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Faced with socio-economic and political developments since the 1980s, local authorities have tested private management tools within their organizations. Aware of the managerial challenge, they have also changed the concept of recruitment, training, and management of their public managers along two main axes: commitment toward local public interest and practical and experiential learning. Our empirical study with 1,125 local public managers (in collaboration with the French Association of Local Public Managers) shows that this change has produced positive effects.