U1 - (Chapters 1 and 3)
QUESTION 1
1.
This question involves leader paradigm shifts and how change affects
both leaders and followers. Write a brief essay on a recent event or
societal change that might have contributed to a paradigm (leadership)
shift.
Your response should be at least 500 words in length.
QUESTION 2
1.
Do you think one's leadership style is fixed and remains the same
throughout the lifespan of a career, or is a leader's style adaptable and
contingent upon the situation? Support your opinion by using the
contingency models covered in this unit.
Your response should be at least 500 words in length.
© Stuart Black/Robert Harding World Imagery/Getty Images
Chapter 1: What Does It Mean to Be a Leader?
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YOUR LEADERSHIP CHALLENGE
After studying this chapter, you should be able to:
• Understand the full meaning of leadership and see the leadership potential in yourself and others.
• Recognize and facilitate the six fundamental transformations in today’s organizations and leaders.
• Identify the primary reasons for leadership derailment and the new paradigm skills that can help
you avoid it.
• Recognize the traditional functions of management and the fundamental differences between
leadership and management.
• Appreciate the crucial importance of providing direction, alignment, relationships, personal qualities,
and outcomes.
• Explain how leadership has evolved and how historical approaches apply to the practice of
leadership today.
CHAPTER OUTLINE
4
The Need for Leadership
In the Lead
7
The New Reality for Leaders
9
13 How Leadership Differs from
Management
17 Evolving Theories of
Leadership
20 Leadership Can Be Learned
23 Mastering the Art and Science
of Leadership
25 Organization of This Book
Vineet Nayar, HCL
Technologies
22 Google
Leader’s Self-Insight
12 Your Learning Style: Using
Multiple Intelligences
16 Your Leadership Potential
22 Are You on a Fast Track to
Nowhere?
Leader’s Bookshelf
11 Great by Choice: Uncertainty,
Chaos, and Luck—Why Some
Thrive Despite Them All
Leadership at Work
27 Leadership Right–Wrong
Leadership Development: Cases for
Analysis
28 Sales Engineering Division
29 The Marshall Plan
A
s a young politician, Abraham Lincoln once provoked an opponent to tears by
using his expert communication skills to mimic and ridicule his rival. Soon
afterward, the man who would later become the 16th president of the United
States felt disappointed and ashamed of his own behavior and sought out his opponent
to offer an apology. Lincoln took this as a valuable lesson about channeling his
emotions, practicing empathy, and using his abilities to promote good. From then on,
Lincoln applied his superb leadership and communication skills to serve the higher
interests of the American people rather than his own goals and ego.
Interest in Abraham Lincoln’s leadership swelled with the release of Steven
Spielberg’s 2012 historical film Lincoln, which was a huge critical and commercial
success, grossing more than $250 million at the box office and garnering 12
Academy Award nominations. “Lincoln’s presidency is a big, well-lit classroom for
business leaders seeking to build successful, enduring organizations,” said Howard
Schultz, CEO of Starbucks. In this era of disconnected and morally bankrupt
leaders, it is no wonder the skills, strengths, and character of Lincoln have struck a
chord. His ability to control his emotions and stay committed to a vision even under
intense hardship, his commitment to go into the field and establish connections with
soldiers and the general public, and his willingness to listen to different points of view
3
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4
PART 1 INTRODUCTION TO LEADERSHIP
and to share credit for successes and take blame for failures all tap into a deep
longing within people for genuine leadership.1
The public trust in leaders may be at an all-time low. Referring to the dire
economic situation that followed the ethical and financial problems in the mortgage
and finance industries, David Rothkopf wrote in the Washington Post, “This is not
just a global economic crisis. It is a global leadership crisis.”2
THE NEED FOR LEADERSHIP
Many of us think of leadership in a way similar to what U.S. Supreme Court Justice
Potter Stewart said about obscenity in reviewing a 1964 pornography case: we may
not be able to define it but “we know it when we see it.”3 People can clearly see
leadership in Abraham Lincoln, but many are having a hard time seeing it in
current political, business, military, and even religious leaders. General David
Petraeus, one of the most decorated military leaders of his generation, stepped down
as director of the Central Intelligence Agency after the FBI inadvertently discovered
he had an extramarital affair with his biographer and began investigating for
potential leaks of classified information. The British Broadcasting Corporation
(BBC) was tarnished by allegations that managers covered up years of sexual abuse
by a well-known reporter.4 Senator Chuck Grassley recently probed the financial
records of six well-known televangelists, including Creflo Dollar and Kenneth
Copeland, after reports that tax-exempt donations were financing lavish lifestyles for
the religious leaders, including mansions, Rolls Royce cars, and private jets.5 Nearly
every month brings a new report of a business leader somewhere lying to, misleading,
or cheating employees, customers, or the government. No wonder survey after survey
shows that confidence in leaders is sinking and suspicion and distrust are rising.6
Yet there are good leaders working in every organization, large and small. In
fact, quality leadership is all around us every day, in all facets of our lives—our
families, schools, communities, social clubs, and volunteer organizations, as well
as in the world of business, sports, religion, government, and the military. Without
good leadership, our institutions and society would fall apart.
Before we can examine what makes an effective leader, we need to know what
leadership means. Scholars and other writers have offered hundreds of definitions
of the term leadership, prompting James McGregor Burns to conclude that leadership “is one of the most observed and least understood phenomena on earth.”7
Defining leadership has been a complex and elusive problem largely because the
nature of leadership itself is complex. Some have even suggested that leadership is
nothing more than a romantic myth, perhaps based on the false hope that someone
will come along and solve our problems by sheer force of will.8
There is some evidence that people do pin their hopes on leaders in ways that
are not always realistic. Think about how some struggling companies recruit wellknown, charismatic CEOs and invest tremendous hopes in them, only to find that
their problems actually get worse.9 For example, Yahoo hired former Autodesk
CEO Carol Bartz in 2009 with high hopes that the star leader could turn the struggling company around, only to ask her to leave a couple of years later as Yahoo’s
fortunes continued to slide. In mid-2012, Yahoo hired former Google executive
Marissa Mayer as the fifth CEO in five years.
Particularly when times are tough, people often look to a grand, charismatic
type of leader to alleviate fear and uncertainty. Think of how Barack Obama sailed
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5
CHAPTER 1 WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO BE A LEADER?
to the U.S. presidency in 2008 based largely on his charisma and the ability to make
people feel hopeful in a time of uncertainty. In recent years, the romantic or heroic
view of leadership has been challenged.10 Much progress has been made in understanding the essential nature of leadership as a real and powerful influence in organizations and societies.
