POLS7160
Theories of Public
Administration
Lecture 10: Leadership in the Public Organizations
Instructor: Dr. Yiran LI
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Outline
• Rainey, H.G., 2014. Understanding and Managing Public
Organizations, 5th Edition. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Ch11.
• Discussion: What is the nature of attribution models of
leadership? What do they help to explain? What don’t
they explain?
•
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Overview
• Chapter 11: Leadership in the Public Organizations
I. Trait Theory
II. Behavior Theory
III. Leadership Style
IV. Developing Trust
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What are the differences between a
manager and a leader?
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What are the differences between a manager and a
leader?
Managers… Leaders…
Bennis & Nanis …do things right …do the right
things
Kotter …cope with …cope with change
complexity
Bennis & Nanus (1997) Leaders : The Strategies for Taking Charge
Kotter, John P. "What Leaders Really Do.” Harvard Business Review (1990)
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What are the differences between a manager
and a leader?
Function Managers Leaders
Deciding what to do Planning and budgeting Setting direction
Creating networks of people Organizing and staffing Aligning people
Ensure that tasks are Controlling and problem- Motivating and
accomplished solving inspiring
Lessons
• In a stable, high-competition environment, good management is
paramount.
• In a dynamic, uncertain environment, leadership is key.
Kotter, John P. "What Leaders Really Do.”
Harvard Business Review (1990)
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Characteristics of High-Performance Leaders
• What do employees admire • According to nonprofit
in a leader? executives, high-
• Honesty (88%) performance leaders are
• Forward-looking (75%) – Honest
• Inspiring (68%) – Faithful to employees
• Competent (63%) – Decisive
– Trusting
– Charismatic
Kouzes, J. & Posner, B. (1995). Light, Paul C. Pathways to Nonprofit
The Leadership Challenge Excellence (Brookings Institution Press,
2002)
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What is the right leadership model?
What are the different ways to understand
leaders and leadership?
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Born Leader?
• Do you believe that leaders are just born or can someone
become a leader?
• Examples of born leaders
• What are their characteristics?
• Gandhi
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mVwCeGxTN-A
“Be the change you wish to see in the world.” -Gandhi
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Leaders You Admire
• Form group
• Name leaders you know or know of and why you admire them
• Write them down on the classroom board.
• Can we define the desirable leadership characteristics
• Common characteristics?
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I. Trait Theory of Leadership
• Trait theory of leadership
• Attempts to identify traits that always differentiate
leaders from followers and effective leaders from
ineffective leaders have failed.
• Main Traits:
1. Drive
2. Desire to lead
3. Honesty and integrity
4. Self-confidence
5. Intelligence
6. Job-relevant knowledge
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II. Behavior Theory Of Leadership
• Theories that attempt to isolate behaviors that differentiate
effective leaders from ineffective leaders.
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Behavioral Theory Of Leadership
Source: Adapted and reprinted by permission of the Harvard Business Review. An exhibit from “How to
Choose a Leadership Pattern” by R. Tannenbaum and W. Schmidt, May–June 1973. Copyright © 1973
by the President and Fellows of Harvard College; all rights reserved.
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Behavior Theory Of Leadership
• Theories that attempt to isolate behaviors that differentiate
effective leaders from ineffective leaders.
• What leadership style (autocratic, democratic, Lassez-Faire, or
Situational) do you think is most effective in the public
organization and why? Does that leadership style lead to
positive results in the workplace? If so, how?
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Tannenbaum and Schmidt Hypothesis
• Appropriate leadership behavior depends on several variables:
1. Forces within the leader(such as comfort level with the
chosen leadership style)
2. Forces within the employees (such as readiness to assume
responsibility)
3. Forces within the situation (such as time pressures).
• Tannenbaum and Schmidt proposed that managers should
move toward more employee-centered styles in the long run
because of the positive influence such behavior would have of
the following: the motivation, decision quality, teamwork,
morale, and development of employees.
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OK, is that all?
Or, Are there other unique qualities of leaders? And their
interaction with their follower?
Dyadic Relationships
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III. Leadership Style
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Charismatic Leadership
• A charismatic leader influences followers by:
• Stating a vision that provides a sense of community by
linking the present with a better future.
• Communicating high expectations and expressing confidence
that followers can attain them.
• Conveying, through words and actions, a new set of values,
and by his or her behavior setting an example for followers
to imitate.
• Making self-sacrifices and engaging in unconventional
behavior to demonstrate courage and convictions about the
vision.
The role of emotions
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The Speech that Made Obama President
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Visionary Leadership
“A vision should create enthusiasm, bringing energy and
commitment to the organization.”
• The key properties of a vision are inspirational possibilities
that are value centered, realizable, and have superior
imagery and articulation.
• Visionary leadership
• The ability to create and articulate a realistic, credible,
attractive vision of the future that grows out of and
improves upon the present
• Example: Martin Luther King "I have a dream"
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vP4iY1TtS3s&ab_chann
el=RAREFACTS
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How great leaders inspire action | Simon Sinek
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Transactional Leaders versus Transformational
Leaders
• Transactional leaders
• Leaders who guide or motivate their followers toward
established goals by clarifying role and task requirements.
• Transformational leaders
• Leaders who inspire followers to transcend their own self-
interests for the good of the organization and are capable of
having a profound and extraordinary effect on followers.
• Transactional and transformational leaderships are not
opposite.
• Transformational leadership build on transactional one.
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An Inconvenient Sequel Truth to Power
• What does it take to
transform?
• Inspire followers to
transcend their own
self-interests for the
good of the public
• Have a profound and
extraordinary effect on
followers.
• But it is not an easy
process
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Interaction with Followers
The Importance of Trust
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IV. Developing Trust
• Most people expect that the first step of taking an organization
from good to great is to set a new vision and strategy, new
direction, and to get people to rally behind this new direction,
when actually, this is not the case. There are three easy truths
that leaders who go from good to great understand.
• What are these three truths?
• What are some other truths that could be included, besides
these three?
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Developing Trust
• Only 36% of employees trust senior management to
communicate effectively.
• This drops to only 26% of employees with more than 15 years'
experience.
• Only 53% felt their organisation did a good job of keeping
employees informed.
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Developing Trust
• The three truths that lead leaders from good to great are:
1. Beginning with “who” instead of “what” can make changing
the world much easier.
2. If you have the right people in your company, the problem of
motivation and managing the people goes tends to go away.
3. If you have the wrong people working for you, you will never
have a GREAT ORGANIZATION no matter how you look at it.
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