The relevance of the topic lies in the fact that the social value and practical impact of local self-government bodies entirely depend on officials, their knowledge, desires, readiness, skills, aspirations, decisions, actions, professionalism and professionalism. The effectiveness of local self-government should be closely linked to the effectiveness/ineffectiveness of the mechanism for coordinating social interactions. This dependence determines the manifestation of leadership competences, the approach to a modern local government official as a creative constructive personality obliged to self-realise in daily managerial professional activities aimed at serving the community, society, and the state. The effectiveness of local self-government bodies largely depends on the involvement of young people in the development of local democracy, the establishment of a system of government, active participation in community life and local public initiatives, as it is young people who are able to introduce innovative, non-standard approaches to solving the problems of local communities, and promote the introduction of the latest information and management technologies in local government.

The purpose of the study is to provide a scientific basis for the actualisation of the leadership potential of young people in local self-government bodies.

The object of the study is the leadership potential in the field of public management and administration.

The theoretical and methodological basis of the article is a general scientific methodology that involves systematic analysis and an interdisciplinary scientific and systematic approach to the study of the actualisation of the leadership potential of young people in local self-government bodies. Empirical methods, methods of comparative analysis, etc. were used to solve the research tasks.

The full implementation of decentralisation reforms on the ground is accompanied by the empowerment of territorial communities, which has led to an increased need to provide local governments with qualified staff with a vision of an innovative approach to public participation, work experience, and the ability to work with people. Changes in the public administration system have intensified the development of modern systems for the qualitative selection and promotion of personnel who are ready for systemic changes in public administration.

According to researcher Flumian, M.,: "...governments are changing through the prism of service delivery. Citizens as customers, consumers are the next step in innovations in public service" [5]. Strategic tasks of improving the quality of administrative services require the introduction of modern approaches and methods into the management processes of public authorities to ensure adequate satisfaction of the needs of individuals, social groups and society as a whole, taking into account the rational use of available resources. A client or service consumer orientation requires thinking employees who are able to analyse the situation, find non-obvious solutions and act independently. For a manager, skills such as strategic thinking, the ability to delegate responsibilities and rights, and provide feedback that ensures employee development are important. He or she must be able to establish contacts, identify needs, manage relationships, resolve conflict situations, view mistakes as an opportunity for learning, and have developed emotional competencies.

Current trends indicate that a special priority of Ukrainian society is the formation of professional local government leaders who are ready and able to implement their management activities as a process of daily service to the Ukrainian community and the state. It is they who are obliged to play a key role in the implementation of reforms at the local level and become the main initiators and stakeholders of democratic transformations in local self-government, effective leaders of their teams and territorial communities. Therefore, leadership as a process by which a person influences another person or a group of people is a modern concept of public administration, including change management, and its effectiveness is facilitated not so much by the level of the position as by the degree of influence of the person's activities [9].

Recently, in the science of public management and administration, the problems of leadership formation have been considered by Chechel A., Kudriashova О., Lytvynovskyi Ye., the nature and typology of leadership were studied by Bizo L., Ibrahimova I., Kotter J., Stogdill R., the problems of youth leadership development are highlighted in the works of Akimova T., Ploskyi K., Pozhydaiev Ye. and others.

Practice shows that the formation of local leaders is not an easy task for local authorities. There are still cases where many communities continue to train managers of the "past" for the present and future, and the leadership problem is partially solved by engaging employees of district state administrations that were disbanded as part of the administrative-territorial reform at the district level. Unfortunately, in some cases, this does not work, as such specialists are not ready to work in local governments of rural territorial communities in the new conditions, they do not have modern innovative management leadership technologies, which have long been adopted by the most successful countries in the world [2].

It is obvious that today we should be talking about the formation of an official as a positive and modern leader who has a system of humane internal values, does not allow others to manipulate him/her, builds on their basis an effective and efficient system of mutually interested interpersonal relations in management activities aimed at daily service to the community and its residents, the country and the state.

In this aspect, youth leaders play a crucial role in local self-government, as the age emphasis of citizens' participation in the formation of civil society is increasingly shifting towards young people, as young people are a fairly large group of citizens (about 1/4 of the total population of the country - as of 1 January 2022, young people in Ukraine account for 24.3% of the total permanent population of Ukraine [4]. Almost thirty years of reforms in Ukraine have given rise to a younger generation that has a different perspective on political and social processes, challenges and threats of our time. Today's youth is not burdened with nostalgia for the Soviet past, it is free and open to understanding the democratic transformations in the country and actively participating in them, ready to take decisive action to change society.

It can be said that the involvement of young people in the development of local democracy, the establishment of the local self-government system, active participation in community life and local public initiatives is due to the fact that young people are able to introduce innovative, non-standard approaches to solving the problems of local communities, and to promote the introduction of the latest information and management technologies in local self-government.

