making sense of leadership

Making Sense of LeadershipDynamics of Leadership in Public Service: Theory and Practice by Montgomery Van WartReview by: Gerald M. PopsPublic Administration Review, Vol. 67, No. 2 (Mar. - Apr., 2007), pp. 361-364Published by: Wiley on behalf of the American Society for Public AdministrationStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/4624576 .

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case of Portugal, Tavares's study focuses on the period 1851 to 1910. It appears, however, that in this regard, the situation has not substantially changed to date. As for neighboring Italy, the concluding paragraphs of Melis's chapter sum up its predicament well: "In the 1990s and then at the beginning of the 21st century, Italy appeared a country not only with weak administrative elites but, now and then, even devoid of administrative elites.... At the decisive moment of European integration, the Italian administrative system, deprived of a strong administrative leadership, seems to be weaker than those of the other partners" (198).

The chapter on Bulgaria is a case study of transition and reform after the fall of communism. As in most other countries of Eastern and Central Europe, the

experience has been mixed, with politicization and the

multiple manifestation of a surge of corruption in

government representing the downsides of a drastic

change of regime.

It seems apt to conclude this review with four chapters that stand out because they explore not countries or institutions but sources, approaches, and methods. Thus, Erk Volkmar Heyen's chapter is less a case study of the Russian civil service under the czars (let alone an evaluation of the literary merits of Tolstoy and

Gogol) than a pointed reminder of the value of global prose as a rich source of insights on the character, predicament, lifestyles, and contributions of a univer-

sally noticed, albeit not invariably liked-let alone

respected-profession. In the European context, who can ignore the importance of a Dickens, a Balzac, a Kafka, a C.P. Snow, a Milan Kundera, a Gogol, or a Tolstoy in seeking to fathom the nature of the bureaucratic phenomenon? In a very similar vein, Franqois Monnier, Guy Thullier, and Jean Pierre Dedieu remind us of the role and power of personality in public administration and, therefore, of the value of

biographical studies-"prosopography" is the term that Dedieu employs-in developing an understanding of the dynamics of governance and dispelling preconcep- tions so graphically expressed as in the "dead hand of

bureaucracy." According to Monnier and Thullier,

disregard of personality reflects self-imposed limitations in the study of the elite, a profound misunderstanding of their role and function, and possibly a conscious

rejection of the very concept itself. In their view, much can be gained from the study of personalities in which abundant sources (archives, etc), hitherto little

explored, can be put to good use.

Dedieu uses the senior cadres of 16th-century Spain and France to demonstrate the value of biographical sources, institutional profiles, personal archives, and annals for an accurate appreciation and insightful understanding of the dynamics at play in the progress of organization and the work of prominent leaders.

Changing what needs to be changed, a similar remark

may well be made on the importance of the studies of the Cahiers that the International Institute of Administrative Sciences has, over time, contributed toward our understanding of concepts and

phenomena that loom large in the field of public administration. Merit, representativeness, and the

politics-administration interface may serve as

appropriate examples.

In-depth, incisive analyses of major trends and policies and the application of historical data and bio-

graphical sources may shed much-needed light, help place generalizations about the public service in a much better perspective, and help avoid the stereotypes, exaggerated claims, and resulting distortions to which lack of comparison and historical depth have led. How very refreshing to read in Dedieu's account of wartime corrupt practices in 18th-century Spain that

"raising an army costs nothing to the King. He simply delegates the task to an entrepreneur who reimburses himself by selling commissions and patents, which he

may have received in blank forms from the King. Often, the entrepreneur may even make a profit" (292; my translation). It would appear, accordingly, that the practice of outsourcing is manifestly older than we may like to think and that in "reinventing government," some New Public Management advo- cates, bereft of historical insights, may have simply reinvented the wheel.

Gerald M. Pops West Virginia University

Making Sense of Leadership

Montgomery Van Wart, Dynamics of Leadership in Public Service: Theory and Practice (Armonk, NYE M. E. Sharpe, 2005). 520 pp., $84.95 (hardbound), ISBN: 9780765609014.

he author of a major work on values in public administration (1998) and a trainer of execu- tive officers, Montgomery Van Wart has taken

on the ambitious task of reviewing the subject of

Gerald M. Pops is a professor of public administration at West Virginia University. He has authored works on administrative

justice, including Case for lustice (Jossey- Bass, 1992, with Thomas J. Pavlak), conflict resolution, and ethical leadership. Currently, he is working on a leadership study based on the career and character of George C. Marshall, titled Marshall: Ethical Leadership for the Ages. E-mail: [email protected].

