pad 515
Public Leadership Presentation
Overview
Condense information from the other three assignments and additional criteria in order to develop a creative and appealing PowerPoint presentation.
Instructions
Create a 10–12 slide presentation in which you:
- Create a title slide and references section (as indicated in the format requirements below).
- Narrate each slide, using a microphone, indicating what you would say if you were actually presenting in front of an audience. Note: If you do not have access to a microphone, then you should provide detailed speaker notes with your presentation.
- Briefly summarize your idea of a public leader. Cite experiences and research to support your assertions.
- Discuss the specific leadership theories and styles that support your definition of a public leader. Provide a rationale to support your answer.
- Discuss gender diversity in the workplace, including the increasing numbers of women in the workplace and leadership positions. What are the main barriers to women’s political participation and expression? What is the role of government and political parties to address this gap?
- Predict three public leadership trends that you believe will be particularly significant within the next decade.
- Summarize the most important idea that you have learned in the course. How can you apply what you have learned? What will you do with whom, where, when, and, most important, why?
- Include at least four peer-reviewed references (no more than 1 year old) from material outside the textbook. Note: Appropriate peer-reviewed references include scholarly articles and government websites. Wikipedia, other wikis, and websites ending in anything other than “.gov” do not qualify as academic resources.
Your assignment must follow these formatting requirements:
- This course requires the use of Strayer Writing Standards. For assistance and information, please refer to the Strayer Writing Standards link in the left-hand menu of your course. Check with your professor for any additional instructions.
- Include a title slide containing the title of the assignment, your name, the professor’s name, the course title, and the date. The title slide is not included in the required slide length.
- Include a reference slide containing the sources that were consulted while completing research on the selected topic, listed in SWS format. The reference slide is not included in the required slide length.
- Format the PowerPoint presentation with headings on each slide, two to three colors, two to three fonts, and two to three relevant graphics (photographs, graphs, clip art, et cetera), ensuring that the presentation is visually appealing and readable from 18 feet away. Check with your professor for any additional instructions.
- Slides should abbreviate the information in no more than five or six bullet points per slide.
- Slide titles should be based on the criteria being summarized (e.g., “Three Public Leadership Trends”).
The specific course learning outcome associated with this assignment is:
- Synthesize key concepts, skills, issues, and trends in successful public leadership and conflict resolution.
Theories of Leadership
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Theories of Leadership
Strayer University
PAD 515
Leadership Theories and Styles
Leadership theories and leadership styles are fundamental aspects as far as leadership and management are concerned. Leadership theories and styles may be used to explain and or define an individual’s leadership approach. Therefore, it is imperative to understand theories and styles of leadership to help you be more effective in your role as a leader, particularly if your leadership position needs you to collaborate with people or the public regularly. A public leader is someone who holds a public office and serves the community at large. Typically, leadership theories study a good leader (Ahmed, Nawaz & Khan, 2016). Therefore, two leadership theories that define good public service leaders are transformational theory and transactional theory.
The transformational theory explains leadership as an outcome of a good relationship between leaders and followers (Ahmed et al., 2016). Therefore, according to the transformational approach, also known as relational theory, effective leaders ought to relate well with team members to change them for good. Transformational public leaders should motivate via their passion for the job (Giles, 2016). Besides, they are supposed to act as role models for their followers. Studies demonstrate that a transformational leader focuses on a team member’s input and needs to transform every follower into a leader by supporting and inspiring them (Ahmed et al., 2016).
The transactional theory views effective leadership as one that is typified by hierarchy and focuses on results. Therefore, according to this theory, leaders ought to focus on rewards and penalties. Past research on leadership theories described transactional leadership as a contingency-reward form of administration characterized by optimistic and active exchanges between leaders and followers. The latter are rewarded for achieving the set goals or objectives (Ahmed et al., 2016). In a nutshell, this is common among public leaders where good performers are rewarded, poor performers are penalized, and order and hierarchy are prioritized more than creativity and innovativeness.
