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An introduction to public leadership
An introduction to public leadership

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1.1 Leadership roles in the public space

You will have already noted that the public sphere represents a very broad range of social, political and economic activity involving large numbers of employees and volunteers.

The sheer size of the workforce of state-controlled organisations in the public sector offers some sense of the scale of organisational challenges, particularly during a time of rapidly changing social and political conditions. Leadership in this sphere is about tackling some of those challenges and dealing with their inherent complexity. For example, enacting and enforcing a new law on safe driving requires leadership from a range of role-holders, from government ministers, national and local politicians, campaigners and pressure groups, civil servants and local government officials, and, of course, the police.

In the following video, Professor Hartley considers who contributes to public and community services and what distinguishes leadership in the public sector from leadership in other spheres of economic and social activity.

Download this video clip.Video player: ou_futurelearn_police_vid_1003.mp4
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