Abstract:
With shifting paradigm, public administration needs even more transformational leaders. A large
part of an individual’s leadership potential refers to innate personality traits which are brought out
by relevant nurturing processes. Environment, favorable or unfavorable, interacts with these
processes and impacts the flourishing of natural potential. Experience promotes the positive
growth of innate potential that one possesses. Using data from India, this article looks into the
systematic impact of public administrative training institutes on the development of top-tier civil
servants. By comparing the performance of officers in public administration training academy
possessing innate personality traits suitable for transformational leadership vis-à-vis innate personality traits suitable for transactional leadership, we test whether current training evaluation
promotes transformational innate personality traits and suggests the implications. Interestingly,
our mix-method study evaluating the entry-level induction training of public administrative
leaders reveals that there is a gap between theory and praxis.