Book excerpt: Public sector organizations undergo both continual and planned organizational change to survive. Change occurs within a political context and is shaped by both external environments and internal factors. This paper analyzes how change occurs and how change management and leadership styles help manage successful organizational change in the public sector. Through a review of the literature we examine the different stages of change, the strategies and procedures that leaders must implement during each stage, the role of ethics during organizational change and the structural constraints that affect the implementation of change. Exploring the role of gender and transformational leadership highlights the characteristics that influence the process of change. Understanding these characteristics provides public sector organizations with critical information when deciding who will lead change in their organization.