Book Reviews 361



administrative leadership in public organizations. To that end, his Dynamics of Leadership in Public Service: Theory and Practice has two goals: first, an analysis of the leadership "competencies" and assessment abilities that all organizational leaders should have, and second, a comparative review of the theoretical literature on leadership in the public sector. The book is focused on public and nonprofit organizational leadership, but the author also draws freely from the literature and models developed in the private corporate arena. The result is an exhaustive treatment of the subject of administrative leadership, impressive in its scope and

painstaking in its workmanship.

The book is, above all, a teaching text, and it works well in this regard. Each chapter ends with discussion

questions, some of which include simulated cases that stimulate the student to revisit and apply the concepts that have been introduced. The language is explana- tory and clear, benefiting from frequent public sector

examples.

The plan of the book revolves around a "leadership action cycle," which Van Wart describes as "designed to be useful in training and applied settings." The

primary function of the model is to exhaustively mine and organize the leadership literature as it relates to

personal traits, skills, and behaviors-collectively called "competencies"-that bear on a leader's effectiveness. Van Wart does this by presenting, with con- siderable mastery in the writing and completeness of

explanation, fully 37 competencies, a laborious enter-

prise that takes him well into the second half of this rather large book. The competencies approach is augmented by two early chapters on the nature of the

"global assessments" that all leaders are (or ought to be) called upon to make of their environments, limitations, and priorities as they take on their positions. The author's word "taxonomy" aptly describes his

approach to both competencies and leader assessments and gives the book a highly classificatory and

encyclopedic character and feel.

If the book were to end here, the reader would have a masterly reference book to keep at close hand, useful for answering questions and defining terms concern- ing the elements of leadership and its development, as well as a good teaching text. However, the author has another purpose in mind for the last one-third of the book-a comparative review of more than a century of vigorous and many-sided scholarship. In his words, this is necessary because "although an applied approach is useful at a practical level, a deeper understanding of leadership requires an analysis of the competing theories and frameworks that have been advanced in the field" (273).

It is at this juncture that the enterprise runs into dif- ficulty. As a new set of analytical tools is carefully

fashioned for round two, the reader cannot be blamed for shifting uncomfortably in his or her seat. But bear with the author: By the time he finishes, he has illu- minated the field in a way that permits a complete view of the many elements and interconnections of

leadership. Although his constant theory building to accommodate this comparison of theory may seem

"overthought" and overrationalized, this reader was left with a much clearer understanding of the princi- pal features of a literature landscape that is more lunar than cultivated.

In the first chapter, the leadership literature is briefly organized in a chronological presentation of

approaches according to various schools of thought and according to four questions that address the major debates among researchers: (1) To what degree does

leadership make a difference? (2) What should leaders focus on? (3) Are leaders born or made, and to what

degree can they be trained? (4) What is the best style (set of management behaviors) to use? The second

question is of particular interest to public sector scholars and often arises under the heading of the proper scope of discretion for decision and action by the

government administrator. One need only recall the famous Finer-Friedrich debate of the early 1940s over the matter of administrative responsibility. On the other questions, the author finds that the field of

public sector leadership accepts most of what is said in the private sector literature.

Van Wart renders a service by explaining the different

ways that "style" has been defined in the literature. He also is persuasive in downplaying the distinction that so many authors erect between the concepts of man-

agement and leadership while implying the same: "Rather, all good managers must occasionally be leaders..., and all good leaders had better be good managers.., at least some of the time if they are not to be

brought down by technical snafus or organizational messiness. Indeed, one of the enormous challenges of

great leadership is the seamless blending of the more

operational-managerial dimensions with the visionary leadership functions" (25).

The following chapters on the importance and nature of leader assessments lay out a comprehensive picture of the factors that need to be assessed upon taking over a leadership position and a prescriptive view of some of the steps to be taken. But there is no mention of how a leader might go about gaining the knowledge and perspective needed to make these assessments. Certainly, it cannot be assumed that the putative leader's background is sufficient to prepare him or her to make the assessment. Is the assessment instinctive? Is it based on strong values gained from a blessed background that has positioned the leader to ask the right questions? And, if a steep learning curve is necessary (after all, the number of leader

362 Public Administration Review * March IApril 2007



assessments the author says must be made seems out-

landishly huge for one human to accomplish), then are there special competencies or prescribed processes for mastering this phase?

