Excellence in leadership in the public sector: the role of leadership development.

Abstract

The development of leaders plays an important role in assisting organizations to improve their performance and also reach their set goals and objectives. Developing leaders is an increasing essential need within any organization due to the dynamic transformation within the business domain and a need of talented leadership that will cope with all the organizational changes. The development becomes more effective when there are processes in place that are used to support it. To improve leadership skills, eThekwini Municipality has adopted knowledge management and talent management processes and introduced them within the organization. eThekwini Municipality has initiated the Mile Institute of Learning (MILE) as a knowledge management initiative in response to the national government’s turnaround strategy which called for the municipalities to work together in improving capacity by implementing knowledge management to place eThekwini as a Centre of Learning. MILE is working together with eThekwini Municipality Academy (EMA) to improve leadership skills within the municipality. The purpose of the study was to investigate the views and perceptions of the leaders that have undergone the leadership development interventions and seminars, evaluate its effectiveness within their areas of work and the organization as a whole as well as understanding the alignment to the organization’s Knowledge and Talent Management strategic intent. A qualitative study has been conducted to understand the views of the leaders who have been exposed to leadership development. The study also shares a comprehensive literature review which explores the views of other researchers around leadership development. The findings of the study revealed that leadership development and knowledge management strategies are executed within the eThekwini Municipality’s different divisions. The study is concluded by highlighting the need of senior leadership support to improve leadership skills and career progression thus ensuring that knowledge gained is maintained within the organization.