Public Service Strategic Leadership: A Competence Based Approach: Contemporary Issues, Concepts and Ideas

The strategic leadership literature in both the academic and Public Service contexts is replete with long lists of the knowledge, skills, and abilities needed by strategic leaders of the future. Hence, strategic Leadership has been defined as ?the ability to anticipate, envision, maintain flexibility, think innovatively, and work with others to initiate changes to create a viable future.? In order for Public Service Strategic Leaders to be Successful at fulfilling these responsibilities require the capacity to identify the signs of change, generating new perspectives and responses, and making strategic choices as well as to communicate essential actions to team members. Therefore, the toughest challenge for the public service strategic leaders in order to turnaround the public service and renew it as a quality service institution, will be to demonstrate their strategic leadership competence and as such, show confidence, innovation, inspiration and step beyond the limits of contentment.

Dr. Schutte is currently the Head of Department at Turfloop Graduate School of Leadership University of Limpopo, department of Public Administration that provides Degree programmes to Master students within Government and Local Government.