A distinction of degree rather than kind is drawn

among traits, skills, and behaviors, and these terms are well defined and defended, as well as effectively pre- sented. Traits are relatively innate or long-term dispositions, skills are broadly applied learned characteristics, and behaviors are concrete actions.

Van Wart distills the leadership traits found in the literature into a group of 10: self-confidence, decisiveness, resilience, energy, need for achievement, willingness to assume responsibility, flexibility, service

mentality, personal integrity, and emotional maturity. Certainly others could have been chosen (e.g., deter- mination, sociability, and intelligence), but the author notes the overlapping terminological difficulties and

attempts to be as consistent as possible with the essen- tials of the many lists. Fair enough. The skills that contribute to leadership effectiveness include commu- nication, social ability (is this the trait "sociability" in different dress?), influence, analytic ability, technical

ability (at least enough to impress followers), and the knack for continual learning ("taking responsibility for acquiring new information, looking at old information in new ways, and finding ways to use new and old information creatively"). The author summarizes the literature, explains terms, and gives guidelines for how they are applied. He also discusses their limitations, in particular, the points at which a trait or skill is so overused or abused that it becomes a liability.

Behaviors are grouped into three sets: task-oriented behaviors, people-oriented behaviors, and organizational-oriented behaviors. There are few surprises in these lists, summaries, and guidelines for usage. The dualism of task and people orientations (best exempli- fied in the work of Blake and Mouton 1964, 1965), founded in the tide of situational theory (taking into account environmental factors and the nature of followers), is augmented by the "organizational behaviors" that bring attention to the external environment and the systems perspective (such as environmental scanning, visioning, and strategic planning).

To bridge the progression from taxonomy to literature review, Van Wart introduces clusters of competencies that he labels "styles" and applies to them certain contingency factors ("all the different types of vari- ables that affect the style or behavior of leaders as they seek to be effective"). The leader's selection of a style or multiple styles from among the many competencies becomes part of the leadership action cycle. Styles are selected by particular leaders to fit different operational environments and realities. They include direc- tive, laissez-faire, supportive, participative, delegative,

achievement-oriented, inspirational, external, and combined. Categories of contingency factors include

leadership characteristics, task characteristics, subordi- nate characteristics, and organizational characteristics.

Using combinations of contingency and style vari- ables, Van Wart classifies all of the major leadership theories, not unlike a border collie sorting sheep into

separate pens (regardless of their satisfaction with the sorter's choice). A word should be added about "trans- formational" leadership, which carries much weight in other leadership texts. Van Wart sees this body of

theory as "more normative in its perspective, nearly always focusing on ideal behaviors of great leaders" (338) and concerned with creating new visions and committed to organizational change.

Following a chapter on leadership development, also

approached as a teaching and taxonomical exercise, Van Wart concludes with a short, summative chapter on evaluating leadership. Likely, he intended it to be

longer, and he entices the reader by promising at its end "an example of perhaps the greatest administrative leader in U.S. history: George Washington." Sadly, owing to editorial oversight, the example does not materialize. We are left only with the author's rather bland definition of public administrative leadership: "a composite of providing technical performance, internal direction and support to followers, and external organizational direction-all with a public service orientation" (434).

In the end, Van Wart's catalog of assessments and

competencies required for effective leadership is

enlightening but daunting. One might reflect that most leadership efforts, even those streamlined for

specific styles and discrete intended results, are

surely are bound to fail, and as a result, our public organizations are typically and unsurprisingly unsuccessful. But this does not appear to be the reality (Goodsell 2003). This apparent contradiction begs questioning. Is there room instead for the hypothesis that effective organizations do not necessarily have to be dependent on great or even good leadership? Is there empirical support for the idea that some organizations achieve much of what is expected of them through a combination of mediocre leadership, a body of professional knowledge, ethical performance of duty, and policy directives that allows them to simply muddle through?

