Leadership in Public Organizations: An Introduction

Now in a completely revised and updated Third Edition, Leadership in Public Organizations provides a compact but complete analysis of leadership for students and practitionerswho work in public and nonprofit organizations. Offering a comprehensive review of leadership theories in the field, from the classic to the cutting-edge, and how theyrelate specifically to the public sector context, this textbook covers the major competencyclusters in detail, supported by research findings as well as practical guidelines forimprovement. These competencies are graphically portrayed in a leadership action cyclethat aids readers in visually connecting theory and practice. Including questions fordiscussion and analysis and hypothetical scenarios for each chapter, as well as an easilyreproducible leadership assessment instrument students may use to apply the theoriesthey’ve learned, this Third Edition also explores:

• The rise of e-leadership, or the relationship between leadership and information and communication technologies, as well as the role leaders play in selecting those technologies
• The challenges of nonprofit management leadership, including an extensive case study designed to illustrate the differences between public and nonprofit sector leadership curricula
• Separate, dedicated chapters on charismatic and transformational leadership; distributed leadership; ethics-based leadership; and power, world cultures, diversity, gender, complexity, social change, and strategy.

Leadership in Public Organizations is an essential core text designed specifically with upper-level and graduate Public Administration courses on leadership in mind, but it has also proven an indispensable guidebook for professionals seeking insight into the role of successful leadership behavior in the public sector. It can further be used as supplementary reading in introductory courses examining management competencies, in leadership classes to provide practical self-help and improvement models, and in Organizational Theory classes that wish to balance organizational perspectives with individual development.