A Leadership style can be defined as the way through which a leader approaches the management of others. Leadership styles culminate studies on leadership theories; hence, each leadership style encompasses distinct qualities. Two of the common leadership styles for public leaders are authoritarian and democratic. An authoritarian leader is one who makes decisions without consulting anyone (Ahmed et al., 2016). They are controlling and demanding. Often, public service needs leaders who can independently make quick, definite, and clear decisions without seeking another person’s input. After all, some situations need swift decisions such that lack of input from other involved individuals or teams would not affect the outcome. Some of the public service leaders who often use the authoritarian style of leadership are military generals. Usually, army officers are known for their tendency to shout orders to their juniors loudly.
A democratic leader is someone who allows others to participate in the decision-making process. Specifically, democratic leadership allows members of a team to share their opinions to influence the ultimate decision (Ahmed et al., 2016). It is important to note that while consensus is paramount, the leader is responsible for the final decision. However, one must listen attentively and take into consideration all the views before deciding what next. The appropriate way in which democratic leadership can be used is in the office of a mayor when the local government wants to increase land rates. The mayor must call all the relevant players to decide the most appropriate land rates for landowners within a municipality.
Differences between Successful Leaders in Public, Private, and Nonprofit Organizations
Public, private, and nonprofit organizations vary greatly. Organizations in the public sector, for instance, focus on ensuring that a country runs effectively, whether at a local, state, or national level. On the other hand, organizations in the private sector are driven by high revenue and greater growth. Similarly, there are immense differences between successful leaders in these organizations. According to Lamo, Perez & Schuknecht, 2012), organizational goals and objectives represent the primary difference between successful leaders in public and private organizations. For instance, a successful leader in a public firm pursues and accomplishes goals such as effective the provision of different products and or services to members of the public. In contrast, a successful leader in the private sector manages to maximize financial returns for the company or its investors. Successful leaders in the private sector focus on wage management (Lamo et al., 2012), while in the public sector, they focus on the quality of service delivery.
Meanwhile, a successful leader in nonprofit organizations achieves a balance between expenditures, skills, and time. This can be attributed to the fact that nonprofit organizations are involved in charitable activities to help the public. Therefore, such organizations do not make any profit as they rely on sponsors and well-wishers. Thus, the capability to ensure the organization has adequate funds to run its operations is another attribute that differentiates successful nonprofits’ leaders from their counterparts in the public and private sectors. Successful leaders in private and nonprofit should maintain high standards or ethics while ethical leadership is largely ignored (Kar, 2020).
Excellent Leadership is a Born Ability
I think that leadership is a product of many things. Leadership may be an inborn quality for some people while contributing to other factors such as learning. Also, for other people, leadership may be a product of challenge or need. That leadership is inborn is a subject that has been debated since time immemorial. Many people believe all leaders are born. However, I disagree with this idea because many other leaders adopt leadership skills through learning or from circumstances. All the same, I think that excellent leaders are born and not made. That is to say, people born with leadership abilities or skills are likely to be better leaders than people who became leaders through training or coaching or due to circumstances. The great man theory of leadership backs the concept of leadership being an inherent ability. To be precise, this theory postulates that good leaders are never made, but born (Ahmed et al., 2016). Indeed, a born leader will inevitably have all the natural attributes of leadership. These include courage, intelligence, intuition, and confidence, among others (Giles, 2016). Such attributes may not be learned and are rarely developed by coincidence.
Nonetheless, research indicates that some attributes can only be learned. According to Giles (2016), some leadership attributes are difficult to master because they are not inherent within a human being. This means a leader will have to take time to develop and perfect them against their nature. For example, attributes such as high moral and ethical standards are developed (Giles, 2016). Therefore, while some leaders may be developed, those born with leadership qualities are more effective in leadership positions. Moreover, they are more likely to develop important learnable attributes such as ethical standards faster than those born without leadership abilities.
References
Ahmed, Z., Nawaz, A., & Khan, U. I. (2016). Leadership theories and styles. Journal of
Resources Development and Management, 16, 1-7.
Giles, S. (2016). The most important leadership competencies, according to leaders around the world. Harvard Business Review. Retrieved from
https://hbr.org/2016/03/the-most-important-leadership-competencies-according-to-leaders-around-the-world
Kar, S. (2020). Ethical leadership: Best practice for success. IOSR Journal of Business and Management (IOSR-JBM), e-ISSN: 2278-487X, p-ISSN: 2319-7668, 112-116.
