Epilogue Reform, Realisation and Restoration: Public Leadership and Innovation in Government

Abstract

Chapter 1 suggests that understanding context is critical for public leadership. The more recent context is characterised by reform that is focused on ‘delivery’ (HMSO 1999) with an unprecedented obsession with measurement. The context of public services is also one of crisis, a lowering of trust and confidence and a growing acceptance of the need for collectivity (as opposed to collectivism — the former representing a quality or condition rather than the latter which denotes a movement (Allen 2004)). The overall outcome of good public leadership should be the creation and demonstration of public value and not the single minded pursuit of easily measurable but relatively meaningless targets.