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Leadership competencies: Know-how, skills, experiences, and values all put togetherunder the meta category of competencies (Roberts 1997)enable an individual to work effectively. Lawler (1994, p. 4) comments about competencybased organizations as, ".. .organizational systems in which the capabilities of the individuals are the primary focus and which cause them to be managed in a way that provides competitive advantage." Leadership positions are a complex job requiring consensus building and/or balancing competing demands of stakeholders which requires a unique combination of knowledge, skills, attitudes, and behavior, enabling a leader to deliver seamlessly toward an organization's rationale.

The Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officers occupy a strategic position in Indian public governance system. Government has generally laid a lot of emphasis on the training programmes for IAS officers to ensure that they are equipped with the right set of knowledge, skills and attitude to effectively perform in the varied assignments that they occupy. It is increasingly being recognized that more than knowledge, skill and attitude, proficiency in certain deep seated abilities result in superior and more effective performance of an individual in an organizational setting. These deep seated abilities are commonly termed as competencies. In this paper an exercise has been undertaken to identify the key competencies which are required for effectively performing the role of a District Magistrate (DM). The focus of the two years training programme at Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration, (LBSNAA) is to equip the officers for the first decade of service during which they are also expected to serve as District Magistrates (DM). It is expected that clarity about the competencies required to become an effective DM will facilitate more efficient human resource management of the cadre of IAS officers including training, placement and performance management. This research paper based on extensive survey methodology is an attempt in that direction.

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