21st Century Public Leadership: The Key Foundation of Excellent Leadership

No role is more important than the role of a leader. Many people want to become public leaders because of the power, the privilege and the celebrity status attached to it. Weak men and women are occupying the highest positions in the bureaucracy – little men in big jobs, but are ignorant of the conditions required for public leadership position. They come and go as they please like a “fly by night” or are “pass-by” leaders, who are shifted continuously from left to right and to the center uncontrollable because they do not have the foundation. They are men without characters, spineless, and big on words but very little in doing. Though many try to lead using their former experience, and they mobile from one public organization to another and continuously restructuring the organizations they lead as an effort to bring efficiency to the government. The new system they implement is one that is similar to their former organization, one they are familiar with. Most failed before they even started. As they move to the other organization, they leave a wreckage behind because the new one will follow the predecessor. The contemporary leadership is about a process – mimicking or following what others do in the environment.

Leadership in the public sector and the private sector is indeed different in every aspect. Although the contemporary leading theorists try to equalize or generalize them, they will never be the same. They cannot be equalized or generalized. Even a small comparison can be dangerous. Public leadership is not about telling others or to command others what to do, but about serving fellow citizens – serving people we do not know. It is “love in actions” principle. It is about trust and confidence in our technical capacity and competency, knowledge expertise, personality traits, and the qualities that we have to take care of the economic and social welfare of our fellow beings. Being a leader without personality traits makes leadership impossible. Public leadership requires all qualities.

Leadership is critical to a good government. It is developed over time through formal and informal education, as well as professional experience in the bureaucratic setting. No one can become a public leader as soon as after a political election. The person must go through the development process. This process is important to give the person a strong foundation that enables him to accept the grace that comes with the authority and responsibilities. It enables him to become a leader who has the skills, know the roles and functions of leadership and be able to apply them in his daily tasks, and mastering the tasks. This process transforms his attitudes, behaviors, words of expressions, and patterns of thinking. He is no longer thinking “I,” “my,” or “mine”, but “we,” “us,” and “ours.”

We are in great need of public leaders, who have the foundations, wisdom to discern and possess all qualities. Ones who always think “What can I do for the country” and able to take care of the welfare of the people, because, as Thomas Jefferson said, “It is the job of the government to take care of the welfare of the people.”

21st Century Public Leadership gives a unique guide that helps those who are inspired to be public leaders to prepare themselves, build the foundations and develop their leadership skills that enable them to lead successfully and democratically. If the modern leaders do not have job descriptions, this 21st Century Public Leadership gives them the descriptions of job they should do in a democratic setting. No man is a one-man band.