Reservations about the scope and applicability of Van Wart's book might be reinforced when two excellent books by Jeffrey S. Luke (1998) and Robert and Janet Denhardt (2006) are considered. The thrust of Luke's thesis is that the nature of the public sector is so different from that of the private or even the nonprofit sector that it casts leadership into different realms. Private sector leadership contemplates take-charge

Book Reviews 363



executives pursuing organizational excellence, stimu-

lating extraordinary performance by their employees, and transforming the organization's internal culture. Public problems, on the other hand, are interconnected across organizational and jurisdictional lines, each organization lacking the resources, authority, and influence to bring about change by itself. In such an environment, the task of public sector leaders is to connect with each other and to act as catalysts in order to bring their issues to the public and policy agenda, gather the diverse sets (really, networks) of

people, agencies, and interests needed to address the issues, stimulate multiple strategies and options for action, and sustain that action and momentum by managing the interconnections through some type of institutionalization and information sharing.

Although some of the competencies needed to suc- ceed and thrive in such an environment are undoubt-

edly addressed by Van Wart, most are treated as vague generalities about environmental scanning, network-

ing, and partnering behaviors. Similarly, the critical

importance of passion and strength of character to

leadership observed by Luke is largely missed. Luke's words resonate strongly in the sensibilities of public administrators: "character undergirds and infuses

energy into the specific tasks and skills," and three habits form the basis of character-a passion for results, a sense of connectedness and relatedness, and

exemplary personal integrity (Luke 1998, xviii-xix). Van Wart would likely describe this as a "style" and treat catalytic leadership as but another leadership theory to catalog.

Though Luke calls attention to the need to think

idiosyncratically about the nature of leadership in the

public sector, the Denhardts challenge us to think more broadly about the nature of leadership in gen- eral-in particular the nonrational, affective aspects of

leadership or, as they put it, the art ofleadership. As

we only learn to dance by dancing, we only learn to lead by leading. Studying rational models and learning cognitive skills and behaviors may assist, but the essence of leadership lies in the emotional bonds we form through activities that engage the spirit-inner resources, deeply valued, that "help shape human

energy in a positive direction" (162). Improvisational skills and seeing things from new perspectives, drawn from the affective sides of human personality, are vital to the leadership process because they are

necessary to get our organizations and networks to

adapt to change and situational emergencies.

Putting together the solid scholarship of Van Wart on the traditional literature, the insights of Luke on the connective tissue of the public sector and its need for

catalytic leadership, and the Denhardts' innovative

perceptions on the art of leadership, the reader is left with a rather complete understanding of the current state of public sector leadership. Add to this some

storytelling about acknowledged masters of the American administrative leadership craft-George Washington and George C. Marshall for starters-and a serious student of the art and science of public leadership will be ahead of the game.

References Denhardt, Robert B., and Janet Vinzant Denhardt.

2006. The Dance ofLeadership: The Art of Leading in Business, Government, and Society. Armonk, NY: M.E. Sharpe.

Goodsell, Charles T. 2003. The Case for Bureaucracy: A Public Administration Polemic. Washington, DC:

CQ Press.

Luke, Jeffrey S. 1998. Catalytic Leadership: Strategies

for an Interconnected World. San Francisco:

Jossey-Bass. Van Wart, Montgomery. 1998. Changing Public Sector

Values. New York: Garland.

Ellen Hanak Public Policy Institute of California

Rehabilitating the 800-Pound Gorilla

Ellen Hanak is a research fellow at the Public Policy Institute of California. She is the author of Who Should Be Allowed to Sell Water in California? Third Party Issues and the Water Market(Public Policy Institute of California, 2003) and Water for Growth: California's New Frontier (Public Policy Institute of California, 2005). E-mail: [email protected].

Steven P Erie, Beyond Chinatown: The Metropolitan Water District, Growth, and the Environment in Southern California (Stanford, CA: Stanford Univer-

sity Press, 2006). 384pp., $21.95, (softbound), ISBN. 0804751404.

tephen P. Erie's Beyond Chinatown retells the story of Southern California's water supply and

growth through the lens of the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California (MWD).

This regional water wholesaler, which now serves

roughly 18 million customers within the six-county Southern California region, is often known as the

800-pound gorilla of California water politics. Erie aims to depict the MWD as an innovative public sector leader in environmentally and economically responsible water supply development. This view stands in contrast to those of other critics-including some scholars, environmentalists, northern Californians, and even some of the MWD's own

364 Public Administration Review * March April 2007



making sense of leadership

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