Unlocking Public Leadership

Every group or society needs to be governed if it is to survive and its members are to thrive. And every system of governance requires what we have come to think of as ‘leadership’, at least from time to time: protection, direction, order, inspiration, challenge, transformation. Institutional rules, procedures and routines alone are never enough to tackle the conflicts, changes, surprises, opportunities and challenges that groups and communities encounter. Judging when and how to design, protect, supplement or change governance institutions and creating momentum to act upon those judgements are key functions of public leadership. In most governance systems there are designated roles — high offices in politics, government agencies and professional spheres — that come with a warrant for their bearers to exercise such leadership. But these offices also come with constraints — institutional, professional, ethical — on the ways in which leadership can be exercised. We realize we need the creative force that is leadership, but we are also acutely aware of the risks of channelling too much power, authority and public adulation towards only a few people. These public office-holders moreover do not have a monopoly on the exercise of public leadership: people and groups outside the formal leadership stratum can espouse ideas for tackling governance challenges, gather support for them, and so challenge or complement the leadership of public office-holders. Public leadership is thus part of the job for some, but a calling, a duty, an opportunity or a coincidence for many others. Its exercise is necessary, but also dangerous. It can elevate and motivate us, but it can also drag us down.