Leadership Defined
Leadership studies are an evolving discipline, and the concept of leadership will
continue to develop. For the purpose of this book, we will focus on a single definition that delineates the essential elements of the leadership process: Leadership is an
influence relationship among leaders and followers who intend real changes and
outcomes that reflect their shared purposes.11
Exhibit 1.1 summarizes the key elements in this definition. Leadership involves
influence; it occurs among people; those people intentionally desire significant
changes; and the changes reflect purposes shared by leaders and followers. Influence means that the relationship among people is not passive; however, also inherent in this definition is the concept that influence is multidirectional and
noncoercive. The basic cultural values in North America make it easiest to think
of leadership as something a leader does to a follower.12 However, leadership is
reciprocal. In most organizations, superiors influence subordinates, but subordinates
also influence superiors. The people involved in the relationship want substantive
changes—leadership involves creating change, not maintaining the status quo. In addition, the changes sought are not dictated by leaders but reflect purposes that leaders
and followers share. Moreover, change is toward an outcome that both the leader
and the followers want, a desired future or shared purpose that motivates them toward
this more preferable outcome. An important aspect of leadership is influencing others
to come together around a common vision. Thus, leadership involves the influence of
people to bring about change toward a desirable future.
Also, leadership is a people activity and is distinct from administrative paperwork or planning activities. Leadership occurs among people; it is not something
Leadership
an influence relationship
among leaders and followers
who intend real changes and
outcomes that reflect their
shared purposes
© Cengage Learning
EXHIBIT 1.1 What Leadership Involves
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Editorial review has deemed that any suppressed content does not materially affect the overall learning experience. Cengage Learning reserves the right to remove additional content at any time if subsequent rights restrictions require it.
6
PART 1 INTRODUCTION TO LEADERSHIP
done to people. Since leadership involves people, there must be followers. An individual performer who achieves excellence as a scientist, musician, athlete, or woodcarver
may be a leader in her field of expertise but is not a leader as defined in this book
unless followers are involved. Followers are an important part of the leadership
process, and all leaders are sometimes followers as well. Good leaders know how to
follow, and they set an example for others. The issue of intention or will means that
people—leader and followers—are actively involved in the pursuit of change. Each
person takes personal responsibility to achieve the desired future.
One stereotype is that leaders are somehow different, that they are above others;
however, in reality, the qualities needed for effective leadership are the same as those
needed to be an effective follower.13 Effective followers think for themselves and
carry out assignments with energy and enthusiasm. They are committed to something
outside their own self-interest, and they have the courage to stand up for what they
believe. Good followers are not “yes people” who blindly follow a leader. Effective
leaders and effective followers may sometimes be the same people, playing different
roles at different times. At its best, leadership is shared among leaders and followers,
with everyone fully engaged and accepting higher levels of responsibility.
Everyday Leadership
Using this definition of leadership makes clear that leadership can come from
anyone. When we stop equating leadership with greatness and public visibility,
it becomes easier to see our own opportunities for leadership and recognize the
leadership of people we interact with every day. Leaders come in all shapes and
sizes, and many true leaders are working behind the scenes. Leadership that has
big outcomes often starts small.
•
•
•
Clinical psychologist Barbara Van Dahlen was working primarily with children
in the Washington, D.C., area when she became concerned about the effects
of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan on the mental health of U.S. soldiers, veterans, and their families. Van Dahlen founded Give an Hour in 2005 to provide
free services that give help and hope to returning service members. The organization now has a national network of more than 6,100 mental health professionals
who volunteer their time. Give an Hour also works with other organizations,
such as Bare the Burden, a nonprofit organization that creates an online community for veterans to heal by connecting with others.14
During his five years working as a car salesman, Robert Chambers was
disgusted by how some dealers and finance institutions preyed on low-income
customers. After he retired from a varied career, the 62-year-old electrical engineer decided to do something about it. He founded More Than Wheels, which
helps low-income people buy new, base-model cars at low prices and on good
loan terms. With branches in New Hampshire, Vermont, and Maine, More
Than Wheels has negotiated price and extended warranty deals with a dozen
or so auto dealers and worked with banks to provide low interest rates. More
Than Wheels guarantees the loan and then works with clients to help them
manage their finances, improve their credit score, and improve their future.15
Wendy Kopp was a senior at Princeton University when she first came up with
the idea of a sort of “Peace Corps for teachers,” a national organization that
would recruit recent college graduates to commit to teach for two years at some
of America’s toughest public schools. One of her Princeton professors admits he
called her “deranged” when she proposed the idea to him. Yet Teach for
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Editorial review has deemed that any suppressed content does not materially affect the overall learning experience. Cengage Learning reserves the right to remove additional content at any time if subsequent rights restrictions require it.
7
CHAPTER 1 WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO BE A LEADER?
America, the organization Kopp started, became one of the most respected
educational initiatives in the United States. As the organization has grown larger,
it has come under attack, but most observers agree it has changed education for
the better and it continues to harness the idealism of young college graduates as a
force for good.16
There are opportunities for leadership all around us that involve influence and
change toward a desired goal or outcome. The leaders of tomorrow’s organizations
will come from anywhere and everywhere, just as they always have. Do you have
the capacity and commitment required for taking a leadership role in your school,
community, or workplace? You can start now, wherever you are, to practice leadership in your own life. Leadership is an everyday way of acting and thinking that
has little to do with a title or formal position in an organization. As we will discuss
in the following section, business leaders need to understand this tenet more than
ever in the world of the twenty-first century.
NEW LEADER
ACTION MEMO
As a leader, you can recognize
opportunities for leadership
and act to influence others and
bring about changes for a
better future.
THE NEW REALITY FOR LEADERS
Social media. Globalization. Mobile commerce. Geopolitical wars. Renewable technologies and smart machines. Outsourcing. Climate change and resource scarcity.
Telecommuting and virtual teams. Cybercrime. Redistribution of economic power.
Massive changes in the world mean today’s leaders are facing challenges they couldn’t
even imagine just a few years ago.17 In a survey by the Center for Creative Leadership,
84 percent of leaders surveyed say the definition of effective leadership changed
significantly within the first few years of the twenty-first century.18 And that was
even before social and mobile technologies began reshaping everyday life and work.
Social connectedness and mobility are becoming central aspects of every leader’s job.
Some historians and other scholars believe our world is undergoing a transformation more profound and far-reaching than any experienced since the dawn of the
modern age and the Industrial Revolution more than 500 years ago. Today’s leaders operate in a world where little is certain, the pace is relentless, and everything
is more complex. This transformation requires a transition from a traditional to a
new leadership paradigm, as outlined in Exhibit 1.2.19 A paradigm is a shared
mindset that represents a fundamental way of thinking about, perceiving, and
understanding the world.
Although many leaders are still operating from an old-paradigm mindset, as outlined in the first column of Exhibit 1.2, they are increasingly ineffective. Successful
leaders will respond to the new reality outlined in the second column of the exhibit.
Go to
CengageNOW
to complete the
questionnaire
“Intolerance of
Ambiguity” and
see how comfortable you
would be dealing with the
uncertainty facing today’s
leaders.
From Stabilizer to Change Manager
In the past, many leaders assumed that if they could just keep things running on a
steady, even keel, the organization would be successful. Yet today’s world is in
constant motion, and nothing seems certain anymore. If leaders still had an illusion
of stability at the dawn of the twenty-first century, it is surely shattered by now.
Consider the following recent events:
•
A powerful earthquake in Japan in 2011 triggered massive tsunami waves that
damaged the nuclear reactors at the Fukushima Daiichi power plant and led to
the shutdown of numerous companies, creating supply chain disruptions for
manufacturers around the world. In the wake of the disaster, managers at
Paradigm
a shared mindset that
represents a fundamental
way of thinking about, perceiving, and understanding
the world
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Editorial review has deemed that any suppressed content does not materially affect the overall learning experience. Cengage Learning reserves the right to remove additional content at any time if subsequent rights restrictions require it.
