Public Leadership Presentation

Assignment 3: Public Administrative Environments

Shahin Alakbarov

Strayer University

Prof. Dr. Mark Pantaleo

PAD 515

August 21, 2014

Public Administrative Environments

Leading and managing in the public industry can be said to be somehow challenging role. In the case, where the bureaucracy and legislation are commanding the duties and roles of a leader, it is often that the development for up-to-standard leadership and managerial styles and traits are underestimated. In order for one to be considered as a good leader he or she should portray positive personality manners, for example, openness, collaborative with other employees, and should also be able to control their emotions. The style of leadership one is using may influence the satisfaction of those around them.

Ethics form the guidelines as to how professionals are supposed to relate with each other, their seniors and with the organization. In public administration, legality comes out strong as the main guideline to ethical behavior. The reason behind this is because, the state uses public administration in policy implementation, and, therefore, the administrator should behave and prioritize issues as the government prioritizes them, and not as per his or her own preference. Most public managers though do not either have reliable information or the information they have is insufficient and untimely (Cooper, 2012).

For this reason, the society finds it hard to evaluate their conduct. Government structures, therefore, have come up with organs that in different agencies, mandated to supervise, control, sanction, and avail information to citizens, concerning the public managers in the government due to the diversity in culture, religion, and moral values. Key points clearly come out as the main impedances to ethics in public administration. Failure by people to separate work and private live, makes public administrators mix their own personal issues with duty, leading to unprofessionalism. In the context of the modern work setup, there is a tangible distinction between work and personal issues. Work is carried out at a time of itself and in a different location all together. Diverting from this norm is regarded as interference. Ethical identity is acquired when these two are separated.

Defining the methods and traits that a skillful leader is using can also be problematic. There are several statements and theories that accomplished leaders use in order to ensure that they successful lead their people. A leader may possess traits such as listening and understanding to junior subordinates, assertiveness and openness, emotional capabilities and determination, but lack the support of the people as he or she is not able to inspire people. The demand for such traits differs depending on the situation, the field and the subordinates. In this case, a good leader has the ability to talk into his followers, as well as, create a welcoming environment in the place of work. Leadership styles, for example, democratic and persuasive styles are some of the styles in leading that define great leadership (Sheeran, 2011).

A number of researches on management of private sectors have been carried out; however, limited researches have been done on the private sector. In this case, a major gap exists between the two. It is unfortunate that there are only a few studies done on public sector, and this could be due to the reason that, developing functional and competitive units in the sector is a demand in the financial situation. The need for analyzing the most beneficial and most profitable leadership skills and styles that are needed for a leader to be successful is extremely high.

In this case, the styles and skills used by leaders in the public sector determine the satisfaction of the public or people being lead. Despite the style and skills used by the leader, ethics form the guidelines as to how professionals are supposed to relate with each other, their seniors and with the organization. All leaders should ensure that they follow expected ethics.

Participative theory is one of the leadership theories that would be most beneficial for the Director of Public Health and related agencies in addressing the issues. Participative theory claims that, ideal leadership is one that acknowledges ideas or inputs of other people. In other words, leaders capitalizing in this theory tend to consider the input of others in their leadership tenure. These types of leaders tend to encourage contribution and participation from other members and help subordinates feel more committed and relevant to the process of decision-making. However, these leaders are the final decision makers in every debated matter.

If the Director of Public Health and related agencies use this theory in their leadership, they will be able to solve the past year, citizen, department, and outside stakeholder complaints that have been filed against the Department of Health administrators. Such complaints that cited unprofessional leadership, unethical practices, insufficient customer and patient care, poor fire and emergency response time, and inability to implement change and resolve conflict within and amongst subordinates and staff will be prevented as all parties are involved.

Participative theory will allow the director of Public Health to listen to others. This gives him a platform where he receives a variety of ideas to a choice. Having a variety of ideas that one chooses from enables one to choose an idea that best suit and fit the needs of the situation. In addition, allowing other people to contribute in solving problems makes them feel part of the problem solving; as a result, they feel honored to help in solving the problem. The end result will be a satisfactory solution that is accepted by everyone affected by the issues, whether, directly or indirectly.

