Christian: Clive Gray and I wrote a paper for EDCC on the impact of leadership on outcomes in Sub-Saharan Africa....(reference below).  At the time there was a lot of discussion especially in the World Bank how a new generation of leaders was transforming Africa.  Arthur Goldsmith and I wrote a piece for the SAIS Review (reference below) which looked at that as well.  Since then I have moved on.  My former colleague Risa Toha who is now in Singapore was working on the role of democratic change on local leadership in Indonesia....she has a small section on that in the book the Ash Center produced on Indonesia a couple of years ago [awful title but is it The Sum is Greater than the Parts....when I finished the volume that became that book it was called something like Promoting Rapid Sustained Inclusive Growth in Indonesia]

Anyway, I  have moved on.....I am old and crusty and have very little respect for the feckless no-nothings that parade around as leaders....bit extreme but shows the direction I am leaning.  I am also of the view that if citizens are happy to continue putting up the types of Putin and Mugabe and the House of Saud and others then it is hard to be sympathetic....i am also glad I live in a democracy where at least we have the prospect of tossing the rogues out every so often.....Enough of my rant....

References are: “The Leadership Factor in African Policy Reform and Growth” (with C.S. Gray) Economic Development and Cultural Change, vol. 49, issue no. 4, 2001, pp.707-740

“Africa: On the Move?” (with A.A. Goldsmith) SAIS Review Summer-Fall, vol.18, no.2, 1998, pp.153-168

Kind regards. Malcolm McPherson

 Dear Malcome,

What a nice coincidence - I really enjoyed reading your EDCC piece and quoted it in in some of my previous work (http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/00074910903040310)

To be sure, the leadership angle can be more than disillusioning - and I find it unsatisfying to simply state that "leadership mattes" (as some of my  research clearly shows) ... more pressing is the question (for me at least) what gives rise to reformist/conducive/farsighted leaders in some places and not in others -

hence traces of structural/political/historical drivers of "reformist leadership"

In any case, thank you for sharing your thoughts and providing these references, highly appreciated

Best wishes,

Christian

Hi Christian:

I think these references would be useful for you:

1-Bozeman, Barry. 2002. Public Value Failure: When Effi cient Markets May Not Do.

Public Administration Review 62(2): 145–161.

2-Bozeman, Barry. 2007. Public Values and Public Interest: Counterbalancing Economic

Individualism. Washington, DC: Georgetown University Press.

3-Bozeman, Barry, and Stephanie Moulton. 2011. Integrative Publicness: A

Framework for Public Management Strategy and Performance. Journal of Public

Administration Research and Th eory 21(Supplement 3): i363–i380.

4-Bozeman, Barry, and Daniel Sarewitz. 2011. Public Value Mapping and Science

Policy Evaluation. Minerva 49: 1–23.

Best regards,

Graciela Falivene

Hallo Christian, good to hear from you. Selling leadership courses seems to be very profitable these days.Even the University of Brunei made all staff to attend a leadership course, run by an American team that had no knowledge of local culture whatsoever. The course had no impact, except costing a lot of money. Corporate "leaders" love to see themselves as leaders, but the corporate world is full of fraud, mismanagement and failure. That is probably the reason, why some glorification is necessary. Better talk about responsible governance rather than "leadership".

Hallo H.D., very good to hear from you, indeed. I fully agree that any glorification and anecdotal treatment  of the "big men" in history ... or even a polished narrative of "agents of reform" in the development context is anything but desirable... Hence my question in this forum. 

I also find it difficult to isolate structural and institutional factors - in order to get a genuine glimpse of agential "leadership" effects ... 

Having said all that, I still believe that yardstick effects across subnational boundaries (e.g. where mayors have to justify their poor performance visavis other higher performing incumbants in neighboring jurisdictions) an interesting phenomenon that can have significant traction in explaining policy outcomes and public good provision.

All the very best - and please stay in touch

Christian 

Christian,

Suggest you check the website of the African Leadership Centre at King's College London. Professor 'Funmi Olunisakin is convinced enough of the value of leadership to build an entire fellowship programme around trying to support better AFrican leaders. Talking to ALC might be a good idea.

These came to mind:

Jones BF and Olken BA (2005) Do leaders matter? National leadership and growth since World War II. The Quarterly Journal of Economics 120(3): 835–64.

Do educated leaders matter? (Reynal-Querol, Marta; T. Besley and J. G. Montalvo), Economic Journal, 121, 205-227, 2011.

My experience has been in the UK with local and national government leaders, (plus one or two private sector companies).  From this I have learned a few significant lessons; that leadership in government can be contextual; that it can also be a matter of luck and timing; that there is a culture in which we have begun to promote a type of leader in this field.  Perhaps it's the last that has stayed with me most.  I would not presume to answer for all, but I have noticed over the last ten years in particular that the type of leadership that appears to be more prevalent in both sectors now has less concern with the people involved in organisations and more concern with the balance sheet and with reputation.  What seems paradoxical is that it's often people who will create and sustain the reputation of an organisation, and more often than not, it's those very people who are suffering the more negative effects of the new breed of government leadership.  This is not my natural field, but I can share my experiences, for what they are worth.  Government leadership does indeed matter, Christian, but I guess a couple of interesting questions could be "to whom and for what purpose?"

Out of every hundred men, ten shouldn’t even be there. Eighty are just targets. Nine are the real fighters, and we are lucky to have them, for they make the battle. Ah, but the one, one is a warrior, and he will bring the others back. —HERACLITUS, 500 B.C.

I think government/executive leadership matter in a major way. The leader needs to have the requisite vision to run the organisation. The leader's vision needs to be based on long term needs and aspirations of the organisations. A leader having a short term vision may result in the downfall of the organisation. The worth of all the functionaries in such an organisation comes down and they are unable to save the organisation.

