The Leadership Skills Both an MPA and MBA Build – and Where They Diverge

Leadership skills are some of the most valuable professional qualifications that you can develop. It helps to have them abstractly, in other words, to be able to list positions you’ve held in the past that signify communication, time management, organization, etc.

It’s even better to have them as a verifiable professional credential, an MBA or an MPA. Most people understand, somewhat at least, what goes into a Master of Business Administration degree. MPAs are a little more mysterious.

In this article, we compare the two and help you figure out which is best for your needs.

What is an MPA?

MPA degrees are focused largely on interpreting and responding to public policies. People who go out for MPAs often wind up working in either government spaces or in non-profits.

The skill set is comparable to that of an MBA, at least in the leadership context. You are taking a forward-facing strategic role in organizational alignment, particularly as it relates to compliance with public policy.

The execution factor does tend to be different in that where an MBA is going to set out to maximize the profitability of an organization’s direction, an MPA might have a different set of considerations. Their focus may be more on organizational impact, for example.

Economics does still play a role; even non-profits and government entities have budgets, often more stringent ones than you’ll find in the private sector. But the qualities of a leader are largely consistent between the two roles.

It’s a little like comparing social work and other behavioral health degrees. The basic set of professional considerations is the same. The way your professional responsibilities are executed? Those can vary pretty considerably. 

1. Skills that Move the Needle

In the next few headings, we’ll go over skills that are impactful in leadership roles for both MBAs and MPAs. 

Note that some of these are explicitly developed in graduate programs. Others require a little extracurricular effort to develop.

You’ll see what we mean as we go through the list.

2. High-Level Comprehension

First and foremost, with both MPA and MBA programs, you’re developing a set of knowledge that is at least in theory, more significant than the level of understanding you get only with an undergraduate degree. 

Do you actually need to go to graduate school to understand business or not-for-profit organizations at a high level? Some would argue not.

In business, you do learn a lot on the job. Regardless, the assumption, at least, is that holding this credential verifies your ability to manage and direct with the authority of experience and knowledge on your side.

Often, when organizations set out to find an MPA or an MBA, it’s for this specific reason. They don’t want to take a chance on someone who’s been good in an entry-level or middle management position, but hasn’t proved themselves in the higher levels.

They want the closest thing to a surefire bet that they can come across. The reality, of course, is full of nuance, but when you’re able to put that graduate-level credential on your resume, it’s a sort of verification to hiring managers that your skills and knowledge align with it.

3. Ability to Hold Up Under Pressure

Organizations want someone with a proven track record of success. Again, degrees can’t perfectly verify how someone will behave on the job, but they do testify at least to the fact that this person can do difficult things.

Getting an MBA or an MPA is hard, particularly given that a considerable portion of the people who do it earn their degree while also working a high-pressure job.

 Being able to hold up under difficult circumstances is arguably the most significant leadership quality that there is.

It’s at once very difficult to develop and incredibly simple. At the end of the day, you just need to be able to hold your nerve no matter what is happening.

Are there nervous nellies who wind up with MPAs or MBAs? Of course. The fact of the matter is that being a good leader doesn’t mean that you never feel nervous or overwhelmed. It just means that you accept the pressure and work through it.

4. Communication

Communication as a skill can be a little abstract because it’s hard to objectively qualify the quality of communication. That said, there are a few skills that any MPA or MBA should work on developing.

Active listening. Active listening is the process of not just paying very close attention to what the other person is saying, but making sure that they feel that attention. You do this through eye contact, facial cues, and carefully considered responses.

For example, rephrasing what they’ve said to you for clarification or simply to signal that you’re listening. Inability to communicate high-level concepts clearly.

There’s an old saying that if you can’t explain something simply, you don’t understand it. That might be a little harsh. And it’s not strictly factual, but it’s a good benchmark for professional communication.

It doesn’t matter how smart you are if the people working under you don’t know what you’re saying; you’re not really doing your job effectively. Making people feel seen.

Communication in the professional context is about more than just efficiency. It should also be consistent with company culture.

That doesn’t necessarily mean that you need to coddle people or constantly reassure them. It simply means that the way you communicate should reflect the general attitude of the organization.

Now if that attitude is fast-paced and competitive, so be it. If it’s gentler, that’s also valid.

Either way, the method of communication from the top down needs to reflect organizational priorities in terms of both output and general culture.

Developing these types of communication skills is not exactly something that an MBA or MPA can guarantee, but they are important leadership qualities.

And they are also concepts that will likely be covered in high-level leadership programs.

5. Project Management

At the leadership level, you don’t necessarily have your hands on every single project, but you’re still responsible for its ultimate outcomes. The buck stops with you, so to speak.

An effective MBA or MPA is able to manage projects efficiently to ensure that deadlines are being met and requirements are being completed well. It can be a hard thing to manage.

Effectively, you’re in the position of being responsible for other people’s work. Good leaders manage this through communication, as described above, and also through general time management practices.

Their job is, at least partially, to ensure that teams are staying on task. Part of this is a matter of motivation, ensuring that everyone understands what they’re supposed to be doing and when.

Sometimes, though, it’s a matter of problem-solving, identifying productivity bottlenecks, and finding solutions for them. It’s a complicated skill set because project management will have different definitions depending on the context.

Regardless, a leader needs to be able to facilitate results regardless of what obstacles come before them.

6. Divergence

Ultimately, the two degrees are fundamentally different in who they attract. At the end of the day, we are talking about credentials that prepare you for leadership roles, but the question then becomes, where do you wish to lead?

MBAs are focused primarily on leadership roles within private organizations, while MPAs typically operate in the public sector with a particular focus on policy integration, compliance, and management.

Can you take an MPA and use it to work in the private sector, or, for that matter, an MBA and use it to work in the public sector? Quite possibly, yes, but if you’re deciding between the two, it’s definitely a good idea to focus on your biggest current priority and align your efforts toward that end.