Lamo, A., Perez, J. J., &Schuknecht, L. (2012). Public or private sector wage leadership? An international perspective. Scandinavian Journal of Economics, 114(1).
PUBLIC LEADERSHIP AND DIVERSITY
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PUBLIC LEADERSHIP AND DIVERSITY
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Public Leadership and Diversity
PAD 515
Someone who holds public office is called a public leader and plays the role of serving society. A perfect example of a public leader is the President, member of the parliament, governor, mayor, and so on (Crosby & Bryson, 2018). Collective activities that are executed by a group of people entail leadership, and it has nothing to do with a general view of the individual leader. Leadership theories are cumulative, and the individual leader’s roles are vital, but it is not the primary aspect (Pithouse-Morgan et al., 2018). For a leader to think differently, critical thinking skills are critical as it helps them understand their difficulties. Leadership values play an important role in this perspective and help shape collective vision, goals, purpose, and activities that are important in giving leadership a sense of purpose.
Governmental Change in the 1990s
One of the major leadership changes in the 1990s was President Bill Clinton’s policy of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” which prohibited military recruitment of bisexual and gay people into the military. The authority level that signed this policy into law was high, and it sent a message to the public that discrimination based on sexual orientation was acceptable in United States (Pithouse-Morgan et al., 2018). Lesbians, gays, and bisexuals were only able to serve in the military as long as their sexual orientation was not known. Thousands of LGBT were discharged from the military due to this policy until 2011, when the law was repealed, ending the 17 years of the many LGBTs in the military.
Nelson Mandela
“No one is born hating another person because of the color of his skin, background, or religion. Hate is learned, and if it can be learned so can love. Love comes more naturally to the human heart than it’s opposite.” These were Nelson Mandela’s words as quoted in the article by Pithouse-Morgan et al. (2018). Nelson Mandela, who led South Africa for only one term as the President, struggled for many years against the apartheid regime, which was advanced by the minority whites who were also the leaders in this African country. He was a democratic and visionary leader who fought for a free democratic South African society and stood by his vision even when in jail, where he spent at least 27-years. He served his people with humility and respected his fellow leaders (Pithouse-Morgan et al., 2018). Workplace diversity, diversity within society, and the political environment were Mandela Nelson’s efforts as a leader and a president. His struggle for freedom of the people was meant for Africans and whites who lived in this African country.
Desmond Tutu
One of the most famous human rights activities and a religious leader was Desmond Tutu. Desmond Tutu was a famous Desmond Tutu is one of South African’s religious leaders who took the human right campaigns to the doorsteps of the people who infringed the rights of the South Africans (Pithouse-Morgan et al., 2018). Because of his efforts to end apartheid in South Africa, he won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1984. He worked hard to formulate a democratic society without considering the race of the people.
F.W. De Klerk
F.W. De Klerk was a white and the second vice president during Nelson Mandela’s reign as the President in South Africa. F. W. De Klerk was nominated as the President of the Ministers’ Council in the House of Assembly in 1989 (Pithouse-Morgan et al., 2018). As President of the council, he was able to create a sustainable environment which promoted effective negotiations to end apartheid and bring a new Constitutional dispensation that catered for the many South Africans. It was because of his efforts that the principle of one man one vote was adopted.
Public Leader One Male and One Female
German Chancellor Angela Markel was listed as the most powerful woman leader globally by Fortune 500 and as the best woman leader by Forbes Magazine. She was the first female Chancellor of Germany and is known as one of the leading figures in the European Union (Rabini et al., 2020). Before she was elected as a German chancellor, she was the Christian Democratic Union Party’s chairperson in German. She was name person of the year by Time Magazine in 2015. She has leadership traits that resemble an entrepreneur who is willing to learn new tricks every time. Because of this, she has risen to the top of global governance today (Rabini et al., 2020). Her values have lifted the reputation of Germany as the country in Europe and the world. She is attributed as a person who puts her country first before anything else. She is a leader who is ready to stand against any external threat and make decisions that will make her leadership a steady fast one.
