Public Leadership: An Inclusive Task for All - Essay Sample

Introduction

Public leadership is defined as the role one holds in a public office, thus serving and guiding the whole community. However, this role is a more inclusive and meaningful means that is very essential. Therefore, it should be known that leadership is a collective activity that involves the community and the people at large. Leadership has had many definitions and varying views from various people based on the fact that it is an inclusive task. It is therefore believed that for one to become a successful leader, they need to have some unique qualities that help them become good leaders. Leaders should also have diverse traits to help them lead without any discrimination. The following paragraphs will address the public leadership and diversity topic elaborating well on the leadership traits and tasks that they have in communities.

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A public leader is simply a person that holds a public office, thereby serving and guiding the whole community. In today’s world, leaders have been viewed as people that hold public offices or even high jobs at the government. However, all these individuals have undergone the same procedure to hold those positions. Leaders should have distinctive traits that make them stand out regardless of their powers, which means that they should also respect their followers and not abuse them. They should recognize that the seats they hold are given to them by the followers, so they should not misuse them. Public leaders have powers that provide them with the ability to achieve goals and deliver positive outcomes that are even beyond their direct control. Leaders should, therefore, use their power to make good things happen in the communities and ensure that the needs of the people are being addressed. In addition to that, they should also act as role models to people in the society (Hart, & Tummers, 2014).

As discussed above, it is clear that a good leader should be able to fulfill their roles and responsibilities for the community they are in charge of and put the needs of the individuals first. Researches conducted have also supported this view by claiming that in today’s world, public leadership is more than leading the public sectors. This means that it is a broader field that is inclusive of public and private sectors, community groups, and the general population. Therefore, the leaders should ensure that they address all these sectors during their period if power. There have also been researches to prove why leaders lead and what inspires them to help them achieve something at the end. Based on the experience and knowledge that I have garnered through the public leaders, I believe it is based on the leader’s traits and charisma to leave behind a footprint. Some other researches have stated that it is due to one's need to transform themselves and ensure a shared vision in the community.

This topic shall, therefore, look at two public leaders to support the thesis of the study. The leaders include Abraham Lincoln and Queen Victoria of England. Abraham Lincoln represented a new era where there is freedom of humans, equality, and self-government. From the beginning, Abraham Lincoln demonstrated the qualities of a good leader by modernizing the economy while keeping his values intact. After becoming an elected president, he started fighting against slavery and even used his power to deliver speeches that aimed at revolutionizing the country. Whenever it came to important issues that benefited the people, he was willing to support it alone and ensure it came to pass. This showed a good leader that put his needs behind to fulfill those of the people he ruled. His style of ruling always stood out, making him a transformational leader who believed in change (Sethuraman, & Suresh, 2014).

The other leader who had almost the same traits is Queen Victoria of England. She stands out as one of the most successful female leaders of all time. She not only ruled the United Kingdom but also oversaw other colonies in the Empire, thus making her very powerful. Her involvement in politics, fashion, religion, and social boldness made her very influential throughout the period. She was not afraid to use her powers to fight for the rights of people in the Empire and fight against slavery and other reforms. Therefore, she stands out as an excellent public leader that uses their power to help the people. She also employed the transformational theory as her style of ruling, thereby believing in change as the key goal. The 1990s symbolized a decade of change in both the social and governmental contexts. This period had many changes, although it was the end of the 20th century. Socially there was lots of liberalization in many nations. One of the most common changes that happened, thus impacting socially, was through the introduction of the American with Disabilities Act.

This act ensured there was no discrimination, and that the physically and mentally impaired receive all the help they need. Most of the events led to multiculturalism with many factors that ensured mass mobilization in the markets facilitated by neoliberalism. This period also experienced the end of the cold war, which meant a new beginning to proliferation in sectors like media (the internet). Changes that happened in the government were also very crucial, with many nations gaining their independence during this period. It also showed an era of capitalism in most countries and a period when many government leaders were assassinated. The other common change that influenced many governments was an end to wars. These wars between nations were widespread and became a common change still during the 1990s when they ended, thus helping governments to succeed. The period also represented a time when women stormed into politics and started holding top government seats.

The most common leaders who were key in the fight against the oppression of the people included Nelson Mandela, Desmond Tutu, and F. W. de Klerk. They were all very key in South Africa in the fight to end apartheid rule. Nelson Mandela was the most common in this fight, having even gone to prison. He started at an early age showing his courageousness and dedication towards this fight, whereby he demonstrated peacefully against racism in South Africa. Desmond Tutu was also key in these fights through his warm actions and the willingness to understand and listen to people. As an archbishop, he demonstrated a good role in opposing the treatment of people in South Africa, thus fighting against the apartheid regime. On the other hand, F.W. de Klerk was very influential as the president of South Africa, having played a vital role in the release of Mandela from prison. Through releasing Mandela, he helped a lot in ensuring that change happened and also demonstrated his courageousness through the act. He also played a very crucial part in the fight to end the apartheid regime in the country. All these three leaders were essential in South Africa, and due to that, they ended up receiving the Nobel prize. Their acts helped a lot in facilitating change in the country, and through their courageousness and dedication, it was very easy.

Gender diversity in the workplace refers to the rate of hiring men and women, whereby the rate should be the same for both genders (Heyd, 2020). In simple words, it ensures that all positions in an office are represented well by both genders (gender equality). However, research has proven that the number of women is always very low, which means that the number of women should be increased for there to be diversity. The numbers should not only be increased in the jobs only but also in leadership positions. That is through having some seats set aside for the women, such as the women representative seats. However, the role of women as leaders has always been criticized by many, with most people believing that women should not be allowed to rule men. From my experience, however, whereby a woman has ruled me, I came to learn of lots of pros and cons from it. Some of the common advantages are that women are always capable of multitasking due to the result of them doing lots of tasks at home.

They are also very friendly, having them as bosses, and they are very understanding compared to male leaders. However, their decision-making is always impacted a lot, which sometimes results in them making wrong decisions. They also tend to be very jealous of other women, which leads to backbiting, or they may even pull-down other women at top seats to hold those seats. As a public leader, one needs to have lots of abilities to help them become good leaders (Van Wart, 2017). Due to this, I believe that my ability to be a leader would be influenced a lot. This is because I lack the ability to tolerate lazy personnel, which would make me not to work well with lazy persons in the public services under my watch. However, I am very good at making decisions, which means that serious issues that need careful and right decisions would be sorted.

Conclusion

In conclusion, it is true that public leadership and diversity are essential and should be taken seriously in the communities and by public leaders. However, as seen from the above paragraphs, it is evident that good public leadership comes with lots of dedication and understanding. There should also be gender diversity in these positions.

References

Hart, P. T., & Tummers, L. (2014). Understanding public leadership. Red Globe Press.

Heyd, L. O. (2020). Critiquing the usefulness of setting quotas in improving gender diversity in leadership positions. The Elphinstone Review, 130.

Sethuraman, K., & Suresh, J. (2014). Effective leadership styles. International Business Research, 7(9), p165.

Van Wart, M. (2017). Leadership in public organizations: An introduction. Taylor & Francis.