Leadership in the Public Sector

Abstract

To fill the need for leaders and change agents throughout all levels of federal agencies, public sector human resource managers are now called on to develop innovative leadership development programs. Developing leaders for the 21st century requires attention to workforce trends as well as flexibility and creativity. Federal government leadership development programs need to address special leadership concerns of public agency managers, including creative thinking, collaboration, cross-organizational team building, and leading for results. This research provides overviews of federal leadership development programs and includes average and exemplary models. Lessons learned from this research offer a new set of leadership development assumptions for the public sector. Data were gathered from document analysis, preliminary network interviews, and in-depth personal interviews with program designers and participants.