The 42nd president of the United States, the third-youngest President, and the first president from the baby boomer generation Bill Clinton are remembered for the many positive things he did as the United States President until today. His bold decision to sign the North American Free Trade Agreement policy was a clear indication that he recognized African-Americans as Americans (Rabini et al., 2020). Many people who have discussed his leadership style have named him a transformational leader because of his motivational, aspirational, idealized influence and individual intellect he exhibited. His leadership style would be transformational because he had consideration for individuals, intellectual stimulation, idealized influence, and inspirational motivation (Rabini et al., 2020). Clinton was a triple-strength type with skills to balance between personal political interests and his followers’ interests.
Gender Diversity
Workplace environments and dynamics have changed significantly today compared to the past, where women were given part-time and low cadre jobs and positions. The notion that women have to play the role of taking care of the family no longer holds, and many women are now given top positions to lead others at workplaces (Fine et al., 2020). Women are today known to be men’s equal, and they are rising even beyond male counterparts. Studies have shown that many women have become career women and are putting their careers before their families. Many women are no longer staying at home, but they have taken up managerial roles to lead and manage other workplace employees. This has contributed positively to the current gender diversity experienced at workplaces today (Fine et al., 2020). Whereas gender inequality still exists, the gap has reduced drastically as women are now CEOs of big corporations such as General Motor and others. The percentage of women in the labor force has increased drastically from the conventional 33% in the 1950s to the current 57% and increasing every day.
Strengths/weaknesses
My ability to lead with respect, humility, and from behind are my strengths to become an effective public leader. Nelson Mandela noted that good leaders lead from behind and put others in front (Crosby & Bryson, 2018). I have one weakness, and the weakness is that I have no confidence to speak before the masses. This is a huge weakness since I understand that I will have to address people’s problems through communication in public as a leader.
References
Crosby, B. C., & Bryson, J. M. (2018). Why leadership of public leadership research matters: and what to do about it. Public Management Review, 20(9), 1265-1286.
Pithouse-Morgan, K., Chisanga, T., Meyiwa, T., & Timm, D. N. (2018). Flourishing Together: Co-Learning as Leaders of a Multicultural South African Educational Research Community. International Journal of Multicultural Education, 20(3), 102-125.
Rabini, C., Brummer, K., Dimmroth, K., & Hansel, M. (2020). Profiling foreign policy leaders in their language: New insights into the stability and formation of leadership traits. The British Journal of Politics and International Relations, 22(2), 256-273.
Fine, C., Sojo, V., & Lawford‐Smith, H. (2020). Why does workplace gender diversity matter? Justice, organizational benefits, and policy. Social Issues and Policy Review, 14(1), 36-72.
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Public Administrative Environments
Public Administrative Environments 10
Public Administrative Environments
Pad 515
Scenario 1
Looking at this issue, this is a case of either negligence or lack of support from the local government regarding resources and finance. I would therefore evaluate the specific complaints about each agency. I would sort the complaints and understand the specific areas about the agency that I should look at. I would go to each department before meeting the departments collectively and highlight the pertinent issues I find the matter should be looked at by the department level and then linked together since they depend on one another.
In each department, I would look at their work procedures and then ask them how they understand their responsibilities. After they list their roles, I would then ask them about the timelines of implementing their duties. I will then ask them about the challenges they face as a department concerning service delivery. Everything they suggest I will note down. I will then ask them how they rate their respective departments concerning service delivery. Next, I would ask the department how they collaborate with their residents they serve. I would then ask them whether they receive complaints and feedback from the public, responsible, and how they assess and solve the complaints.
This way, I will understand if the problem is with the departmental staff tasked with the duties or the county government that does not offer them the support they deserve in terms of resources and finances. Or is it a problem with the departmental heads? After evaluating the status from the concerned departments, I would then present the specific complaints and like them on whether they are ware about the complaints. If yes I would then ask them to show me the entries and the progress of the resolutions. This would then prompt me to ask them how the complainants are being kept in the know-how of the progress.
