Ramps, Ladders, and Leadership: Career Paths and the Emergence of Transformational Personality in the Bureaucracy.

In his classic Bureaucracy, James Q. Wilson observes that transformational leadership in public administration is “…so heavily dependent on executive interests and beliefs as to make the chance appearance of a change-oriented personality enormously important in explaining change.” He pessimistically concludes that, “it is not easy to build a useful social science theory out of ‘chance appearances’.” But what if a change-oriented bureaucrat’s appearance at the top of an organization is not due to random chance? This paper argues that the personalities of bureaucratic agency heads are systematic consequences of professional career systems. Data are drawn from a behavioral survey and psychological probes of police chiefs serving American municipalities. I show that government hiring and promotional policies and the adaptive behaviors of professionals lead to distinct patterns of executive personality and, ultimately, political leadership in the bureaucracy. Over time, career mobility favors achievement-motivated individuals, who Wilson might say have “change-oriented personalities.” ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]