to design future research on this very important issue.

This paper will help the interested individuals involved in the public sector leadership development in Bangladesh to understand the divergence between the efforts put in by the government and international agencies in developing public sector leadership.

The purpose of this paper is to explore how the competing values framework (CVF) could be used by public service leaders to analyze and better understand public sector leadership challenges, thereby improving their ability in leading across borders and generations.

This paper applies the CVF, originally developed for understanding leadership in the private sector and shows how it can be adapted for analyzing and developing skill in addressing different leadership challenges in public sector contexts, including setting out specific learning exercises.

The paper has four parts. The first provides an overview of the origins, logic, and evolution of the CVF. The second part shows how the CVF is relevant and useful for assessing management and leadership values in the public sector. The third part identifies specific leadership challenges and learning exercises for public sector leaders at different stages of development. The final part concludes by reflecting on the CVF and similar frameworks, and where future research might go.

Because of the chosen research approach, propositions within the paper should be tentatively applied.

This paper provides guidance for the better understanding of complex leadership challenges within the public sector through the use of the CVF.

The social implications of the paper could include the more widespread use of the CVF within the public sector as a tool to lead more effectively.

This paper adapts and extends an analytical tool that has been of high value in the private sector so that it can be used in the public sector.

This paper provides a review of an innovative new leadership programme aimed at senior leaders in the police service and other public sector services. It considers the context and approaches to leadership that underpin the ethos of the programme. It provides a discussion on the learning approach of the programme and how it offers participants opportunities for critical reflection and for learning in collaboration with peers. It then discusses the use of strategic questions to provide practice for the participants in conducting and understanding an evidence‐based project. Through evaluation research it then considers how effective the approach is in terms of leadership development and in particular the application of this learning to the real world.

The purpose of this paper is to develop a research agenda to underpin leadership development activity in the social housing sector, in the light of an identified need for effective leadership in this sector owing to the continual reform and changes it faces.

A literature review is conducted by searching a number of business and management, along with social sciences, databases and texts with the primary focus being leadership and management in social housing. Secondary focus is based around public sector organisations and agencies such as the police and education owing to lack of research in social housing.

There is a pressing need for leadership development in social housing, yet there is a limited evidence base from which to develop effective development interventions. The most relevant models of leadership appear to be those which focus on inter‐organisational and cross‐sector collaboration, but further research is required to develop a clearer picture of the nature of the leadership challenge within this sector.

The paper is only seen as a first stage as it attempts to draw from what has been already published. The paper develops the own research agenda for a second phase of empirical research in order to continue the debate further.

The paper adds to the discussion and debate around leadership in general but more crucially brings to the surface a number of questions not posed previously that involve the starting‐point for detailed empirical research. Relevant case examples exist within the National Health Service and education, but social housing has remained immune from this up until now.

The purpose of this paper is to examine how stewardship of public service renewal and reform is changing and influencing contemporary public leadership.

The literature is reviewed to close the gap between theory and international practice. New evidence from innovation awards, scenario building, surveys, and interviews help demystify leadership dynamics.

International stakeholders remain unconvinced about the role of leadership and claim that public service behaviour cannot be predicted. Scholars maintain that collaborative leadership prevails in thought and practice over the transformational leadership of the New Public Management era. Innovation and stewardship are particularly important aspects of values-based leadership in times of uncertainty. Emerging evidence and patterns of stewardship in public service renewal and reform confirm that “where leaders stand depends upon where they sit”.

Leadership practice is running ahead of theory. Research does not differentiate the roles and impact of leaders at the centre, front, and middle of government. Action research is needed to fill knowledge gaps and make the business case for leadership development.

Role, capacity, and ethical considerations frame the implications for public leaders. Middle managers play a strategic role in networking government for change. Good governance depends upon developing their strategic leadership competencies and values.

In turn, where nations stand on the economic ladder depends upon strategic development of their public service. Turning individual competence into organizational capacity requires institutional change.

Leaders in the middle are increasingly instrumental as change makers and disciples of reform in today's networked government. Harnessing their leadership capabilities is integral to stewardship of public service renewal and reform.

This paper sets out to review leadership development since the inception of the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) in 2001, its developments over the past ten years, and to look at the opportunities and challenges for the future. It considers the new leadership strategy for policing in Northern Ireland.