If nothing has been done yet about the complaints, I would ask the department how it plans to handle the complaints. This will allow them to speak up their minds and state what they plan to do to have a good working environment. Then based on their explanations, I would then ask them when d they think that they will be able to implement their suggestions. I will then ask the department members why they think it’s important for them to handle the matters within their suggested timelines. I will ask them to ensure that their timelines are within two weeks so that new implementations can be put in place.
I will be asking them to state what they think is the problem because I want them to realize that they are the ones responsible for the peace and cohesion at work and with the general public that they serve. This gives them the responsibility to handle their duties with a lot of diligence (Bakaki and Mehrl, 2021). I will then ask them to accept and promise to work with the well-placed policies of their work. This way, they will have found a way to resolving their issues internally and responding to the general public on time on matters about work or service delivery.
Scenario 2
In this case, dealing with the school board and the departments may look like a hard task. Therefore a very formal approach to these groups is key. Therefore one of the steps I would start with is to talk to the respective departments before going to the school board. I would ask them about their departments’ deliverables regarding policies that will bring compliance between the school and the related departments and the state departments. I would ask them how they find their relationship with the school board. Having an open forum with them, meeting each department director, and asking him or her about how he finds the relationship between the department and the school board, I will pinpoint specific underlying issues.
After talking to every departmental director, I will then compare all the reasons they will have put forth and see which ones are similar, thus having pertinent repercussions to how the leaders relate within the administration. I will then talk with the school board and listen to their side of the story about what they think could be the problem between them and the departmental directors. Here I will also make a comparison between their explanations and what was found to be the pertinent issues as given by the directors.
I will therefore understand exactly what ruins the collaboration between the administrators. I will have a collective meeting with the directors, asking them about what they think the school board should expect to form them regarding the collaboration required. I will also talk to the school board members and ask them what they expect from the directors. Finally, I would hold a collective meeting between the directors and the school board so that each side openly presents what they think is the problem and what they think should be the way forward.
After they have agreed, I will request each side to state when or what their timelines are in implementing their agreements. This way, I will have opened a way for the school board and the departmental directors to start collaborating. They will understand that they need to work together to endure that the school complies with the state department on the various projects that need to be undertaken. One of the things that could result in school conflicts may be communication differences (Gambari, 2021). It could be wise that such barriers are withdrawn by initiating communication and sorting out the possible differences.
Policies and practices to change
Looking at the two scenarios, there are a few practices that I would change to ensure that the entities do not go back to the same issues as there ones that are facing them right now. For the department of health services, I would make the leaders here realize that there are daily happenings in their areas of jurisdiction and that their mandate should be executed daily. This includes ensuring that every agency is accountable for its daily operations.
I will set up an independent desk that receives complaints from the citizens and other related organs and ensures that they reach the relevant departments for possible actions. This independent desk will be tasked to ensure that the complaints are assigned to specific relevant people in those departments and are resolved stepwise while marking the stages in which they are during the resolution process.
One of the things that lead to the companions and that no action is taken is that the monitoring force is not in place. Given that the complaints are agency-specific, the monitoring of the progress will be manageable.
For the school scenario, there is no need to change policies but rather the practices. In the working procedures, each director should be assigned to a specific member of the school board; this way the school board members will be able to work with the departmental director and be able to discuss the requirements that are to be fulfilled towards compliance with the state departments in the ministry of education. It isn’t easy when a head feels subjected to a whole board instead of an individual. All the school board members will then work together based on their reports from the individual departmental directors and forge the way forward regarding the state’s needs and the education ministry.
Leadership theory applicable to the school board scenario
The school board issue is based on factors that arise from the individuality of the board members and the departmental directors. Therefore, if one problem is resolved, there is a high likelihood that another problem will come up completely different from the previous one, which may also lead to a lack of cooperation between the two bodies. Hence in every situation, a leader has to approach it as it is without based on the previous or another situation.
The best leadership theory, in this case, is the situational theory. In this theory, the proposition is that no leadership style superseded others (Phipps, Shelton & Hein, 2021). Therefore the leadership style depends on the situation that has been presented. Therefore, the leaders must assess the situation based on certain variables like maturity and the nature of the followers, and many more. That is why I have to look at the departmental directors individually before bringing them together. This is the same approach I would use for the school board members. That is why I feel that it would be good to have one board member attached to a departmental director instead of imposing all the departmental directors to the collective school board.