PART 1 INTRODUCTION TO LEADERSHIP
EXHIBIT 1.2 The New Reality for Leaders
© Cengage Learning
8
•
•
•
Tokyo Electric Power Company (Tepco) were criticized for failing to act
quickly enough to cool the reactors at Fukushima. Trying to protect their
investment, they hesitated to use seawater, which they knew could damage the
reactors, leading to the second-largest nuclear disaster in history.20
The Arab Spring, a revolutionary wave of protests in the Arab world that
began in late 2010, has created a tumultuous environment for businesses
operating in the region as well as heightened uncertainty and instability for
companies around the world.21 Instability remains elevated throughout the
Arab world, causing problems for both local and foreign organizations.
In the European Union (EU), Spain, Ireland, and particularly Greece have all
had trouble paying their debts, leading to a possible breakup of the euro system
(the single currency adopted by EU countries). Leaders of multinational firms
doing business in EU countries had to brace for the worst and take steps to
protect themselves, as well as consider what they would do in the event that a
return to national currencies required a rethinking of everything from how to
expand operations to how to pick suppliers or pay employees.22
Meanwhile, the United States has faced its own debt crisis, and the fallout from
the meltdown in the mortgage and housing industries has continued. Although
the economy has improved, it remains a largely “jobless recovery,” with people
struggling to find work and pay their bills. Companies are struggling too, and
passage of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (passed in 2010 and
upheld by the Supreme Court as constitutional in 2012), which requires that
companies provide health insurance for employees or pay penalties, has
increased the complexity.23
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Editorial review has deemed that any suppressed content does not materially affect the overall learning experience. Cengage Learning reserves the right to remove additional content at any time if subsequent rights restrictions require it.
CHAPTER 1 WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO BE A LEADER?
Most leaders, whether in business, politics, the military, education, social
services, the arts, or the world of sports, recognize that trying to maintain stability
in a world of such unexpected and far-reaching change is a losing battle. “You have
to be able to react very quickly,” said Ellen Kullman, CEO of DuPont, referring
to the impact of events such as the Japanese tsunami and the EU financial crisis.
“And the world is so connected that the feedback loops are more intense.”24
Today’s best leaders accept the inevitability of change and crisis and tap into
them as potential sources of energy and self-renewal. Adaptability is the watchword
of the day. The Leader’s Bookshelf on page 11 argues that organizational success
results from leaders who can remain calm, focused, and disciplined in the face of
uncertainty and inevitable change.
From Controller to Facilitator
Leaders in powerful positions once believed strict control was needed for the organization to function efficiently and effectively. Rigid organizational hierarchies,
structured jobs and work processes, and detailed, inviolate procedures let everyone
know that those at the top had power and those at the bottom had none.
Today, the old assumptions about the distribution of power are no longer
valid. An emphasis on control and rigidity serves to squelch motivation, innovation,
and morale rather than produce desired results. Effective leaders share power rather
than hoard it and find ways to increase an organization’s brainpower by getting
everyone in the organization involved and committed. Rather than being a controller,
the leader is a facilitator who helps people do and be their best by removing obstacles
to performance, getting people what they need, providing learning opportunities, and
offering support and feedback.
One reason for this is that the financial basis of today’s economy is becoming
information rather than the tangible assets of land, buildings, and machines. This
means human capital is becoming more important than financial capital, which
increases the power of employees. “Ideas are now more important than materials,”
as Israeli president Shimon Peres puts it.25 When all the organization needed was
workers to run machines eight hours a day, traditional command-and-control systems generally worked quite well, but success today depends on the intellectual
capacity of all employees. One of the leader’s most challenging jobs is to enable
people to embrace and use their power effectively.26 When he took over as CEO
of India’s HCL Technologies in 2005, Vineet Nayar (currently vice chairman and
joint managing director) took a huge risk that proved to be a highly effective route
to true employee empowerment.
IN THE LEAD
Vineet Nayar, HCL Technologies
HCL Technologies is a leading global IT services and software development company and
India’s fourth largest IT services exporter. When Vineet Nayar became CEO in 2005, HCL
was losing ground—and some of its best employees—to competitors. Nayar recalls that
HCL “was in a tough spot and we had to do something fast or we were in danger of
being out of the race altogether.”
What Nayar did was revolutionary: He organized the company on the principle of
“employees first, customers second” (EFCS). He had to start by building trust. He decided to
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Editorial review has deemed that any suppressed content does not materially affect the overall learning experience. Cengage Learning reserves the right to remove additional content at any time if subsequent rights restrictions require it.
9
10
PART 1 INTRODUCTION TO LEADERSHIP
share financial information with everyone in the company. Then, he took a bold step by
creating an open online forum where employees could post questions and leaders would
answer. This could expose weaknesses and problems that anyone—including outside
customers and competitors—could see. Indeed it did. “It was clogged with complaints,”
Nayar says. “It hurt.” But interesting things began to happen. People were overjoyed that
leaders were willing to acknowledge the problems. Some employees took this a step further
and felt empowered to offer solutions. The site ultimately was the beginning of a transfer
of the power and responsibility for solving problems from top executives to employees
themselves. In the new HCL, the job of leaders became to serve the employees.
Guided by the EFCS philosophy, HCL’s revenues have grown by over 3.6 times and net
income has increased by 91 percent since 2005. During 2008–2009, at the height of the
global recession, HCL became the fastest-growing IT services company in the world.
Employees helped make that happen, too. When the company needed to cut expenses by
$100 million due to the recession, managers let employees come up with ideas for cutting
costs without issuing massive layoffs.27
From Competitor to Collaborator
NEW LEADER
ACTION MEMO
Go to Leader’s Self-Insight 1.1
to learn about your own
“intelligence” for dealing with
collaboration and with the
other new realities facing
leaders.
Social media has “put connectivity on steroids,” blurring and sometimes obliterating boundaries within and between organizations.28 In a hyperconnected, networked age, collaboration becomes more important than competition. Successful
leaders harness and make the most of ideas, talent, and resources from across
boundaries of all kinds. Although some companies still encourage internal competition and aggressiveness, most successful leaders stress teamwork, compromise, and
cooperation. Self-directed teams and other forms of horizontal collaboration spread
knowledge and information throughout the organization.
Effective leaders also work collaboratively with suppliers, customers, governments, universities, and other organizations. There is a growing trend within companies to think of themselves as teams that create value jointly rather than as
autonomous entities in competition with all others.
Collaboration presents greater leadership challenges than did the old concept of
competition. Leaders first have to develop their own collaborative mindset and then
create an environment of teamwork and community that fosters collaboration and
mutual support. They learn to keep the lines of communication open and use influence rather than wielding their authority to quell harmful politicking, get buy-in on
important matters, and move things forward.29
From Diversity Avoider to Diversity Promoter
Many of today’s organizations were built on assumptions of uniformity, separation,
and specialization. People who think alike, act alike, and have similar job skills are
grouped into a department, such as accounting or manufacturing, separate from
other departments. Homogenous groups find it easy to get along, communicate,
and understand one another. The uniform thinking that arises, however, can be a
disaster in a world becoming more multinational and diverse.
