Addressing the unprecedented challenges facing public leaders brought about by the Covid-19 pandemic, this comprehensive Research Handbook reframes the public leadership debate by offering new ways of thinking about leadership practices. Bringing together contributions from leading scholars across the world, this insightful Research Handbook illustrates how the decisions made by global leaders today will have widespread consequences for future generations. Chapters evaluate innovative leadership models including cooperative leadership and spiritual leadership, analyse international perspectives on leadership in response to the Covid-19 pandemic, and discuss the role of public leadership in practice. Exploring important contemporary case studies including the issues of county lines in the UK and public leadership in the Small Island States of the Anglophone Caribbean (SIDS), it concludes by advocating for a new post-pandemic paradigm of public leadership. Focusing on learning from the practices and experiences of the Covid-19 pandemic, the Research Handbook will be essential reading for students and scholars in business management, economics, public leadership, and public policy and politics. It will also be beneficial for civil servants, politicians, and leadership practitioners in healthcare, education, and non-public sectors.

In this timely Handbook, people emerge at the centre of city and regional development debates from the perspective of leadership. It explores individuals and communities, not only as units that underpin aggregate measures or elements within systems, but as deliberative actors with ambitions, desires, strategies and objectives Deepening the scholarly debate on leadership in cities and regions, the Handbook combines theoretical discussion and empirical evidence within methodological development to present a state-of-the-art view of a rapidly emerging field of study, highlighting paths for future research. Chapters explore power, politics, policy-making, social corporate responsibility and international city diplomacy through the lens of leadership, covering leadership in different countries from a broad range of theoretical perspectives. This Handbook is a valuable resource for academics and students of regional studies, human and economic geography, and policy studies. The conceptual discussion and case studies from different parts of the world will provide valuable examples for scholars, policy-makers and practitioners seeking a better understanding of what it takes to mobilise and co-ordinate complex multi-actor constellations for improvement of their respective places.

Advocate Thuli Madonsela has achieved in her seven years as Public Protector what few accomplish in a lifetime; her legacy and contribution cannot be over-stated. In her final days in office she compiled the explosive State Capture report and, before that, the report on President Jacob Zuma’s Nkandla residence. Praised and vilified in equal measures, Madonsela has frequently found herself at centre stage in the increasingly fractious South African political scene.

Yet, despite the intense media scrutiny, Madonsela remains something of an enigma. Who is this soft-spoken woman who stood up to state corruption? Where did she develop her views and resolve? This book attempts to answer these questions, and others, by exploring many aspects of Madonsela's life: her childhood years and family, her involvement in student politics, her contribution to the constitution, her life in law.

Madonsela once described her role as Public Protector as being akin to that of the Venda traditional spiritual female leader, the Makhadzi, who whispers truth to the ruler. When the sounds of the exchanges between the ruler and the Makhadzi grow loud, Madonsela said, that is when the whispering has failed.

No Longer Whispering to Power is about Thuli Madonsela's tenure as Public Protector, during which the whisper grew into a cry. It is the story of the South African people's attempt to hold power to account through the Office of the Public Protector. More significantly, this important book stands as a record of the crucial work Madonsela has done, always acting without fear or favour.

Making a significant, novel contribution to the burgeoning international literature on the topic, this Handbook charts the various methodological, theoretical, comparative and empirical dimensions of a future research agenda on ministerial and political advisers. With an international approach, a diverse range of expert and emerging scholars perform a thorough sociodemographic analysis of political and ministerial actors across different administrative traditions around the globe. Chapters examine their emergence on the executive stage, the circumstances and various institutional arrangements in which they operate, their contributions as policy workers and their turbulent relationship with the media. Questioning normative stances surrounding corruption in political–administrative relations, this transdisciplinary Handbook provides a constructive, nuanced understanding of the nature and agency of ministerial and political advisers. Addressing both historical and contemporary matters relevant to ministerial and political advisers, this innovative Handbook will prove vital to students and scholars of politics, regulation and governance, public administration, policy and management, and international politics. With fresh and constructive analyses of the field, it will also be a useful resource for private-sector and governmental practitioners seeking insights into the roles and impacts of these advisers.

New Zealand's prime minister has been hailed as a leader for a new generation, tired of inaction in the face of issues such as climate change and far-right terrorism. Her grace and compassion following the Christchurch mosque shooting captured the world's attention. Oprah Winfrey invited us to 'channel our inner Jacindas' as praise for Ardern flooded headlines and social media. The ruler of this remote country even made the cover of Time. In this revealing biography, journalist Madeleine Chapman discovers the woman behind the headlines. Always politically engaged and passionate, Ardern is uncompromising and astute. In her first press conference, she announced an election campaign of 'relentless positivity'. The tactic was a resounding success: donations poured in and Labour rebounded in the polls. But has Ardern lived up to her promise? What political concessions has she had to make? And beyond the hype, what does her new style of leadership look like in practice?

Nine days that set the course of a nation... Johannesburg, Easter weekend, 1993. Nelson Mandela has been free for three years and is in slow-moving power-sharing talks with President FW de Klerk when a white supremacist shoots Mandela's popular young heir apparent, Chris Hani, in the hope of igniting an all-out civil war. Will he succeed in plunging South Africa into chaos, safeguarding apartheid for perhaps years to come? Or can Mandela and de Klerk overcome their differences and mutual suspicion and calm their followers, plotting a way forward? In The Plot to Save South Africa, acclaimed South African journalist Justice Malala recounts the riveting story of the next nine days - never before told in full - revealing rarely seen sides of both Mandela and de Klerk, the fascinating behind-the-scenes debates within each of their parties over whether to pursue peace or war, and their increasingly desperate attempts to restrain their supporters despite mounting popular frustrations. Flitting between the points of view of over a dozen characters on all sides of the conflict, Justice Malala offers an illuminating look at successful leadership in action... and a terrifying reminder of just how close a country we think of today as a model for racial reconciliation came to civil war.

Sankara's legacy, unclear as it may be, still lives and he remains immensely popular. If you travel through Africa his image is unmistakable. His picture, with beret and broad grin, is pasted on run-down taxis and is found on the walls of local bars. Internationally Sankara is often referred to as the `African Che Guevara' and like his South American counterpart; it is his perseverance, dedication and incorruptibility that appeal to the imagination. Voices of liberation: Thomas Sankara starts with a comprehensive timeline covering Thomas Sankara's life and major events in the history of the continent and region. His Life section provides the most critical and fraternal assessment of the 1980s radical experiment within the broader history of the country, the region and continent. His Voice section succinctly provides a selection of Sankara's speeches, broadcasts and interviews and gives us insight to his outlook on the world. His Legacy section combines an almost poetic tribute to the flawed through heroic period of Sankara's `revolution' with an incredibly relentless and honest analysis. This is done through the story of last year's uprising against Compaore - with haunting lessons for South Africa. The Postscript is an indispensable update to the extraordinary events in Burkina Faso during 2015, chiefly the resistance to the coup in September. The authors look at Sankara's influence on the popular movements and its wider significance for Africa.