Facilitative Leadership Revisited – The Case of Norway

Abstract

Facilitative leadership has long been a catchword in studies of mayoral leadership. Emphasizing cooperation, consensus-building and the empowerment of others, the facilitative model is said to be typical of council-manager systems of local government. Drawing on a study of long-serving mayors in Norway, the paper assesses the accuracy of the facilitative approach in a typical council-manager system. What does it entail as an ideal type and to what extent does it catch the essence of mayoral leadership as practiced in Norwegian local government? We argue that there are conspicuous and interesting examples of Norwegian mayors exercising strong, strategic, and visionary leadership within a ‘facilitative frame’, and that the facilitative model does not preclude a broader and more ‘expansive’ and ‘entrepreneurial’ approach to mayoral leadership.