Developing Effective Leadership Skills

• Published date: 01 May 2009
• Date: 01 May 2009
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1111/j.1540-6210.2009.02001.x
• Author: Chulwoo Kim

Book Reviews 547

Chulwoo Kim

Rutgers University–Newark

Developing Ef‌f ective Leadership Skills

Ricardo S. Morse and Terry F. Buss, eds., Innovations

in Public Leadership Development (Armonk,

NY: M. E. Sharpe, 2008). 384 pp. $94.95 (cloth),

ISBN: 9780765620699; $35.95 (paper), ISBN:

9780765620705.

Terry Newell, Grant Reeher, and Peter Ronayne, eds.,

 e Trusted Leader: Building the Relationships

 at Make Government Work (Washington, DC:

CQ Press, 2007). 366 pp. $49.95 (cloth), ISBN:

9780872894273.

This review examines two practice-oriented

collections of articles on how civil servants

can develop ef‌f ective leadership skills. In

the past decade, the nature of public leadership has

changed dramatically, a shift recently analyzed in

the book Transforming Public Leadership in the 21st

Century (Morse, Buss, and Kinghorn 2007).  e

two books under review focus on how public sector

managers can harness these changes to become better

leaders.  is review examines the advice that each set

of contributors of‌f ers.

The Trusted Leader: Building the

Relationships That Make

Government Work

 e main argument of  e Trusted Leader is that

ef‌f ective leader–group relationships are the missing

link necessary for successful government reform. Such

relationships can increase trust in government, which

is likely to produce high performance (10).

In the f‌i rst chapter, Terry Newell introduces the impor-

tance of leadership based on values—constitutional,

personal, public service, and professional—and

such skills as the ability to act with integrity,

listen to others, tolerate dissent, involve others, and

make moral decisions to address conf‌l icts among

stakeholders. While his emphasis on the leader’s values

echoes the approach of Heifetz (1994) and Burns

(2003) to a certain extent, he also stresses the impor-

tance of understanding followers’ values, because their

participation and collaboration can solve conf‌l icts.

Newell concludes that it is important for leaders to

know both their own values and those of others.

 e authors in section II suggest various skills for build-

ing good relationships and trust within public organi-

zations. Beverly Fletcher and Alfred Cooke champion

self-awareness for leadership success. Such awareness

comes from people examining their lives for lessons

about what has shaped them and what guides their

current thinking, keeping a journal to ref‌l ect on current

leadership ef‌f orts, questioning the assumptions that

underlie their behavior, inviting feedback, and using

mentors and a coach to learn to know their own selves.

Ron Redmon introduces skills for ef‌f ective coaching.

 is chapter continues the argument beyond self-

awareness, as knowing how to coach employees is the

next step for leaders who already have self-knowledge.

In this approach, self-awareness and development

of employees are the twin foundations for building

relationships and trust.

Chapters 4 and 5 analyze team and organizational

development. First, the importance of analyzing the

macro and micro environment of teams is introduced.

In identifying a macro environment to support

Chulwoo Kim is a doctoral candidate in

the School of Public Affairs and Administra-

tion at Rutgers University–Newark. He

received his master of public administration

degree from New York University. His main

research interests include leadership, or-

ganizational behavior, organizational theory,

citizen participation, performance manage-

ment, and human resource management.

E-mail: czaroo@rutgers.edu

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