Bringing diversity into the organization is the way to attract the best human
talent and develop an organizational mindset broad enough to thrive in a multinational world. Carlos Ghosn, CEO of Nissan, says one reason his company has been
able to cope with change and crises better than some of its competitors is its highly
Copyright 2015 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part. Due to electronic rights, some third party content may be suppressed from the eBook and/or eChapter(s).
Editorial review has deemed that any suppressed content does not materially affect the overall learning experience. Cengage Learning reserves the right to remove additional content at any time if subsequent rights restrictions require it.
© Guy Edwardes/Stone/Getty Images
LEADER’S BOOKSHELF
© photogl/Shutterstock.com
Great by Choice: Uncertainty, Chaos, and Luck—
Why Some Thrive Despite Them All
by Jim Collins and Morten T. Hansen
Every company is subject to periods of
instability, uncertainty, and crisis. Bad
luck can strike any leader and any
organization. How do some companies
manage to thrive despite circumstances that cause others to fall hard
and fall fast?
Jim Collins, the author of Good to
Great, has been looking at companies
that perform better than their peers
for a long time. For Great by Choice,
he teams with management professor
Morten Hansen to describe the leadership choices that contribute to
success.
Progressive Insurance. Leaders of 10X
companies all share three characteristics:
LEADER CHOICES MAKE THE
DIFFERENCE
Great by Choice first describes organizations, called 10Xers, that have outperformed their industry averages by at
least 10 times over a period of at least 15
years and compares them to similar, less
successful companies. The 10Xers include
Southwest Airlines, Amgen, Intel, and
•
•
Fanatic Discipline. The authors use
the metaphor of the 20 Mile March,
a paced, consistent journey toward
goals that requires both the ambition to achieve and the self-control
to hold back. 10X leaders prefer consistent gains over shoot-for-the
moon risks. Andrew Grove at Intel,
for example, abandoned the business of making memory chips only
after thoroughly learning about the
changing technology environment
and business environment.
Empirical Creativity. An entire chapter is devoted to the “fire bullets, then
cannonballs” approach. Leaders in 10X
companies tend to fire bullets to see
what will work and only then bring out
the big guns. “After the cannonball
hits,” they write, “you keep 20 Mile
Marching to make the most of your big
success.”
•
Productive Paranoia. Herb Kelleher, founder and former CEO of
Southwest Airlines, was always preparing for the next recession, even
when none was in sight. 10X leaders
“remain productively paranoid in
good times, recognizing that it’s
what they do before the storm that
matters most.” They are always
building buffers and putting in
place shock absorbers to deal with
unexpected events.
THRIVING IN CHAOS
Leaders of 10X companies “care as
much about values as victory, as much
about purpose as profit.” This enables
them to build companies that endure.
They create companies that don’t thrive
on chaos and uncertainty but can survive
and even thrive in it.
Source: Great by Choice, by Jim Collins and Morten
T. Hansen, is published by HarperBusiness.
diverse culture and workforce.30 Two business school graduates in their twenties
discovered the importance of diversity when they started a specialized advertising
firm. They worked hard, and as the firm grew, they hired more people just like
themselves—bright, young, intense college graduates who were committed and
hard working. The firm grew to about 20 employees over two and a half years,
but the expected profits never materialized. The two entrepreneurs could never get
a handle on what was wrong, and the firm slid into bankruptcy. Convinced the idea
was still valid, they started over, but with a new philosophy. They sought employees with different ages, values, ethnic backgrounds, and work experience. People
had different styles, yet the organization seemed to work better. People played different roles, and the diverse experiences of the group enabled the firm to respond to
unique situations and handle a variety of organizational and personal needs. The
advertising firm is growing again, and this time it is also making a profit.
From Hero to Humble
Another shift is the move from celebrating the “leader-as-hero” to recognizing the
hard-working behind-the-scenes leader who quietly builds a strong enduring company by supporting and developing others rather than touting his or her own abilities and successes.31 Recall from this chapter’s opening example how Abraham
Lincoln made an intentional choice early in his political career to use his abilities
to serve the interests of the American people rather than to feed his own ego. This
chapter’s Consider This box presents 10 commandments based on 1950s western
11
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Editorial review has deemed that any suppressed content does not materially affect the overall learning experience. Cengage Learning reserves the right to remove additional content at any time if subsequent rights restrictions require it.
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LEADER’S SELF-INSIGHT 1.1
C
Complete
this
aassignment online with
CCengageNOW.
Your Learning Style: Using Multiple Intelligences
© Viperagp | Dreamstime.com
Instructions: Multiple-intelligence theory suggests that there
are several different ways of learning about things in a topsyturvy world; hence there are multiple “intelligences,” of which
five are interpersonal (learn via interactions with others), intrapersonal (own inner states), logical–mathematical (rationality
and logic), verbal-linguistic (words and language), and musical
(sounds, tonal patterns, and rhythms). Most people prefer one
or two of the intelligences as a way of learning, yet each person
has the potential to develop skills in each of the intelligences.
The items below will help you identify the forms of
intelligence that you tend to use or enjoy most, as well as
the forms that you use less. Please check each item below as
Mostly False or Mostly True for you.
Mostly
False
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
I like to work with and solve
complex problems.
I recently wrote something that I
am especially proud of.
I have three or more friends.
I like to learn about myself
through personality tests.
I frequently listen to music on the
radio or iPod-type player.
Math and science were among
my favorite subjects.
Language and social studies were
among my favorite subjects.
I am frequently involved in social
activities.
I have or would like to attend
personal growth seminars.
I notice if a melody is out of tune
or off key.
I am good at problem solving
that requires logical thinking.
My conversations frequently include
things I’ve read or heard about.
Mostly
True
13.
14.
15.
When among strangers, I easily
find someone to talk to.
I spend time alone meditating,
reflecting, or thinking.
After hearing a tune once or
twice, I am able to sing it back
with some accuracy.
Scoring and Interpretation
Count the number of items checked Mostly True that represent each of the five intelligences as indicated below.
Questions 1, 6, 11: Logical–mathematical intelligence.
.
# Mostly True
Questions 2, 7, 12: Verbal–linguistic intelligence.
.
# Mostly True
Questions 3, 8, 13: Interpersonal intelligence.
.
# Mostly True
Questions 4, 9, 14: Intrapersonal intelligence.
.
# Mostly True
Questions 5, 10, 15: Musical intelligence.
.
# Mostly True
Educational institutions tend to stress the logical–
mathematical and verbal–linguistic forms of learning.
How do your intelligences align with the changes taking
place in the world? Would you rather rely on using one
intelligence in depth or develop multiple intelligences?
Any intelligence above for which you received a score of
three is a major source of learning for you, and a score of
zero means you may not use it at all. How do your intelligences fit your career plans and your aspirations for the
type of leader you want to be?
