Giving sense about paradoxes: paradoxical leadership in the public sector

ABSTRACT

Although paradoxes are inherent to the public sector, few attempts have been made to better understand how to manage such competing yet interrelated demands effectively. This study examines how paradoxical leadership (i.e., leaders’ sense-giving about organizational paradoxes) affects follower outcomes. Based on two-wave survey data from German district offices, structural equation modelling reveals that paradoxical leadership positively influences followers’ job satisfaction and work engagement. Role ambiguity fully mediates the relationship between paradoxical leadership and perceived performance. Our study expands the nomological network of public leadership and advances the notion that paradoxes bear potentials for leadership in ambiguous public settings.

KEYWORDS:

• Paradoxical leadership
• public sector
• job satisfaction
• perceived performance
• structural equation modelling

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Supplementary material

Supplemental data for this article can be accessed at https://doi.org/10.1080/14719037.2021.1906935.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Leonie Backhaus

Leonie Backhaus is a research assistant at the Chair of Public Management at Universität Hamburg (Germany). Her research interests are leadership in the public sector, leadership and employee development, and motivational, behavioural and performance-related employee outcomes.

Artur Reuber

Artur Reuber was a research assistant at the Chair of Public Management at Universität Hamburg (Germany) and is now leadership fellow in a federal state administration with focus on IT governance. His research interest is public leadership.

Dominik Vogel

Dominik Vogel is assistant professor of Public Management at Universität Hamburg (Germany). His research is focused on leadership in the public sector, motivation of public employees, interaction of citizens and administration, and behavioural public administration.

Rick Vogel

Rick Vogel is full professor of Public Management at Universität Hamburg (Germany). His current research interests are public sector leadership, mixed governance, and institutional change in the public sector.