This course is intended to enable participants to understand, evaluate and reflect on leadership in the public sector as well as develop their own leadership skills through experiential exercises. The course considers leadership issues on four levels. After considering the current institutional, political and social context for public sector leadership, the course focuses on key capabilities for effective leadership including critical thinking, communication skills, self-leadership, motivating people, designing systems to support effective action of individuals and teams, building and using power and influence, and understanding and influencing organisational culture. Through learning new concepts and experiential exercises, students will be encouraged to formulate their own unique conception of themselves as a leader. A key idea running through the course is the importance of perception and judgment. Effective leaders must be able to step back and take a bigger perspective than those they lead on themselves, their role, and their strategic task; but this openness to learning and seeing things anew must be balanced with the capacity to make judgments and decisions.  Although this course emphasises examples from the public sector, the skills and perspectives discussed are relevant to all forms of leadership.

Critical book review (20%), Leader biography essay (30%), Case study analysis (10%), Online Discussion Contributions and Reflection (40%)

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