This edited volume brings together a host of material to analyze the key aspects of leadership in the public sector. With contributions from leading academics, this is an invaluable supplementary resource for those undertaking studies across public sector management and administration.

Introduction: Overview and Conceptualisations Part I: The Meaning of the Public Sector Leadership and its Changing Forms 2. 'Leaderism' and the Discourse of Leadership in the Reformation of UK Public Services 3. Leading Transformation in the Public Delivery Systems: A Political Perspective 4. Respond and Deliver? Change Leadership in Complex OrganizationsPart II: Leadership Style in the Public Services 5. After Privatisation: The Public Management of Private Employment Services 6. Medical Leadership and Management Reforms in Hospitals: A Comparative Study 7. Quality Development and Professional Autonomy in Modern Hospital Fields Part III: Leadership and Public Sector Professionals 8. Universities under New Labour: Senior Leaders' Responses to Government Reforms and Policy Levers - Findings from an ESRC Project on Public Service Leadership 9. Academic Leadership and its Effects on Professional Autonomy 10. The University and the Public and Private Good 11. The Making of Professional Public Leaders: Leadership as Practical Myth 12. Concluding Discussion: Paradigms and Instruments of Public Management Reform - The Question of Agency

'This edited book on leadership in the public sector will undoubtedly be well-thumbed, rather than sit on my book shelf, for both research and teaching purposes. It covers a wide expanse of theoretical and empirical ground, and remains academically rigorous and practically relevant in so doing. It offers: comparison across domains of the public sector, and internationally; encompasses individual, group, organizational and system level analysis; integrates policy and management concerns; is inter-disciplinary in its orientation. I, for one, will be citing its contents in my research publications.'Graeme Currie, Professor of Public Management, Warwick Business School UK‘Everyone involved in this wonderful book takes the idea and practice of leadership seriously, developing useful theory through close observation of what people do in organizations. The public sector context is important but not defining, enabling the contributions to speak to all involved in leading. Above all it challenges those who cry ‘we need more leadership’ whenever there is a public sector organizational problem. I’m sure it will become a key text in universities and in government departments around the world.’Dr Scott Taylor, Reader in Organizational Behaviour, School of Business & Economics, Loughborough University UK