Course Description
The role of leadership in the development of effective public management. Topics include leadership styles, motivation of personnel, and the impact of effective leadership in the public service.
Athena Title
LEADERSHIP PUB SERV
Equivalent Courses
Not open to students with credit in POLS 7720
Semester Course Offered
Offered every year.
Grading System
A - F (Traditional)
Course Objectives
Government faces special challenges in retaining and developing excellent leaders and managers. Compared to business firms, government does not invest as much in leadership and management development. In 1989, the Volcker Commission proclaimed a crisis in the federal government, due to the departures and damaged morale of many senior executives. Yet we also know that many excellent leaders and managers work in government, and governments at all levels have programs for leadership development. Scholars and practitioners in public administration also face the challenge of deciding how to make use of the elaborate body of researh, theory, and scholarship on leadership. Most of this material has been developed by researchers and other experts in management and industrial/organizational psychology, who devoted little explicit attention to leadership in government and nonprofit settings. In addition, this literature ranges from arcane academic research to glib aphorisms and anecdotes from practicing managers or purportedly experienced consultants. This diversity arises from the problem that there exists no concensus on how to learn about leadership. The course approaches these challenges for developing leadership skills for public managers in several ways.
Topical Outline
I. Course introduction II. Perspectives on effective leadership behavior III. Specific behaviors for managing relations IV. Participating leadership and delegation V. Sources of power and influence VI. Contingency theories of effective leadership VII. Transformational and cultural leadership VIII. Strategic leadership by executives IX. Leading change in organizations X. Effective, innovative leaders