Analysis of regional experience in the field of youth policy and implementation of the decentralisation reform shows that the principle of work "for young people" is inferior to the other - "with the direct participation of young people"[11]. Mechanisms that facilitate the involvement of young people in social processes are becoming increasingly popular and relevant. Of interest are the mechanisms through which young people can influence the solution of their own problems and at the same time join the process of formation of civil society and state governance.

The establishment of a democratic state with a modern socially oriented economy will be effective only with the active participation of young people, so there is a need to expand the social base of transformations, to reveal and implement the creative potential of young people, and to consider their social resource as one of the most important foundations for the modernisation of Ukrainian society.

The future of local democracy and sustainable development of communities largely depends on the extent to which young professionals today will be able to perceive the accumulated management experience and, taking into account European standards, manage local development processes.

Further full implementation of decentralisation and local self-government reform requires the involvement of young people in these processes, the formation of an active position of young citizens regarding socio-political processes in the country. The most powerful sign of effective cooperation between public authorities and civil society organisations is the exchange of personnel; active civil society organisations are a modern school for training democratic leaders who renew the government and contribute to improving the efficiency of public administration [10].

In order to continue developing structures of cooperation between youth and local self-government bodies, such as youth parliaments, municipalities, and councils, it is necessary to establish a contractual form of interaction, when cooperation is based on clearly defined principles and procedures that are enshrined in an agreement between the youth structure and the local self-government body. Furthermore, further introduction of systematic public hearings on issues that directly or indirectly affect young people will contribute to the real participation of young people in decision-making at the local level.

That is why it is necessary to form a system of youth self-government at the regional and local levels, to strengthen and consolidate youth NGOs to effectively address the most pressing problems of young people on the basis of social partnership with public authorities. Such a policy can only be formed by relying on modern forms of youth self-organisation and implementing effective practices from international experience.

According to Kudryashova, O. leadership is developed only in the process of gaining experience, and in order to become a leader, practice and experience are necessary to form leadership skills and qualities [8]. In order to determine the leadership skills of young people and the manifestation of their formation, it is proposed to take into account such criteria as the level and form of education, employment status, and involvement in joint educational activities.

In accordance with the European Charter of Local Self-Government, educational policy should be aimed at strengthening and improving the democratic foundations of local self-government; a special place in the educational activities of the municipal movement should be given to educational activities among the population, especially schoolchildren and youth, in favour of the formation of self-governing territorial communities [6].

In the process of forming the leadership qualities of young people, it is necessary to actualise their leadership potential by:

- filling educational programmes with methods, forms and means of formal and non-formal education to expand knowledge about the essence of leadership. This will allow young people to acquire important "soft skills", basic personal and professional qualities, and moral and ethical values of a leader;

- strengthening the practical orientation of young people towards professional, socially significant, volunteer activities, involving them in research and social project activities, participation in non-governmental organisations, and additional internships [1].

In strengthening and developing local self-government in Ukraine, the problem of developing youth leadership potential and training local self-government specialists is of crucial importance. The urgency of the problem lies in the need to train a new generation of managerial personnel for the local self-government system in the context of state and administrative reforms. In the process of forming a modern type of active young leader, his/her readiness for managerial activity, the issue of involvement of educational institutions, state and local authorities, informal and non-governmental organisations arises, which, in turn, should help young people develop the ability to analyse their own strengths and weaknesses, set personal and professional goals and achieve them.

An important role in the training of local government personnel should be played by modern information and communication technologies, high-quality implementation of leadership education programmes, youth participation in social processes of community life, in the local government system, in social projects in educational institutions or beyond, encouragement to volunteer, additional internships that will prepare young people for youth leadership. Youth leaders, in turn, can actively cooperate with community residents, motivate their peers, and set an example, making the youth group stronger and more effective. This, in turn, will provide the state with competent and active professionals who are able to make effective decisions, take responsibility, interact with other people properly, work in a team, and demonstrate leadership qualities.

We believe that professional training in youth leadership should be mandatory for local government officials and representatives and become the basis of a continuous process to improve their professionalism. Its components should include personal desire, readiness and ability for daily leadership activities for the benefit of the community, professional competence, official efficiency/effectiveness, and managerial skills.

Provision of local self-government bodies with young professional leaders is a complex continuous process that involves the improvement of personnel policy aimed at the consistent implementation of a number of research, organisational, managerial, political and legislative actions that have to take into account the social dynamics of change and the challenges of globalisation, as well as the state of society. Thus, high-quality staffing with young leaders is impossible without creating favourable conditions for the formation of leadership potential and professionalisation of service in local self-government bodies, a systematic approach to vocational training and professional development of local self-government management personnel.