This leadership theory blends to two essential elements: the style of leadership and the followers’ maturity. Hence based on the degree of maturity of the followers, then a particular leadership style is applied.
Leadership styles applicable to the school board scenario
The leadership style I would apply here is; democratic style and the coached style. In the democratic style, the democratic leaders will mostly ask the subjects what they think. Here the employees can share anything that they feel is affecting their jobs or their work responsibilities and seek their opinion on what they think should have been the way forward before they approve any decision. Therefore this style is participative; it engenders trust and promotes team spirit and cooperation from the employees. Whereas creativity is allowed, the employees can grow and develop. This lets what is to be done be accomplished, and the employees need it accomplished.
The second leadership style is the coaching style; here, the leader tends to “consider this” approach (Vogel & Werkmeister, 2020). This kind of leader sees people as a source of talent that needs to be developed. Here a leader looks to unlock the potential in people. Potentials like conflict resolution through mutual agreements. Such leaders let people and their followers approach them anytime and discuss anything that they feel needs to be addressed, thus removing the potential of having a conflict deeply developing in an organization without being resolved.
How departmental leadership impacts the leadership of the local government and deliverability.
As a top leader, you are mandated to deliver development projects and see that institutions are developing to greater heights under your reign. Therefore, you must have a team that has the delivery of your mandates at their heart. This way, they can help you as the city manager effectively work and deliver development projects on time, in an efficient manner, and with very little wastage of resources. If the health department is not working diligently, the public will not be satisfied and happy with the city manager.
Therefore, the health department should ensure that their agencies are always on the lookout for possible issues affecting the city residents. This way, the residents will not lose their property due to fire, the city residents will receive very good healthcare. The members of the department will be well behaved when serving the residents of the city. When the school board and the departments’ directors can cooperate, the city manager will effectively put in place projects to be worked on in the schools. This way, the school setting can be improved or developed, so that very good structures are put in place to accommodate many learners.
Through good leadership that may be practiced in schools, the education department will be able to evaluate schools’ performance and be in a position to evaluate what could be undermining the performance of the earners if any low performances need attention. However, if the people-centered on service delivery is not there, the city manager will not show any good leadership to the citizens, and he or she will be criticized a lot.
How to move the city ahead
There are a few things that can be done to bring back sanctity and diligence to move forward. Where departmental heads seem not to deliver in their duties, they need to be reshuffled, placed in different departments, and warned that the change is another chance to sanitize their leadership styles. The many leaders appointed in the respective departments have to sign a new commitment to work for the residents’ benefit. The local government needs to recruit new leaders to take up positions and leadership of the state departments where service delivery has been brought down. New forces will develop some aggressiveness, which is likely to make the other relaxed leaders wake up and delve into their duties to serve the city residents.
The leaders are then required to report to the city manager on the progress in their respective departments. The leaders who do not comply with the directive risk being impeached, and a competitive leader is given the position. In every public office, there is the need to set up independent complaints desks that receive the workers’ complaints. The public looks into their complaints, present them to the relevant authorities, and tracks down the resolution process.
References
Bakaki, Z. and Mehrl, M., (2021) Examining conflict management technique sequences in international claims. International Interactions, 47(1), pp.56-78.
Gambari I.A. (2021) Peace Management and Conflict Resolution: A Practitioner’s Perspective. In: McNamee T., Muyangwa M. (eds) The State of Peacebuilding in Africa. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-46636-7_16
Phipps, K. A., Shelton, C. D., & Hein, S. D. (2021). Positive and proactive leadership: disentangling the relationships between stress, resilience, leadership style and leader satisfaction/well-being. International Journal of Organizational Analysis.
Van Metre L. (2021). Civilian Government Agencies. In: Aall P., Snodderly D. (eds) Responding to Violent Conflicts and Humanitarian Crises. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-59463-3_4
Vogel, R. and Werkmeister, L., (2020) What is Public about Public Leadership? Exploring Implicit Public Leadership Theories. Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory, 31(1), pp.166-183.