Editorial

Citation

Tatam, J. (2014), "Editorial", International Journal of Leadership in Public Services, Vol. 10 No. 1. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJLPS-12-2013-0031

Editorial

Article Type: Editorial From: The International Journal of Leadership in Public Services, Volume 10, Issue 1.

This edition provides a good example of the range of papers and approaches that this journal seeks to embrace ranging from conceptual topics through literature reviews to case studies and personal reflections on leadership. We hope these will be of value and of benefit to both academics and practitioners of public sector leadership.

Michael Clark's conceptual paper offers a critique of the New Public Management (NPM) theory of leadership in the public sector which has held a strong position over the last 30 years. He argues that NPM draws heavily on private sector management practices, market approaches and the use of contracts and targets but cannot cope adequately with the complex and interrelated nature of public services and many of the issues they work with. We have argued previously that while there is much to be learned from the private sector part of the raison d’etre of this journal is that public sector management offers some unique challenges. Clark argues for a relational view of public sector leadership the primary perspective of which is the value of relationships and how these operate in a social context. This does not, of course, rule out the use of targets and management tools but these need to be shaped by the manner and context by which they are used. This reminded me strongly of my own experience of using a performance management tool (the Balanced Scorecard). Much the most important part of the process was the discussions which teams were encouraged to have to clarify what it was they were trying to achieve; what were the most important things they needed to focus on to make progress; and how they could measure that progress. In this way teams were able to own their targets and welcome measurement rather than seeing this as an imposition from above getting in the way of their real work (Audit Commission, 2002).

Shahriar Islam and Mohammad Khan bring an international perspective offering a literature review and a critique of public leadership training in Bangladesh, some of which has been supported by international organisations including the Department for International Development in the UK. He argues that though good public leadership is vital for Bangladesh's development public leadership programmes are not delivering in a number of respects and failing to attract the right participants. He concludes by offering some concrete and practical proposals for improvements including clearly linking training to a public servant's career planning and progression.

Roger Ellis and colleagues give a detailed case study of the successful leadership of the very challenging task of closing a hospital for adults with profound learning difficulties and moving the long-term occupants into the community. The leader in this case had a passionate commitment to improve the lives of the adults he was working with, which meant being prepared to challenge the risk-averse culture, but also understood the need for a hardheaded business case when necessary.

Valerie Iles explores the particular challenges of leading professionals in fields such as, law, education or in her own case, healthcare, where relationships can often be fraught and combative rather than constructive and effective. She concludes that if leaders insist on managing professionals as part of a connected hierarchy it will simply continue to provoke resistance. Rather some greater flexibility and judgement is required to give professionals greater space to work in areas of uncertainty while also getting them to accept that following routines and protocols can in some cases improve performance, without threatening their professional status. As leaders we need to know when to defer gracefully as well as when to insist.

Antony Sheehan offers a very personal account of the journey that has taken him from being a mental health nurse to senior positions in the UK Department of Health and the National Health Service to his current position leading the Church Health Centre in Memphis Tennessee serving low income uninsured people, without any government funding. Running through his career has been a fundamental believe in respect for people which he believes has shaped his approach to management. His three leadership essentials are: the importance of liberating talent; a profound belief in knowledge; and the principle of finding purpose beyond self.

Valerie James and I welcome the appointment of a new main academic editor for the journal, Dr Stephen Brookes, who will introduce himself in the next edition. We will both continue to support the journal, and complement the new editorial team, as consultant editors, working to make the link between research and application and helping to unearth those important leadership lessons which have been learnt on the front line.

John Tatam

Reference

Audit Commission (2002), Performance Breakthroughs, Audit Commission, London