Shared Power in Public Administration

In a world characterized by diffusion of power in policymaking, regulation, and delivery of public services, administrative leaders play critical roles in accomplishing the work of democratic governance. Imagine that citizens and public officials working together are able to maximize the democratic potential of today's shared-power, "no-one-in-charge" world and achieve more sustainable modes of living together. Leading in a shared-power world requires many traditional management skills, but it also requires a different set of collective skills - collaborative decision making, brokering deals, and bridging resources. This is public leadership. It places a premium on the ability to work in the midst of an undefined structure with a loosely coupled group of participants, assist them in creating a sense of shared meaning, and support them in maintaining direction. Despite the impediments, strong public leadership is possible, viable, and necessary through shared-power. There are many kinds of leadership and many theories of leadership, all of which are useful in the right contexts. Few theories, though, take the shared-power context of public life fully into account.