Quote of the week

“Leading is challenging in any environment.”

Editor’s Corner

The Centre for Creative Leadership has published a paper called Public Sector Leadership Challenges: Are they different and do they matter? The paper was the result of written answers from 1,500 U.S. federal government and 500 private sector leaders who attended their programs.

The results suggest that public sector leaders face specific leadership issues related to managing the public sector workforce and dealing with resource restraints.

Out of a list of 17 priorities, both sector leaders agreed that personal leadership was #1 and managing and motivating employees was second. But drilling down on the second priority showed differences: motivating subordinates was of greater concern to the public sector leaders (6.9% of respondents compared to 3.7% in the private sector) as was dealing with problem subordinates (3.1% vs 0.4%).

When asked about organizational operations and performance, both sectors complained almost equally about the bureaucratic environment they faced (.5% public vs .6% private). Yet budget was by far the biggest concern of the public sector leaders, followed by resources.

When asked about setting/balancing priorities, the level of concern was equal (2.7% public vs 2.9% private). Regarding talent management, the levels of concern were also about equal: recruiting/retaining/training was of concern to 3.9% public sector leaders vs 3.3% private sector.

The report suggests that without financial rewards or quick promotions, public sector leaders will need to find new ways to motivate employees and lead them through change.

 

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