The Director of Public Health can well utilize this theory as they offer an opportunity for all affected parties to participate in decision-making. This way, the solutions found will suit the interest of the majority. Thus, the director will be able to avoid issues filed against him as the case provided.

The styles and skills used by leaders in the public sector determine the satisfaction of the public or people being lead. Despite the style and skills used by the leader, ethics form the guidelines as to how professionals are supposed to relate with each other, their seniors and with the organization. In this case, one of the best leadership style that the public direct can use is democratic style.

Democratic style of leadership is one where the leader allows the stakeholders or members of a team to contribute ideas before he or she decides on the final decision. A democratic leader is teamed based and allows everyone to get involved. Even though this style of leadership slows the process of decision making, it is the best since the leader is sure that he received all possible ideas that may help solve the problem. An officer in the fire department can best utilize this style of leadership when he or she is planning on a rescue mission in a burning property or building. This will require the efforts of the whole team and will be discussed amongst them. Leaders using this style consider and care about the welfare and opinion of the team (Siddiqui, & Waqar, 2013).

A democratic director of public health will ensure that all major stakeholders are involved when solving certain issues. He or she will ensure that the views of all citizens, department, and outside stakeholder are considered before engaging in any final decision. This will ensure that, complaints coming from these parties are solved, which helps in satisfying them, and avoiding future problems. This creates a friendly environment for the parties, and external stakeholders get to know and contribute to what affects them. This also helps in offering better services to all citizens. Thus, the director will be able to prevent commotions that would arise owing to making unsound decisions that are either not accepted by the majority or are decisions made by a few members.

Another leadership style that can be utilized by the director of public health is people oriented theory, this theory similar to democratic theory, the leader allows the stakeholders or members of a team to contribute ideas before he or she decides on the final decision. A people oriented leader is teamed based and allows everyone to get involved, and the final decision is made based on the majority support. The leader using this style allows those affected by the problem to determine a solution for it.

If the director of public health uses this style in his place of work, all participants will have the opportunity to contribute to a problem affecting them. Thus, they will be able to comment on the issues affecting them. He or she will ensure that the views of all citizens, department, and outside stakeholder are considered before engaging in any final decision. This will ensure that, complaints coming from these parties are solved, which helps in satisfying them, and avoiding future problems. This creates a friendly environment for the parties, and external stakeholders get to know and contribute to what affects them. This also helps in offering better services to all citizens. Thus, the director will be able to prevent commotions that would arise owing to making unsound decisions that are either not accepted by the majority or are decisions made by a few members.

Another style that the director of public health can use in order to help solve the problem at hand is, Laissez-faire. In Laissez-faire the leader does not get involved in decision making, he or she allows the team to work on the problem. Although this style is mostly related to lazy leaders, it sometimes portrays the capabilities of a team to work without supervision. The director of public health can best utilize this in the fire department. A team’s capability clearly portrays the capabilities of its leader. Therefore, if a leader is able to successful use this style on his team, this shows that he is a good leader. The director of public health should utilize this style in order to develop a well capable team.

The theories and styles used in leadership sometimes depend on the situation and the people involved in the situation. In the case of a school board, the people involved are many, and for this reason, the decision made depends on all the board members. One of the leadership theories that the board should use in addressing the issues charged against them is a participative theory. As said earlier, Participative theory claims that, ideal leadership is one that acknowledges ideas or inputs of other people. In other words, leaders capitalizing in this theory tend to consider the input of others in their leadership tenure. These types of leaders tend to encourage contribution and participation from other members and help subordinates feel more committed and relevant to the process of decision making. However, these leaders are the final decision makers in every debated matter (Changing minds, 2002-2013).

