PAD 515 Assignment 4

Role of the Chief of Staff

The Chief of Staff works directly under the City Manager, who is the chief administrative officer in the City.The Chief of Staff provides executive level support to the office of the City Manager.As the Chief of Staff for the City Manager in this City, I was tasked with the duty to develop and implement the Public Leadership Academy, a government project which is grant funded. The development and implementation of the Public Leadership Academy project is key in cultivating good leadership among public leaders.While putting into consideration the mission of the Academy, I came up with a vision for the Academy, and set the goals and objectives of the training.

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Role of the Chief of Staff

Experts in public leadership were consulted and we came up with a public leadership model to be used in training in order to achieve set goals and objectives.The public leadership model describes the type of public leader we intend to have at the end of their training at the Public Leadership Academy. The model contains the leadership theories and styles in public leadership, with which we intend to equip the public leadership trainees.The skills and traits for good quality public leadership which we want our trainees to have at the end of the training are incorporated in this model.

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Public Leadership Theory

Of the leadership theories proposed by various schools of thought, the servant leadership theory best fits the mission of the Public Leadership Academy.This theory describes the public leader as an individual who aspires to serve their followers and the community before they are consciously required to lead(Wart, 2007).The servant leader has a vision for the community and is willing to work with followers and community members to achieve this vision.Training in the Public Leadership Academy will aim at equipping trainees with knowledge and skills to mold them into servant leaders.The community, employees and stakeholders are more likely to embrace a servant leader because of the traits they have and the skills they use in this leadership theory.

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Public Leadership Theory

The servant leadership theory has been seen to be effective from its use by renowned public leaders such as Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King Jr.Public leaders work with and for various parties including the community, stakeholders and employees of the public sector.Leadership in such a diverse population needs a leader who can mobilize the community and stakeholders towards the achievement of a common goal (Rowtz, 2014).The training will seek to instill leadership skills and traits in the trainees, in line with the servant leadership theory.Through servant leadership, the public leader is able to embrace humility and stewardship which are among the most important qualities in public leadership(Wart, 2007).

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Public Leadership Styles

There are several styles of public leadership in existence for use by public leaders.The democratic style of leadership and the consultative style of leadership best fit the mission of the Public Leadership Academy.The democratic style of leadership describes leadership whereby the leader actively involves their followers in their leadership(Gonos et al, 2013).The followers are involved in decision making as their opinion is sought on various matters. The opinion and views of the followers are put into consideration.This leadership style is implemented by leaders through effective communication, integrity and transparency. It fosters a good relationship between the leader and their followers(Gonos et al, 2013).

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Public Leadership Styles

The consultative style of leadership also fits the mission of the public leadership Academy.The trainees will be equipped with the traits and skills necessary to facilitate the use of consultative leadership style.

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Public Leadership Styles

Through the use of this leadership style, leaders are able to get the opinion and views of their followers on various matters before the final decisions are made.This way, the needs of the followers are considered, and the followers are satisfied with the leadership provided by the public leader.This style of leadership enhances the development of good relations between the leader and their followers. The leader therefore, gets maximum support and minimal opposition from their followers(Gonos et al, 2013).This is important in ensuring the success of the leader in delivering public leadership.It is necessary to adopt this style because of the current changes and trends in public leadership.

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Public Leadership Trends

The public leadership environment is dynamic and new trends have emerged.Three trends in public leadership that are likely to be significant in the next decade include:The need to put greater focus on collective rather than individual leadershipThe need to focus more on vertical development rather than horizontal development of leaders.The need to focus more on the need for innovation in leadership development methods.

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Public Leadership Trends

Unlike the leadership in the past, public leadership in the next decade will shift focus from leadership by a single individual to shared leadership whereby other parties are involved(Bolden et al, 2007) .There has been more emphasis on skills and competencies resulting in the horizontal development, while neglecting vertical development which is self-earned (Rowtz, 2014).Vertical development will be required to improve the leadership especially in the current complex environment.There is need to develop leadership development methods through innovation in order to make the suitable in the current and future environment.

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Our Government Leadership

It is evident that the public leadership environment has increased in complexity as compared to the past.There is need to develop leaders who are competent and well prepared to lead in this environment.Training of prospective public leaders and public leaders in leadership is one of the ways to achieve this.The servant leadership theory provides for collective leadership, since followers are involved in leadership.This leadership theory also encourages innovation to enable leadership development as the leader focuses on serving the community and will therefore seek the best methods to achieve this.

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Our Government Leadership

The democratic style of leadership is one of the most successful styles of public leadership. It promotes transparency, accountability and integrity among public leaders.The consultative style of leadership enables direct participation of followers in leadership. It guides policy and decision making and makes followers feel that the leadership is satisfactory.These leadership theory and styles guarantee successful leadership with the achievement of set goals and objectives.They are sufficient to overcome the challenges in the current complex leadership environment and enable leaders to deliver successful and satisfactory leadership.

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References

Bolden R., Gosling J., Marturano A. Dennison P. (2007) A review of leadership theory and competency frameworksGonos J, Gallo P: Model for leadership style evaluation Management, Vol. 18, 2013, 2, pp. 157-168Rowtz, L. (2014). Public Health Leadership Putting Principles into Practice. Jones & Bartlett Learning.Wart, M (2007) Public-Sector Leadership Theory: An Assessment: Public Administration Review March/April 2003, Vol. 63, No. 2

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