Sources: Based on Kirsi Tirri, Petri Nokelainen, and Martin Ubani,
“Conceptual Definition and Empirical Validation of the Spiritual Sensitivity
Scale,” Journal of Empirical Theology 19 (2006), pp. 37–62; and David
Lazear, “Seven Ways of Knowing: Teaching for Multiple Intelligences,”
(Palatine, IL: IRI/Skylight Publishing, 1991).
film star Gene Autry’s Cowboy Code that can be regarded as applicable to newparadigm leaders even today.
One reason for the shift from hero to humble is that it is less and less realistic
for an individual leader to meet all the challenges a team or organization faces in a
complex and rapidly changing world. Another is that ambitious, highly selfconfident, charismatic leaders have been at the forefront of some of the ethical scandals and business failures of recent years. The hero leader may make more risky
and daring decisions, often without considering the greater good, whereas a humble
12
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13
© iStockphoto.com/JOE CICAK
CHAPTER 1 WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO BE A LEADER?
Consider
Should Leaders Live by the Cowboy Code?
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
A
A
A
A
A
A
A
A
A
A
cowboy
cowboy
cowboy
cowboy
cowboy
cowboy
cowboy
cowboy
cowboy
cowboy
never takes unfair advantage—even of an enemy.
never goes back on his word or betrays a trust.
always tells the truth.
is kind and gentle with children, the elderly, and animals.
is free from racial or religious prejudice.
is always helpful and lends a hand when anyone is in trouble.
is a good worker.
stays clean in thought, speech, action, and personal habits.
respects womanhood, parents, and the laws of his nation.
is a patriot to his country.
Source: Gene Autry’s Cowboy Commandments are reported, with some variations in wording, in multiple sources.
leader will seek advice and take time to think through the possible consequences of
his or her actions.32
Jim Collins, author of Good to Great and Great by Choice, calls this new breed
“Level 5 leaders.”33 In contrast to the view of great leaders as larger-than-life personalities with strong egos and big ambitions, Level 5 leaders often seem shy and
unpretentious and have no need to be in the limelight. They are more concerned
with the success of the team or company than with their own success.
These leaders are characterized by an almost complete lack of ego, coupled
with a fierce resolve to do what is best for the organization. They accept full
responsibility for mistakes, poor results, or failures, but they typically give credit
for successes to other people. One corporate example is Sir Terry Leahy, who
recently retired after more than a decade leading Britain’s Tesco. That is a long
and successful tenure for a leader that most people know little about. Leahy didn’t
court personal publicity, much to the chagrin of journalists, and he put his energies
into promoting Tesco and its employees rather than himself.34 Although most
research regarding the new type of leader has been on corporate CEOs like Sir
Terry Leahy, it is important to remember that new-paradigm or Level 5 leaders
are in all positions in all types of organizations.
NEW LEADER
ACTION MEMO
As a leader, you can respond to
the reality of change and crisis,
the need for empowerment,
collaboration, and diversity,
and the importance of a higher
purpose. You can channel your
ambition toward achieving
larger organizational goals
rather than feeding your
own ego.
HOW LEADERSHIP DIFFERS FROM MANAGEMENT
Management can be defined as the attainment of organizational goals in an effective
and efficient manner through planning, organizing, staffing, directing, and controlling organizational resources. So, what is it that distinguishes the process of leadership from that of management? Managers and leaders are not inherently different
types of people. There are managers at all hierarchical levels who are also good leaders, and many people can develop the qualities needed for effective leadership and
management. Both are essential in organizations and must be integrated effectively
Management
the attainment of organizational goals in an effective
and efficient manner
through planning, organizing, staffing, directing, and
controlling organizational
resources
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Editorial review has deemed that any suppressed content does not materially affect the overall learning experience. Cengage Learning reserves the right to remove additional content at any time if subsequent rights restrictions require it.
14
PART 1 INTRODUCTION TO LEADERSHIP
NEW LEADER
ACTION MEMO
You can evaluate your own
leadership potential by completing the quiz in Leader’s
Self-Insight 1.2.
Vision
a picture of an ambitious,
desirable future for the
organization or team
to lead to high performance.35 That is, leadership cannot replace management; the
two have to go hand-in-hand.
Exhibit 1.3 compares management to leadership in five areas crucial to organizational performance—providing direction, aligning followers, building relationships, developing personal qualities, and creating leader outcomes.36
Providing Direction
Both leadership and management are concerned with providing direction for the
organization, but there are differences. Management focuses on establishing detailed
plans and schedules for achieving specific results, then allocating resources to accomplish the plan. Leadership calls for creating a compelling vision of the future, setting
the context within which to view challenges and opportunities, and developing farsighted strategies for producing the changes needed to achieve the vision. Whereas
management calls for keeping an eye on the bottom line and short-term results, leadership means keeping an eye on the horizon and the long-term future.
A vision is a picture of an ambitious, desirable future for the organization or
team. It can be as lofty as Motorola’s aim to “become the premier company in the
world” or as down-to-earth as the Swedish company IKEA’s simple vision “to provide affordable furniture for people with limited budgets.”
EXHIBIT 1.3 Comparing Management and Leadership
Sources: Based on John P. Kotter, A Force for Change: How Leadership Differs from Management (New York: The Free Press, 1990) and ideas in Kevin Cashman, “Lead with
Energy,” Leadership Excellence (December 2010), p. 7; Henry Mintzberg, Managing (San Francisco: Berrett-Koehler, 2009); and Mike Maddock, “The One Talent That Makes Good
Leaders Great,” Forbes (September 26, 2012), www.forbes.com/sites/mikemaddock/2012/09/26/the-one-talent-that-makes-good-leaders-great/ (accessed March 7, 2013).
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Editorial review has deemed that any suppressed content does not materially affect the overall learning experience. Cengage Learning reserves the right to remove additional content at any time if subsequent rights restrictions require it.
15
CHAPTER 1 WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO BE A LEADER?
Aligning Followers
Management entails organizing a structure to accomplish the plan; staffing the
structure with employees; and developing policies, procedures, and systems to direct
employees and monitor implementation of the plan. Leadership is concerned
instead with communicating the vision and developing a shared culture and set of
core values that can lead to the desired future state. Whereas the vision describes
the destination, the culture and values help define the journey toward it so that
everyone is lined up in the same direction.
Leadership provides learning opportunities so people can expand their minds
and abilities and assume responsibility for their own actions. Think about classes
you have taken at your college or university. In some classes, the professor tells students exactly what to do and how to do it, and many students expect this kind of
direction and control. Have you ever had a class where the instructor instead
inspired and encouraged you and your classmates to find innovative ways to meet
goals? The difference reflects a rational management versus a leadership approach.
Building Relationships
In terms of relationships, management focuses on getting the most results out of
people so that production goals are achieved and goods and services are provided
to customers in a timely manner. Leadership, on the other hand, focuses on investing more in people so they are energized and inspired to accomplish goals.
Whereas the management relationship is based on position and formal authority, leadership is a relationship based on personal influence and trust. For example,
in an authority relationship, both people accept that a manager can tell a subordinate to be at work at 7:30 A.M. or her pay will be docked. Leadership, on the other
hand, relies on influence, which is less likely to use coercion. The role of leadership
is to attract and energize people, motivating them through purpose and challenge
rather than rewards or punishments.37 The differing source of power is one of the
key distinctions between management and leadership. Take away a manager’s formal position, and will people choose to follow her? That is the mark of a leader.
