Crisis,Culture and Charisma: The New Leader's Work in Public Organizations

Abstract

This paper argues that the changing nature of public service requires new leadership and that the primary goal of leaders in public organizations today should be the development of, as the organization's primary core competence, an adaptive organizational culture. The changing nature of public service will be discussed in terms of the external and internal environmental forces impacting public organizations, the expanded and diverse missions that make up the work of the members of these organizations, and the style of leadership appropriate in order to take steps to create the organizational energy necessary for action. The model presented emphasizes the interaction of the environment, the followers, and the leader and describes this interaction as a combination of crisis, culture, and charisma.