From affective polarization to fruitful politics: a new public leadership inspired by the UN's 2030 Agenda

PurposeWho leads and the purpose of public leadership matter. The aim of this viewpoint essay is to examine the fundamentals of public policy design and implementation as well as contemporary public leadership from a new approach inspired by the 2030 Agenda. This work provides a more humanistic and fruitful approach to public leadership, which is crucial in the current context of social division, turbulent politics and weak and infertile leadership.Design/methodology/approachThis viewpoint essay is based on academic literature as well as on institutional reports to explore the 2030 Agenda's potential when it comes to outlining a new style of public leadership.FindingsThe 2030 potential has always been analyzed from the different synergies that can be established from the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Nevertheless, this essay proposes to separate from the mainstream discourse by outlining six core properties of the 2030 Agenda as key elements that implicate a new roadmap in the design and evaluation of public policies and contribute in a disruptive way to conceive public leadership.Originality/valueThis essay offers an innovative leadership framework that integrates key elements from the 2030 Agenda perspective with theoretical and practical notions of policy-making and public leadership to overcome the main challenges of the present and future days.