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Leadership in Public Administration
09 Oct. 2019
Objectives
• Describe the nature and role of leaders in Public
Administration.
• Identify qualities and traits of a good leader.
• Identification of factors and variables influencing
leadership in public administration.
• Styles and strategies of leadership.
• Changing leadership styles with the changing world.
• Leadership is a function of knowing yourself, having a
vision that is well communicated, building trust among
colleagues, and taking effective action to realize your own
leadership potential. (Warren Bennis).
Definitions of Leadership
• The exercise of authority, whether formal or
informal, in directing and coordinating.
• A process of social influence in which a person
can enlist the aid and support of others in the
accomplishment of a common task.
• The process of directing and influencing the task-
related activities of group members.
Definitions of Leadership
• Leadership is defined in different ways but the
elements commonly emphasized are to “guide”,
“direct”, “control” and “influence”.
• Leadership thus connotes not only having the
power and authority but also accountable to the
people.
• Leader rises and falls on the foundation of a
vision and mission entrenched in their personal
core values.
Managerial Leadership
• Leader and leadership are often thought of in the larger
context like, political leader, reformers, prophets, thinkers,
philosophers etc.
• Managerial leadership is the leadership that managers exercise
in organizational situation to achieve its goals. This has
implications:
• First, leadership involves “other people-employees or
followers” willing to accept directions from the leader and
make the leadership process possible.
• Second, leadership involves an Unequal distribution of power
between leaders and group members. Group members are not
powerless but still the leader will usually have more power.
Managerial Leadership
• Where does a manager’s power come from?
The five bases of a manager’s power are:
a) Reward power;
b) Coercive power;
c) Legitimate power;
d) Referent power and
e) Expert power.
Key Elements of Leadership
• Traits • Blue Blood
• Situational interaction • Meritocracy
(R.M. Stogdill "Personal • Elitism
factors associated with • Charisma
leadership).
• Intelligence
• Behavior
• Divine Right/Religion
• Power (Machiavelli)
• Vision and values
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Trait Approach
1. Plato approach of functional specialization on
the basis of virtues
2. Sir Francis Galton's approach of born theory of
leadership in his book “Hereditary Genius” 1869.
observed leadership qualities in the families of
powerful men and it degenerates when a
generation moved from first-degree to second-
degree relatives. Therefore, leadership was
inherited and Leaders were born, not
developed.
Trait Approach
Traits may include:
• Confidence
• Sense of direction (clear goals)
• Human insight
• Discipline
• Interpersonal skills
• Clarity of tasks
• Consistency
• Hard work
• Motivate
• Good communication skills
•
Behavioral Approach
1. Task Oriented behavior: describes how a leader clearly
and accurately communicates with their followers, defines
goals, and determine how tasks are performed.
2. Social Oriented Behavior: indicates the leader's ability to
build an interpersonal relationship with their followers, to
establish a form of mutual trust.
3. B.F. Skinner’s Behavior Modification Theory: The
behavior can be modified with positive stimulants.
4. Three classic style of leadership behavior are:
a) Authoritarian
b) Democratic
c) Laissez-Faire
Situational Theory of Leadership
1. Herbert Spencer and Karl Marx are of the view
that the times situation produce the person and
not the other way around. They believed that
trait and situation interplay to develop a leader.
2. The basic premise of this approach is that
leader’s effectiveness is dependent upon an
appropriate match between the leader’s style
and the degree to which s/he controls the
situation.
Leadership Functions
1. Task-related or problem-solving functions:
Supervising workers, solve problems. The
mangers that focus more on tasks are more
concerned about output.
2. Group or Social functions: Group-maintenance
functions are mediating disputes and ensuring
that individuals feel valued by the group. These
problems relate to people .
Leadership Styles
1. The Autocratic or Authoritarian Leader:
– Given the power to make decisions alone, having total
authority.
– Closely supervises and controls people when they
perform certain tasks.
2. Democratic Leader:
– Includes one or more people in the decision making
process of determining what to do and how to do it.
– Maintains the final decision making authority.
Leadership Styles
3. Laissez-Faire or Delegative Leadership:
• Allows people to make their own decisions.
• Leader is still responsible for the decisions that
are made.
• This style allows greater freedom and
responsibility for people.
• However, you need competent people around you
or nothing will get done.
Leadership Styles
4. The Charismatic Leader:
– Leads by creating energy and eagerness in people.
– Leader is well liked and inspires people.
– Appeals to people’s emotional side.
5. Affiliative and Visionary Team Leader:
– The highest priority of this leader is to encourage,
support and enable people to fulfill their full potential
and abilities.
– Helps people achieve their goals.
Contingency Approach
• Effective leadership depended on many
variables, such as organizational culture and the
nature of tasks. No “One Size fits all”.
• According to this approach it will be the
situation that will determine what should be the
leadership style.
• There are various factors which involved in the
selection of a style
Contingency Approach-Factors
1. Task requirements or what the work demands.
2. Peers’ expectations and behavior: In organizational
situation, people whom we work with have certain
expectations, like peers may expect that you will cooperate.
3. Employees’ characteristics, expectations, and behavior: It is
important for manager to know characteristics and
expectations of employee and decide to have a leadership
style accordingly.
4. Organizational culture and policies: Organizations have
their culture and every organization has its own policies;
therefore, managerial leader should also keep in view these
factors before adopting leadership style.
THANK YOU

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Leadership in Public Administration

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