Developing Personal Leadership Qualities
Leadership is more than a set of skills; it relies on a number of subtle personal qualities that are hard to see but that are very powerful. These include things like enthusiasm, integrity, courage, and humility. First of all, good leadership springs from a
genuine caring for the work and a genuine concern for other people. The process of
management generally encourages emotional distance, but leadership means being
emotionally connected to others. Where there is leadership, people become part of a
community and feel that they are contributing to something worthwhile. Whereas
management means providing answers and solving problems, leadership requires the
courage to admit mistakes and doubts, to listen, and to trust and learn from others.
Developing leadership qualities takes work. For leadership to happen, leaders
may have to undergo a journey of self-discovery and personal understanding.38
Leadership experts agree that a top characteristic of effective leaders is that they
know who they are and what they stand for. In addition, leaders have the courage
to act on their beliefs.
True leaders tend to have open minds that welcome new ideas rather than closed
minds that criticize new ideas. Leaders listen and discern what people want and need
more than they talk to give advice and orders. Leaders are willing to be nonconformists,
NEW LEADER
ACTION MEMO
As a leader, you can awaken
your leadership qualities of
enthusiasm, integrity, courage,
and moral commitment. You
can make emotional connections with followers to increase
your leadership effectiveness.
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LEADER’S SELF-INSIGHT 1.2
C
Complete
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Your Leadership Potential
© Viperagp | Dreamstime.com
Instructions: Questions 1–6 below are about you right now.
Questions 7–14 are about how you would like to be if you
were the head of a major department at a corporation. Answer
Mostly False or Mostly True to indicate whether the item
describes you accurately or whether you would strive to perform each activity as a department head.
Mostly
Mostly
Now
False
True
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
When I have a number of tasks
or homework assignments to do,
I set priorities and organize the
work to meet the deadlines.
When I am involved in a serious
disagreement, I hang in there
and talk it out until it is
completely resolved.
I would rather sit in front of my
computer than spend a lot of
time with people.
I reach out to include other
people in activities or when there
are discussions.
I know my long-term vision for
career, family, and other activities.
When solving problems, I prefer
analyzing things myself to working
through them with a group
of people.
Head of Major Department
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
Mostly
False
I would help subordinates clarify goals and how to reach
them.
I would give people a sense of
long-term mission and higher
purpose.
I would make sure jobs get out
on time.
Mostly
True
I would scout for new product or
service opportunities.
I would give credit to people who
do their jobs well.
I would promote unconventional
beliefs and values.
I would establish procedures to
help the department operate
smoothly.
I would verbalize the higher values that I and the organization
stand for.
Scoring and Interpretation
Count the number of Mostly True answers to even-numbered
. Count the number of Mostly True answers to
questions:
. Compare the two scores.
odd-numbered questions:
The even-numbered items represent behaviors and
activities typical of leadership. Leaders are personally
involved in shaping ideas, values, vision, and change. They
often use an intuitive approach to develop fresh ideas and
seek new directions for the department or organization.
The odd-numbered items are considered more traditional
management activities. Managers respond to organizational
problems in an impersonal way, make rational decisions,
and work for stability and efficiency.
If you answered yes to more even-numbered than
odd-numbered items, you may have potential leadership
qualities. If you answered yes to more odd-numbered
items, you may have management qualities. Management
qualities are an important foundation for new leaders
because the organization first has to operate efficiently.
Then leadership qualities can enhance performance. Both
sets of qualities can be developed or improved with awareness and experience.
Sources: Based on John P. Kotter, Leading Change (Boston, MA: Harvard
Business School Press, 1996), p. 26; Joseph C. Rost, Leadership for the
Twenty-first Century (Westport, CT: Praeger, 1993), p. 149; and Brian
Dumaine, “The New Non-Manager Managers,” Fortune (February 22,
1993), pp. 80–84.
to disagree and say no when it serves the larger good, and to accept nonconformity from
others rather than try to squeeze everyone into the same mindset.
Creating Outcomes
The differences between management and leadership create two differing outcomes,
as illustrated at the bottom of Exhibit 1.3. Management maintains a degree of
16
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CHAPTER 1 WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO BE A LEADER?
stability, predictability, and order through a culture of efficiency. Leadership, on the
other hand, creates change, often radical change, within a culture of agility and
integrity that helps the organization thrive over the long haul by promoting
openness and honesty, positive relationships, and long-term innovation. Leadership
facilitates the courage needed to make difficult and unconventional decisions that
may sometimes hurt short-term results.
EVOLVING THEORIES OF LEADERSHIP
To understand leadership as it is viewed and practiced today, it is important to recognize that the concept of leadership has changed over time. Leadership typically
reflects the larger society, and theories have evolved as norms, attitudes, and understandings in the larger world have changed.39
Historical Overview of Major Approaches
The various leadership theories can be categorized into six basic approaches, each
of which is briefly described in this section. Many of these ideas are still applicable
to leadership studies today and are discussed in various chapters of this text.
Great Man Theories This is the granddaddy of leadership concepts. The earliest
studies of leadership adopted the belief that leaders (who were always thought of
as male) were born with certain heroic leadership traits and natural abilities of
power and influence. In organizations, social movements, religions, governments,
and the military, leadership was conceptualized as a single “Great Man” who put
everything together and influenced others to follow along based on the strength of
inherited traits, qualities, and abilities.
Trait Theories Studies of these larger-than-life leaders spurred research into the various traits that defined a leader. Beginning in the 1920s, researchers looked to see if
leaders had particular traits or characteristics, such as intelligence or energy, that
distinguished them from non-leaders and contributed to success. It was thought
that if traits could be identified, leaders could be predicted, or perhaps even trained.
Although research failed to produce a list of traits that would always guarantee
leadership success, the interest in leadership characteristics has continued to the
present day.
Behavior Theories The failure to identify a universal set of leadership traits led
researchers in the early 1950s to begin looking at what a leader does rather than
who he or she is. One line of research focused on what leaders actually do on the
job, such as various management activities, roles, and responsibilities. These studies
were soon expanded to try to determine how effective leaders differ in their behavior from ineffective ones. Researchers looked at how a leader behaved toward
followers and how this correlated with leadership effectiveness or ineffectiveness.
Chapter 2 discusses trait and behavior theories.
Contingency Theories Researchers next began to consider the contextual and situational variables that influence what leadership behaviors will be effective. The idea
behind contingency theories is that leaders can analyze their situation and tailor
their behavior to improve leadership effectiveness. Major situational variables are
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17
18
PART 1 INTRODUCTION TO LEADERSHIP
the characteristics of followers, characteristics of the work environment and follower tasks, and the external environment. Contingency theories, sometimes called
situational theories, emphasize that leadership cannot be understood in a vacuum
separate from various elements of the group or organizational situation. Chapter 3
covers contingency theories.
