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The objective of this paper is to analyze the effect of conceptual changes in the leadership theory and environmental transformation on the requirement for public servants and their leadership competencies. The paper discusses the concept of individualism and collectivism in the leadership of public administration. Firstly, it groups the models of leadership according the methodology that the models were grounded in. The methodology of reductionism analyzes the leader as an individual in a changing environment. The early models of the leadership focus on personalized leaders in hierarchical organizations and a stable environment. The contemporary concept of the leadership in public administration focuses on the leader as a team member. Accordingly, a leader's competencies such as strength, courage, and integrity are going to be less important as the abilities to instruct, support or teach. The holistic models of the leadership that emerges from humanities and sociology focus on silent leadership. The development of this approach displays new challenges in leadership theory development and in the practice of human resource management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]