If the School board uses this theory in their leadership, they will be able to solve the directors failure to work collaboratively with the School Board on its efforts to: meet federal mandates regarding reformation of new policy issues that will impact the leadership of the Department of Redevelopment and Housing, the State Department of Education, and the State Department of Housing and Urban Development. They will also be able to solve the director’s failure of supporting the academic leadership of secondary school principals by providing specific student data from the Department of Juvenile Relations, in an attempt to improve student retention and performance toward increase graduation rates.

Participative theory will allow the school board to listen to all members of the board. This gives it a platform where it will receive a variety of ideas to the choice. Having a variety of ideas that one chooses from enables the board to choose an idea that best suit and fit the needs of the situation. In addition, allowing other people to contribute in solving problems makes them feel part of the problem solving; as a result, they feel honored to help in solving the problem. The end result will be a satisfactory solution that is accepted by everyone affected by the issues, whether, directly or indirectly.

The school board should utilize using two main leadership styles, and that is, democratic style and people oriented style. Given that the school board is made of members, it should use democratic style of leading in order to arrive at its final decisions. A democratic school board will ensure that all the board members are involved when solving certain issues. The board ensures that the views of all citizens, department, and outside stakeholder are considered before engaging in any final decision. This will ensure that, complaints coming from these parties are solved, which helps in satisfying them, and avoiding future problems. This creates a friendly environment for the parties, and external stakeholders get to know and contribute to what affects them. This also helps in offering better services to all citizens. Thus, the board will be able to prevent commotions that would arise owing to making unsound decisions that are either not accepted by the majority or are decisions made by a few members.

Leadership from the Department of Public Health, the School Board, and the various other government departments impacts the leadership of the City Manager in two main areas, they include;

· Nature of services offered

· Separation of citizen roles and those of the departments

Nature of services offered – if the leadership from the Department of Public Health, the School Board, and the various other government departments is corrupt, there is a high possibility that the city manager will not be able to do his work effectively. This is because, the people served at the Department of Public Health, the School Board, and the various other government departments will expect a corrupt city manager. If the people at the top did their work as expected and followed expected ethics, then, the city managers will also be able to practice ethics in his work.

Separation of citizen roles and those of the departments – administrators are employed by the citizens and at the same time they are also citizens. Playing the both roles, administrators occupy an unusual but not unique position in today’s society; this includes public employees and government appointees. The public does not employ the city manager, and, therefore, the leadership from the Department of Public Health, the School Board, and the various other government departments may influence how the public sees the city manager. Anyone working for the government takes on the duty of serving both the public and playing the role of being a public member. Playing the both roles may sometimes lead to conflicting obligations.

Some of the two strategies that a public leader could use in order to overcome the weaknesses inherent in his or her leadership style are; encouraging contribution from his follower’s, and learn from successful leaders. By involving followers, a leader will be able to know and read his followers minds, thus; he will be able to know what they would want and wish to be lead. A leader can also learn from successful leaders, this way, and he will be able to incorporate the strategies to his strategies.

In conclusion, the citizens employ Public administrators and at the same time they are also citizens. Anyone working for the government takes on the duty of serving both the public and playing the role of being a public member. Playing the both roles may sometimes lead to conflicting obligations. Public administrators represent the government to the society. They see to it that government policies are implemented on the ground. Separating public service from politics, however, becomes a big challenge for public administrators, because the government of the day is politically elected anyway. This may lead to the violation of their code of ethics as public servants.

References

Changing minds. (2002-2013). Leadership theories. Retrieved from http://changingminds.org/disciplines/leadership/theories/leadership_theories.htm

Cooper, T. (2012). The Responsible Administrator: An Approach to Ethics for the Administrative Role. Hoboken. John Wiley & Sons

Sheeran, P. (2011) Ethics in Public Administration: A Philosophical Approach. Westport, Greenwood Publishing Group.

Siddiqui, K. & Waqar, S. H. (2013). A Study about the Leadership Styles of Public and Private School Principals. Journal of Elementary Education, 18(1-2), 5-20.