Interesting exchange.  Leadership matters.  No one should believe that I do not accept that. It is not all that matters.  The quality of "followship" in the sense of participation, accountability, and gullibility are important as well.  How much do Venezuelans suspend their disbelief and hunker down simply to outlast Maduro? So are context, timing, and the "enabling environment".  Context because it determines the problems and prospects that a situation can be addressed by a "leader" and not just the normal "muddling through" of administrative structures. Timing is important because opportunities to be more or less influential with respect to particular issues pass quickly (e.g,, when will there be an opportunity to lead on gun control in the US; contrast that with Australia when the Port Arthur outrage produced such an opportunity that the government of the time took). The "enabling environment" is critical in the sense that most minds need to be concentrated on pushing for some resolution (a current problem with Climate Change although the smog in Beijing and Delhi is helping focus attention, but not so with migration into Europe).  

What I have always found useful has been the eulogy for FDR by Walter Lippman which included: "The final test of a leader is that he leaves behind him in other men the conviction and the will to carry on."  This statement obviously needs to some PC air-brushing, but the sentiment is clear.  Thugs like Putin and Mugabe and Museveni and before them Moi and and Mobutu and Pinochet leave behind them devastation and despair and generate a sense of relief or deliverance when they go.  I single out the "big men" but the same applies all the way down to the local tea circle or Putnam's bowling group.  Are people attracted or repelled, both before and after the person departs?  This might be a simplistic "wet finger" test of leadership.

Happy holidays everyone.  One might hope that our leaders, whoever they happen to be, will work towards a safer, more prosperous, and uplifting 2016.  I certainly do.   

Leadership matters to the extent that the structure of institutions permits it. Or at least leadership and institutional structure intersect.

@ Guymal Noel.

Yes, I agree. But it's also pivotal how much life a country breathes into its institutional structures . Many states have well-defined institutional landscapes and rules - but in some cases they remain a formalized shell, in which the powers to be continue to pursue clientelist/captive interests. Hence, I would argue that the separation of agency & institutions is never clear cut and that, indeed, both cross-fertilze each other.

Yess! Currently Indonesia faces such complexity due to the lack of leadership of Joko Widodo.

It is too easy to dismiss a country's problems to "lack of leadership" whether Joko or anyone else.  The quality of "followship" matters as well and in that respect there is plenty of "blame" or excuses in Indonesia to go round.  For a little more nuanced approach check out the Harvard Kennedy School Study "The Sum is Greater than the Parts Doubling Shared Prosperity in Indonesia Through Local and Global Integration"....It is available on the Ash Center website at the Kennedy School. 

Leadership does matter , it provides some kind of direction to the "followers" in general. However,  human nature does have an impact  on outcomes and  time relevancy is important  to his or her decision making choices. In terms of context, effective and great leadership weighs heavily on personality and traits of the leader.(e.g President Obama action on the gun control policies with  the executive orders issued,shows some kind of determination and passion for the issue to be addressed and his beliefs and values and his inability to do more brought him to tears). Evidently, the values and experience of the leader will determine what matters most to that individual, although the objectives of the leader might not be the objectives of those around him and those in congress. Most importantly though, is the period involved in the outcomes whether long term or short term ( eg. the philosophers, Marx"s and Weber's gave ideas  are still refuted today, while others reject their theories and the debate continues , when the theories were thought of and written it was as a result of events and some predictions based on observations at the time. Capitalism has it's advantages and disadvantages,so do other forms of economic systems. In addition, the categories  of social class   and human actions  and time have proven its outcomes whether to the advantage or disadvantages to the individuals or groups. Leadership does matter and the ideas, actions and outcomes of leaders when there is  a crisis will be testament to the quality of the leadership given and the path he/she wish to take the " followers" and legacy the leader  would have written the history books.

I did not say leadership does not matter....but like all uni-causal determinants of country's problems is only part of the explanation.  As I suggested, take a look at the Kennedy School study and then lay it on Joko if you remain unconvinced...

Christian, great to see you!! Hope you're doing well.

I think from the way you phrase the question that you're talking about Head-of-State/Head-of-Government leadership. But if you're interesting in a contemporary military example, take a look at Auerswald and Saideman, "NATO in Afghanistan: Fighting Together, Fighting Alone," their U.S. chapter. Lieutenant General David Barno,  resisting wrong-headed suggestions from the Secretary of Defense, soon after arrival in Afghanistan in 2003-04 put together just about the best counter-insurgency strategy seen to that point in-country. It was his inspiration, but faded after he departed. There are many other senior military examples.

Yes it matters.

A mature leader takes the country/organisation forward and an immature one derails the already forward country/organisation.

Dear Professors

How can we know leadership matter or not if we do not exactly describe what it is, the nature of it, how it can be practiced etc. I would therefore welcome your ideas or your suggestion of readings that I need to approach as a new follower. Thanks

Nguyen Le Vinh

Dear all, leadership matters at it provides the direction to followers. More importantly in promoting ethics in the public sector, the role of leadership is very crucial. This is well explained in the ''leadership-subordinate ethical diffusion model'' provided in the article below. In the paper, authors provide some practical instances where leadership influenced the general organizational climate.

"Public sector leadership‐subordinate ethical diffusion conundrum: perspectives from developing African countries." Journal of Public Affairs (2015).

http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/pa.1589/pdf

Christian

Some policy perspectives from Jamaica

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/301501696_Labour_Market_Reforms_for_enhancing_Public_Sector_Productivity_in_Jamaica

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/305687139_Priority_policy_recommendations_for_transforming_individual_productivity_and_SME_competitiveness_in_Jamaica

Technical Report Priority policy recommendations for transforming individual ...

Technical Report Labour Market Reforms for enhancing Public Sector Productivi...