OPINION OF TOP OFFICIALS ABOUT LEADERSHIP IN PUBLIC ORGANIZATIONS

The public sector has been influenced by different management paradigms. Over time, however, administrative work and the exercise of leadership based on values introduced from other sectors have apparently come to occupy separate cultural spheres. This leads us to question imported leadership models that clash with the management of public organizations, and to ask if these entities need to be understood according to their own views of leadership. This work explores the image that exists in the public sector regarding leadership roles, the main problems faced by upper management and solutions that should be applied in public organizations to reinforce competencies when designing leadership development programs. A qualitative study was done to discover the opinions of high-ranking officials at different administrative levels on diverse aspects of leadership in their organizations. The topics were opened for virtual debate on the Moodle (TM) learning platform of the National Institute of Public Administration in Spain. The results describe how the civil servants who participated perceive the role of leader in the public sector, the main problems involved in exercising leadership and areas they think should be strengthened in any public employee who aspires to a leadership role. While respecting the differences in administrative systems and the conditions under which the public sector functions in each State, this paper offers new information about the competencies that should be promoted in leadership development programs. (C) 2021 Published by European Publisher.