Kommunchef sökes! Arbetsuppgift ledarskap.

Sammanfattning: This essay concerns the view upon the role of leaders within the Swedish public administration. More specifically, it examines to which extent the views of traditional public administration (TPA), new public management (NPM) and public value management (PVM) is present throughout the recruitment of local government heads in Swedish municipalities. The research is designed with a use of mixed methods in a complementary purpose. Hence, the first part of the research consists of a quantitative content analysis of job advertisements from 2015 to 2019. The second part of the research method is interviews with HR-personnel in municipalities. The results indicate that PVM appears to a larger extent after 2015. However, TPA and NPM still defines the expectations and qualifications upon leaders as well. Consequently, the leader role appears more complex and diverse as new ideals concerning the steering of the public sector – and indirectly the role of leadership – is placed upon the old ones rather than replacing them. As the emphasis on leadership seems to be more important within the contemporary society, further studies concerning the practical consequences of the increased complexity and diverse requirements upon leaders is endorsed to better understand the public sector and successful implementation.