Introduction
In public service, every leader faces barriers regularly. But they have the prerogative to decide what kind of management theory they want to use. Even though not every model would solve each issue, a variation of these theories would help arrive at the source of the problem with minimal effort. Each manager has to determine a suitable theory for them in the current situation. Furthermore, with each department experiencing a specific type of issue, it means that each section will employ different methods or strategies to solve the issues in their sections. As chief of staff for my local government, I must make sure that the arising issues have been resolved urgently and amicably. This paper will utilize democratic leadership, transformational, transactional, and bureaucratic management theories to handle arising problems, complaints, and discordance within these departments.
Public Leadership in a Healthy Environment
The public health sector constitutes of different departments with each having its challenges. Therefore, the Director of Public Health and related agencies would benefit significantly from using the democratic leader’s theory in addressing issues. This theory helps the team to offer feedback before arriving at a decision, even though the level of input could differ from one leader to another. This approach is useful when dealing with group agreements, but it can be challenging to apply if there are a variety of alternative viewpoints and ideas (Alvesson, 2020). Contemplating that there are multiple stakeholders with various complaints from different sectors, it may be helpful to hear feedback from all sides. The optimal decisions for democratic leadership in this sector are to listen to and take note of all grievances and complaints. Thereafter, all stakeholders should be invited and be allowed to share their experience and understanding of how best to remedy these issues. It is also necessary to provide sufficient time to enable members to offer their contribution in terms of views and opinions and in creating strategies.
The most important aspect is in this theory is to maintain the power of people, which allows them to believe that they are part of the solution. While this leadership may seem to be technically democratic, the management should also provide an authoritarian management style that will offer clear guidance about what has to be accomplished and the way to achieve it. Another good style to have would be the transformational leadership approach. In this scenario, leaders play a motivational role by trying to inspire their team and by talking about the future and the results to be realized at the end of the task (Chunoo, 2020). It could be used by a top-ranking official while speaking to the group members to empower them and enhance their confidence before the solution-seeking exercise could commence.
Through using these concepts and styles, the director can have more hands-on knowledge of precisely what is going on in the department. For instance, they may be able to understand the impression that employees have in regards to the emerging issues, the complainers’ sentiments, and why each person may feel a certain way. The management may similarly obtain ideas and inspiration from different individuals, which may benefit all employees. Finally, they also might get some suggestions from those who are directly involved, rather than just making changes without knowing how it affects everyone.
Public Leadership in an Educational Environment
Learning institutions likewise have varying challenges that need to be handled efficiently by the leadership. Therefore, the school board management should be guided by the transactional theory. It is specifically a team-driven model which uses the reward method. In this approach, if one does not deliver, the team leader is bound to take action and discipline them, because it would seem as though they are fighting the change. Apart from the reward approach, the management must first formulate ways of promoting effective communication channels within the department to allow people to share opinions or complain about any pressing matters.
This way, the leadership can detect any upcoming issues early in advance. It is also advisable to introduce the transformational method of governance. Transformational leadership is about persuasion, and it strives to inspire individuals by referring to future developments and outcomes, which can be satisfying in the long run (Galli, 2020). They could benefit from a bureaucratic management style in which everything is played by the book to ensure the safety of the team and others. At this particular stage, every member will be required to exhibit a high degree of discipline and commitment not only to adhere to the rules and regulations but also on being productive in their respective areas of expertise.
Public Leadership in Government Operations
The Public Health Department, the School Board, and the multiple other government agencies, all have an impact on the City Manager supervision role and their authority to handle forth government functions. To win the confidence of employees, the leader should first display a high degree of integrity and create a culture of socialization within the department. A leader needs to have an understanding of whatever is happening around him or her at all times (Gott & Craft, 2020). It is because this awareness will equip them with enough knowledge of handling any issue which may arise, in a more efficient manner.
There must be some accountability and control in each industry when reporting to the City Managers. The leadership in this sector must be proactively involved in the day-to-day functions to be part of every process, decision, success, or even failure that the departments are undertaking. Engaging employees at different levels by holding regular meetings or organizing seminars would be a boost to this leadership, as it will enable them to assess and comprehend every issue within their sections. This will, eventually, enable them to handle problems at the initial stages.
Improving Public Leadership Styles
Assertiveness and adaptability are the two strategies that a public official may use to resolve the limitations inherent in his or her management approach. Assertiveness is a practical and diplomatic communication style that is centered on mutual respect. Being firm shows that one respects themselves because one is willing to protect their interests and express their thoughts and feelings. It illustrates the seriousness and sincerity in what one does and believes in (Galli, 2020). Adaptation is a function or a mechanism, whose meaning has been used as a specialized concept in various fields and business operations. Thus, it can be instrumental in the corporate world to be able to adapt to situations or surroundings.
Consequently, every style and principle have their outcomes and position depending on the circumstances. As a leader, one needs to be aware of the situation and what kind of approach or theory provides a good result. Each leadership requires a different style of management; therefore, every leader has to choose the one that accommodates their attitude and leadership concepts. Furthermore, the selected style should convey the message the management is attempting to pass (Galli, 2020). It may take multiple theories and techniques to learn which model suits each leader. However, the most important issue is for the problem to be solved.
Conclusion
There is a widespread perception that leadership is essential to the success of social and organizational structures. It is worth noting that, because of the dynamic nature of management, a definite and acceptable leadership theory is difficult to be determined or defined. There are several skills regarding administration, and even within the same concepts, there are always factors that need to be evaluated. The effort has been an analysis of classifying the skills and strategies of various leaders; however, there has to be a clearer way of becoming a front-runner. Some traits of successful managers may be innate, while others are acquired by experience, but there is no absolute rule that makes an excellent leader. Every scenario is unique, and leaders must strive to be versatile and have excellent analytical and communication skills enabling them to be effective in their positions. Predicting problems early enough before they could fully emerge would save any organization or institution many resources, time, and reputation. This is because it is too costly to remedy an issue that has already emerged and spread to other areas.
References
Alvesson, M. (2020). Upbeat leadership: A recipe for – or against – “successful” leadership studies. The Leadership Quarterly, 31(6), 101439. Web.
Chunoo, V. (2020). Leadership learning partnerships: Self‐authored leadership through the learning partnerships model. New Directions for Student Leadership, (168), 97-108. Web.
Galli, B. (2020). Effective strategies for communication management in a project management environment. International Journal of Applied Logistics, 10(2), 86-92. Web.
Gott, T., & Craft, C. (2020). Conceptualizations of leadership and leadership development within evangelical Christian campus ministries. New Directions for Student Leadership, (166), 61-81. Web.