Influence Theories These theories examine influence processes between leaders and
followers. One primary topic of study is charismatic leadership (Chapter 12), which
refers to leadership influence based not on position or formal authority but, rather,
on the qualities and charismatic personality of the leader. Related areas of study are
leadership vision (Chapter 13) and organizational culture (Chapter 14). Leaders
influence people to change by providing an inspiring vision of the future and shaping the culture and values needed to attain it. Several chapters of this text relate to
the topic of influence because it is essential to understanding leadership.
Relational Theories Since the late 1970s, many ideas of leadership have focused on
the relational aspect, that is, how leaders and followers interact and influence one
another. Rather than being seen as something a leader does to a follower, leadership is viewed as a relational process that meaningfully engages all participants
and enables each person to contribute to achieving the vision. Interpersonal relationships are seen as the most important facet of leadership effectiveness.40 Two significant relational theories are transformational leadership (Chapter 12) and servant
leadership (Chapter 6).
Other important relational topics covered in various chapters of the text
include the personal qualities that leaders need to build effective relationships,
such as emotional intelligence, a leader’s mind, integrity and high moral standards,
and personal courage. In addition, leaders build relationships through motivation
and empowerment, leadership communication, team leadership, and embracing
diversity.
A Model of Leadership Evolution
Exhibit 1.4 provides a framework for examining the evolution of leadership from
the early Great Man theories to today’s relational theories. Each cell in the model
summarizes an era of leadership thinking that was dominant in its time but may be
less appropriate for today’s world.41
Leadership Era 1 This era may be conceptualized as pre-industrial and
pre-bureaucratic. Most organizations were small and were run by a single individual who many times hired workers because they were friends or relatives, not necessarily because of their skills or qualifications. The size and simplicity of
organizations and the stable nature of the environment made it easy for a single
person to understand the big picture, coordinate and control all activities, and
keep things on track. This is the era of Great Man leadership and the emphasis on
personal traits of leaders. A leader was conceptualized as a single hero who saw the
big picture and how everything fit into a whole.
Leadership Era 2 In Era 2, we see the emergence of hierarchy and bureaucracy.
Although the world remains stable, organizations have begun to grow so large
that they require rules and standard procedures to ensure that activities are performed efficiently and effectively. Hierarchies of authority provide a sensible
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19
CHAPTER 1 WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO BE A LEADER?
© Cengage Learning
EXHIBIT 1.4 Leadership Evolution
mechanism for supervision and control of workers, and decisions once based on
rules of thumb or tradition are replaced with precise procedures. This era sees the
rise of the “rational manager” who directs and controls others using an impersonal
approach. Employees aren’t expected to think for themselves; they are expected to
do as they’re told, follow rules and procedures, and accomplish specific tasks. The
focus is on details rather than the big picture.
The rational manager was well-suited to a stable environment. The behavior
and contingency theories worked here because leaders could analyze their situation,
develop careful plans, and control what happened. But rational management is no
longer sufficient for leadership in today’s world.
Leadership Era 3 This era represented a tremendous shock to managers in North
America and Europe. Suddenly, the world was no longer stable, and the prized
techniques of rational management were no longer successful. Beginning with the
OPEC oil embargo of 1972 to 1973 and continuing with the severe global competition of the 1980s and early 1990s, many managers saw that environmental conditions had become chaotic. The Japanese began to dominate world commerce with
their ideas of team leadership and superb quality. This became an era of great confusion for leaders. They tried team-based approaches, downsizing, reengineering,
quality programs, and empowerment as ways to improve performance and get
more motivation and commitment from employees.
NEW LEADER
ACTION MEMO
As a leader, you can use the
leadership skills that fit the
correct era for your organization. You can use influence and
relational aspects as appropriate for your organization.
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Editorial review has deemed that any suppressed content does not materially affect the overall learning experience. Cengage Learning reserves the right to remove additional content at any time if subsequent rights restrictions require it.
20
PART 1 INTRODUCTION TO LEADERSHIP
This is the era of the team leader and the change leader. Influence was important because of the need to change organizational structures and cultures. This era
sees the emergence of knowledge work, an emphasis on horizontal collaboration,
and a shift to influence theories. Rather than conceiving of leadership as one person
always being firmly “in charge,” leadership is often shared among team leaders and
members, shifting to the person with the most knowledge or expertise in the matter
at hand.42
Leadership Era 4 Enter the digital, mobile, social-media age. It seems that everything is changing, and changing fast. Era 4 is the era of the agile leader who has
made the leap to giving up control in the traditional sense. Leaders emphasize relationships and networks, and they influence others through vision, meaning, purpose, and values rather than management authority and control. They are
constantly experimenting, learning, and changing, in both their personal and professional lives, and they encourage the development and growth of others so that
followers are expanding their capabilities and contributing to innovation. Era 4
requires the full scope of leadership that goes far beyond rational management or
even team leadership.
Implications The flow from Great Man leadership to rational management to team
leadership to agile leadership illustrates trends in the larger world. The implication
is that leadership reflects the era or context of the organization and society. Most of
today’s organizations and leaders are still struggling with the transition from a stable to a chaotic environment and the new skills and qualities needed in this circumstance. Thus, Era 3 issues of diversity, team leadership, empowerment, and
horizontal relationships are increasingly relevant. In addition, many leaders are rapidly shifting into Era 4 leadership by focusing on change management and facilitating a vision and values to encourage high performance, agility, and continuous
adaptation in a fast-shifting world. Agile leaders align themselves with new social
technologies that can create networks of leaders throughout the organization. Era
3 and Era 4 leadership is what much of this book is about.
NEW LEADER
ACTION MEMO
Leader’s Self-Insight 1.3 gives
you a chance to test your
people skills and see if there are
areas you need to work on.
Agile leader
a leader who is open to
learning and change and
encourages the growth and
development of others
LEADERSHIP CAN BE LEARNED
Many leaders are caught in the transition between the practices and principles
that defined the industrial era and the new reality of the twenty-first
century. Attempts to achieve collaboration, empowerment, and diversity in organizations may fail because the beliefs and thought processes of leaders as well as
employees are stuck in an old paradigm that values control, stability, and homogeneity. It is difficult for many leaders to let go of methods and practices that have
made them and their organizations successful in the past. Yet leaders can make the
leap to a new paradigm by intentionally practicing and applying new paradigm
principles.
Leader Fatal Flaws
One of the most important aspects of shifting to the new paradigm of leadership is
intentionally using soft, interpersonal skills to build a culture of performance, trust,
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Editorial review has deemed that any suppressed content does not materially affect the overall learning experience. Cengage Learning reserves the right to remove additional content at any time if subsequent rights restrictions require it.
21
CHAPTER 1 WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO BE A LEADER?
and collaboration. A few clues about the importance of acquiring new leadership
skills are brought to light by studies that look at what causes managers to “derail”
in their careers. Derailment refers to a phenomenon in organizations in which
a manager with an impressive track record reaches a certain level but goes off
track and can’t advance because of a mismatch between job needs and the manager’s personal skills and qualities.43 Studies conducted in numerous organizations
in different countries indicate that managers fail more frequently because they are
deficient with soft, human skills rather than a lack of hard work or technical
skills.44 Derailed managers are successful people who excelled in a functional area
and were expected to go far, but they reached a plateau, were fired, or were forced
to retire early.
