1 / 15

Leadership Tools For Public Sector Professionals

Leadership Tools For Public Sector Professionals. Annie Neal Portland State University Executive MPA Candidate, Spring 2010. Overview:. Significance: why this Capstone project? Literature review Why is leadership important in public organizations?

ofira
Download Presentation

Leadership Tools For Public Sector Professionals

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. Leadership Tools For Public Sector Professionals Annie Neal Portland State University Executive MPA Candidate, Spring 2010

  2. Overview: • Significance: why this Capstone project? • Literature review • Why is leadership important in public organizations? • What is leadership and how do you “do” it? • How is leadership learned? • Research questions & method • Leadership tools in the EMPA curriculum • Survey • Results • Recommendations “If you don’t know where you’re going, you’ll end up somewhere else.” -Yogi Berra

  3. Why this Capstone project: • Leadership skills are increasingly important for public sector professionals • Leadership can be learned * Education * Experience * Example • Leadership knowledge does not readily translate to practice * “Transfer of learning” problem * Experientially acquired skill • Tools make leadership knowledge transferable and easy to use * Tools = knowledge in a simple, useable and systematic form

  4. Leadership in the public sector • Leadership is “a person’s capacity to be effective in … setting direction, creating alignment, and maintaining commitment in groups of people who share common work” (Morse & Buss, 2009) • Public sector organizations with strong leadership capacity also exhibit increased: • Adaptability • Innovation • Effectiveness • Efficiency • However, most public sector organizations still prioritize technical skills, not leadership skills

  5. Leadership Competencies (Van Wart, 2005)

  6. Leadership Knowledge vs. Leadership Practice • Leadership knowledge does not readily translate to leadership practices • Leadership practices can be learned through • Education • Experience • Example • Leadership development requires disciplined practice

  7. Research Problem • What knowledge from this EMPA program can be applied to develop leadership practices? • Four research questions • Tool Definition: What constitutes a leadership tool? • Content Analysis: What tools were taught in this EMPA curriculum? • Organization: When or how can this tool be used? • Evaluation: Which tools are most useful to this EMPA cohort? “Knowledge is potential power.” -- Napoleon Hill

  8. Tool Definition • Tools are knowledge translated into simple, useable and systematic form • ‘knowledge tools’ are common in many disciplines: Examples: high-rise construction, airline flight, medicine • Brief “applied” materials that can be used in a leadership capacity • Exercises • Assessments • Checklists/guides • Visual Aids

  9. Course Content Analysis & Organization

  10. Survey Which tools are most useful to this cohort? • Cost of application: Given what you know about the cost, time and effort involved, which of the following tools would you actually use? • Utility: This tool would be helpful for me in addressing the major leadership challenges in my current work setting. • Credibility: If I were to use these tools in my workplace, I believe others would find them credible (i.e., they would be inclined to use or accept the results). • Transferability: useful across a range of public administration settings (public works, public safety, human services, administration)

  11. Results • 63% response rate, similar responses across all sectors (public works, public safety, human services, administration) • Top-ranked tools:

  12. Recommendations • Emphasize “applied knowledge” for future cohorts • Provide a concise template for each tool: • Recommended uses • Supplies needed • Instructions • Strengths & weaknesses • Examples • Additional reference materials • Practice: put leadership knowledge to use Leadership is a “measurable, learnable and teachable set of behaviors.” -- Kouzes & Posner

  13. Suggested “Toolkit” Resources • Bens, Ingrid. Facilitation At a Glance! Second Edition. Salem, NH: Goal/QPC, 2008. • Brassard, Michael and Diane Ritter. Memory Jogger 2, Second Edition: Tools for Continuous Improvement & Effective Planning. Salem, NH: Goal/QPC, 2008. • Creighton, James. The Public Participation Handbook: Making Better Decisions Through Citizen Involvement. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 2005. • Kane, Sam, Lenny Lind, Catherine Toldi, Sarah Fisk, Duane Berger. The Facilitator’s Guide to Participatory Decisionmaking, Second Edition. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 2007. • Kouzes, James M. and Barry Z. Posner. The Leadership Challenge, 4th Edition. San Francisco: Jossey Bass, 2007. • University of Kansas Work Group for Community Health & Development. Community Tool Box, http://ctb.ku.edu/en/tablecontents/, accessed May 2010.

  14. Questions?

More Related