The translation of leadership discourse to public services

AbstractAn explanation is developed of why Labour government politicians chose a leader-centric conception of leadership for their focus in seeking to develop individual senior staff from public service organizations as leaders through the suite of national leadership development interventions. Leadership is analysed as a metaphorical concept, drawing attention to some parts of a target phenomenon while downplaying others. The history of discourse in the United States (US) and the United Kingdom (UK) is traced, which frames the process of organizing public services, beginning with administration and portraying its partial replacement by management and then leadership, following the innovatory articulation of visionary conceptions in the USA. The chapter documents the emergence of leader-centric visionary leadership discourse within the Labour Party in the early 1990s prior to forming the Labour government, and the influences on this choice as the focus for developing senior staff in public service organizations as leaders committed to implementing government-driven reforms.