This paper explores how leadership development has been considered before, during, and after the change process for policing in Northern Ireland. Through synthesis of available information, learning materials and documents, it identifies and reviews the key models, theories and approaches used for leadership and management development within the PSNI and the approach considered necessary for success in the future.

The PSNI has progressed significantly from policing the 30 years of conflict in Northern Ireland, where inward focus was more prevalent than the external partnership and collaborative approach that is needed today and in the future. The change from the Royal Ulster Constabulary to the new Police Service of Northern Ireland required leadership to deliver the transformation required. A new leadership development strategy is vital if operational policing is to continue to enhance public confidence at a time of renewed terrorist threat.

Public sector organisations are currently facing great change in order to ensure they are able to meet the challenges of globalisation, technology, demography and the world financial crisis. Leaders can learn from the experience of the Police Service of Northern Ireland in the transformational change process which took place over the past ten years and how it intends to meet the future challenges facing a smaller service with reduced funding.

This review comes ten years after the establishment of the Police Service of Northern Ireland. It provides insights into the leadership development which supported the transformational change process within Northern Ireland.

The purpose of this paper is to explore the experience of senior leaders who move into the public sector from other sectors of the economy, a process referred to in this paper as inter-sector senior leader transitions. This is a little researched area of public sector leadership yet has significant implications for fundamental public sector reform.

The paper employs an interview design to elicit senior leaders' stories of their transition into the public sector.

The data suggest that successful senior leader transitions are more likely when a set of conditions is met; the leader transitions into CEO role, rather than levels below CEO, ministers provide inter-sector transition support, senior leaders develop responses to stress, senior leaders reject high formalization, their change processes focus on building capacity, and senior leaders confront dysfunctional organizational relationships directly.

The research relies on a relatively small sample. However, access to senior managers at this level can be difficult. Nevertheless, those senior managers who participated were very willing to share their stories.

If public sector organizations are to realize the value of successful leaders from other sectors, they need to invest in structured processes that facilitate the transition. A laissez-faire approach is not viable given the cost of such transitions.

The paper focuses on a little researched area of leadership experience which has significant implications for the development and change of the public sector.

This paper aims to explore a leadership development intervention activity to solve an organisational problem and seeks to identify critical success factors for the design and delivery of such activities.

This is a case study employing a mixed‐method approach within an action research methodology. The participants were a student group of 19, plus the teaching team and client‐training adviser. The project used questionnaires for identifying and ranking critical success factors and focus groups to explore transferability and other issues. These were supplemented by e‐mail and telephone communications.

The critical success factors involved people, task, process, and location and facilities dimensions. Most were deemed transferable, but with certain warnings about key factors.

This is a small‐scale study and issues of transferability of findings are acknowledged. Contextual details are presented to reduce the effect of the limitation.

The findings are of high practical value for leadership development and for organisations seeking new ways of addressing organisational challenges using internal staff.

The paper has value in its practical and theoretical contribution. The identification of critical success factors for such intervention activities is new and the opportunity for application adds further value to the work.

This paper aims to look into the role of transformational leadership and transactional leadership as predictors of employee creativity and organisational innovation. Employee creativity is examined as a potential mediator in the leadership styles–organisational innovation relationships.

A cross-sectional, quantitative design was adopted and structural equation modelling (SEM) techniques were used to analyse data collected from 369 employees working in 39 public coffee enterprises in Vietnam.

Transformational leadership and transactional leadership were significant predictors of employee creativity and organisational innovation. Specifically, transformational leadership was instrumental to employee creativity and organisational innovation while transactional leadership was detrimental to these two variables. Additionally, employee creativity partially mediated the relationships between the two leadership styles and organisational innovation.

Results of this study benefit the management of organisations and policy makers by providing an insight of which leadership style will effectively suit public enterprises to promote employee creativity and foster organisational innovation.

While there is a lack of studies investigating organisational innovation in organisational methods and that the interrelationships between leadership styles, employee creativity and organisational innovation are not fully understood, this study pioneers in examining relationships between leadership styles and organisational innovation that is being mediated by employee creativity. Figuring out that organisational innovation is more likely to be fostered by the positive influence of leadership behaviours and the improvement of employee creativity, in particular, the significant role of employee creativity represents important contributions of the current study.