An inverted triangle contains the following with a) at the top and e) at the bottom:
| a) Leadership and management context shaped by external environmental factors e.g. needs of community and service users |
| b) Leadership and management ideology shaped by internal considerations e.g. organisational values and culture |
| c) Leadership and management activity shaped by service tradition and available resources. |
| d) Leadership and management role shaped by relationships with co-workers |
| e) Leadership and management action shaped by own values and skills |
Towards a model of co-created leadership
Co-created Leadership
The emphasis on the relational aspect of the model Chris Bond Model of co-created leadershipalso recognises that individuals involved in processes of management and leadership will have their own ideologies and motivations for the work that they do. Unlike NPM, a model of management and leadership based on co-creation sees the crafting of this role taking place in relationship with others. This means that, through processes of discussion, dialogue and assessing skills and needs, individuals can shape their own role and purpose in relation to organisational and societal needs. Presbyters are individuals and can have differences in relation to outlook, beliefs and values be these theologically or secularly informed.
Conclusion
This paper commenced by identifying three main failings of NPM in respect of its effect on leadership and management in public service contexts. These were:
- Its failure to empower local leaders and decision making relevant to local public service contexts;
- Its tendency to ignore and disregard public sector values in the exercise of leadership and management in public service contexts; and
- The distorting effect NPM can have on privileging individualizing rather than socializing models of governance.
As more sectors of our public services face resource constraints such as those that have prompted the ‘Wigan Deal’ alternative approaches to governance, leadership and management of essential public services will have to be explored. Whilst there are many critiques of NPM, few offer evidence-based alternative models. Thus this study of the way Methodist presbyters think about and enact processes of governance, management and leadership is valuable as a means of exploring different models of management and leadership that may be transferable into other sectors.
The heuristic framework developed and presented in this paper offers a starting point for discussion and dialogue about alternative approaches in public service contexts. Additional research into the model of connexional structures and plural approaches to management and leadership used by the Methodist Church could also offer useful insights into the processes and effects of socialising forms of governance and the co-creation of leadership aimed at meeting and serving local community needs and addressing the shortfalls of NPM that this paper has highlighted.