A manager or a leader? Analysis of managerial and leadership competences in Lithuanian civil service

Abstract

The article is focused on a discussion of civil servants’ managerial and leadership competences. By presenting empirical evidence from a research on leadership in the Lithuanian Civil Service, funded by Civil Service Department under the Ministry of the Interior, the article discusses the concept of civil servant-leader. The discussion leads to the analysis of two models – “civil servant as a manager” and “civil servant as a leader”. The paper seeks to analyze leadership dimensions in civil service and is based on the management notion relevant to a new type of manager. Empirical research is focused on the challenging opportunity to compare “ideal” and “real” models of civil servant: features, competencies, skills, and value orientations. On the basis of the obtained results, the main civil servant manager / leader types are discussed.