Researchers at the Center for Creative Leadership in Greensboro, North
Carolina, have been looking at what causes manager derailment for two decades.45
They conclude that there are five top flaws that cause managers to derail, as shown
in Exhibit 1.5. Note that many of these flaws relate to the lack of human
skills. Unsuccessful managers fail to meet business objectives because they spend
too much time promoting themselves rather than working. They are overly
ambitious and selfish and may not follow through on promises. They are often
insensitive and critical, not trustworthy, do not learn from feedback and mistakes,
can’t build and develop the right teams, and are unable to see the big picture
when promoted into a general management position. Additional studies
confirm that the biggest leader mistakes are people mistakes rather than technical
ones.46
Leader Good Behaviors
The best leaders, at all levels, are those who are genuinely interested in other people
and find ways to bring out the best in them.47 Successful organizations, such as
Google, pay attention to developing leaders in the soft skills needed to effectively
lead technical people in a changing environment.
Derailment
a phenomenon in which a
manager with an impressive
track record reaches a certain level but goes off track
and can’t advance because
of a mismatch between job
needs and personal skills and
qualities
EXHIBIT 1.5 Five Fatal Flaws That Cause Derailment
Source: Based on Yi Zhang, Jean Brittain Leslie, and Kelly M. Hannum, “Trouble Ahead: Derailment Is Alive and Well,” Thunderbird International Business Review 55, no. 1
(January–February 2013), pp. 95–102.
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LEADER’S SELF-INSIGHT 1.3
C
Complete
this
aassignment online with
CCengageNOW.
Are You on a Fast Track to Nowhere?
Mostly
False
People Skills
1.
2.
3.
4.
Other people describe me as very
good with people.
I frequently smile and laugh with
teammates or classmates.
I frequently reach out to engage
people, even strangers.
I often express appreciation to
other people.
2.
3.
4.
1.
2.
3.
4.
Mostly
False
Mostly
True
I spend part of each week networking with colleagues in other
departments.
I have joined multiple organizations for the purpose of making
professional contacts.
I frequently use lunches to
meet and network with new
people.
I actively maintain contact with
peers from previous
organizations.
Scoring and Interpretation
Tally the number of “Mostly Trues” checked for each set of
questions.
Mostly
False
Dealing with Authority
1.
Mostly
True
Networking
I quickly speak out in meetings
when leaders ask for comments
or ideas.
If I see a leader making a decision
that seems harmful, I speak up.
I experience no tension when
interacting with senior managers,
either inside or outside the
organization.
I have an easy time asserting myself toward people in authority.
Mostly
True
People Skills:
Dealing with Authority:
Networking:
If you scored 4 in an area, you’re right on track. Continue to
act in the same way.
If your score is 2–3, you can fine-tune your skills in that area.
Review the questions where you said Mostly False and work
to add those abilities to your leadership skill set.
A score of 0–1 indicates that you may end up dangerously
close to derailment. You should take the time to do an indepth self-assessment and find ways to expand your interpersonal skills.
© Cengage Learning
© Viperagp | Dreamstime.com
Instructions: Many people on the fast track toward positions of
leadership find themselves suddenly derailed and don’t know
why. Many times, a lack of people skills is to blame. To help
you determine whether you need to work on your people skills,
take the following quiz, answering each item as Mostly False or
Mostly True. Think about a job or volunteer position you have
now or have held in the past as you answer the following items.
IN THE LEAD
Google
In 2013, Google was named the best company to work for by Fortune magazine for the
fourth year in a row. Being a great place to work didn’t happen by accident. Google’s
human resources department, called People Operations—or POPS for short—monitors
employees’ happiness and well-being to an incredible degree, using data to track everything and learn where improvements are needed.
One thing it discovered is that good leaders make a tremendous difference. Google
looked at what successful leaders—those who have lower attrition rates and get better
22
Copyright 2015 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part. Due to electronic rights, some third party content may be suppressed from the eBook and/or eChapter(s).
Editorial review has deemed that any suppressed content does not materially affect the overall learning experience. Cengage Learning reserves the right to remove additional content at any time if subsequent rights restrictions require it.
23
CHAPTER 1 WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO BE A LEADER?
performance from their teams—do that makes them different from less successful ones.
Analyzing performance reviews and feedback surveys, Google executives used the findings
to help make bad leaders better. Even in a company that depends on technical expertise,
Google found that soft, human skills are essential. Technical expertise ranked dead last
among eight desirable leader qualities, as shown in the exhibit below.
Google discovered that employees want leaders who listen to them, build positive and
productive relationships, and show an interest in their lives and careers. When the company
targeted unsuccessful leaders and coached them to develop soft skills and display these
eight behaviors, the managerial ranks improved, with collective feedback scores going up
every year since 2009.48
Google’s Eight Rules for Good Leader Behavior
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
Be a good coach.
Empower your team and don’t micromanage.
Express interest in team members’ success and personal well-being.
Don’t be a sissy. Be productive and results-oriented.
Be a good communicator and listen to your team.
Help your employees with career development.
Have a clear vision and strategy for the team.
Have key technical skills so you can help advise the team.49
The skills on Google’s list of desirable behaviors can help leaders avoid the
fatal flaws that derail careers. In addition, today’s successful leaders intentionally
value change over stability, empowerment over control, collaboration over competition, diversity over uniformity, and integrity over self-interest, as discussed earlier.
The industry of executive coaching emerged partly to help people through the transition to a new paradigm of leadership. Executive coaches encourage leaders to confront their own flaws and hang-ups that inhibit effective leadership, and then help
them develop stronger emotional and interpersonal skills.
MASTERING THE ART AND SCIENCE OF LEADERSHIP
There’s an age-old question: Are leaders born or made? In one survey, 19 percent of
top executives said leaders are born, 52 percent said they are made, and 29 percent
said they are both born and made.50 It may be true that some inborn qualities and
personality characteristics can provide a foundation for being a good leader, but
most people can learn to be good leaders no matter their innate characteristics.
Interestingly, in the above-mentioned survey, both those who thought leaders are
born and those who thought they are made mention learning from experience as a
key to becoming a good leader.
Leadership can be learned, but it is important to remember that leadership is
both an art and a science. It is an art because many leadership skills and qualities
cannot be learned from a textbook. Leadership takes practice and hands-on experience, as well as intense personal exploration and development. However, leadership
is also a science because a growing body of knowledge and objective facts describes
the leadership process and how to use leadership skills to attain organizational goals.
This is where a textbook or a course on leadership can help you to be a better leader.
NEW LEADER
ACTION MEMO
As a leader, you can cultivate
your people skills to avoid
executive derailment. You can
treat others with kindness,
interest, and respect and avoid
overmanaging by selecting
good followers and delegating
effectively.
I suspect that
the true heroes
are largely unsung and prefer
to remain that
way. They prefer
to give credit to
others, to remain
behind the scenes,
to avoid grandiose statements
and predictions
and promises,
and to perform
better than
anyone expected
them to.
Howard Gardner,
Harvard Psychologist
Copyright 2015 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part. Due to electronic rights, some third party content may be suppressed from the eBook and/or eChapter(s).
Editorial review has deemed that any suppressed content does not materially affect the overall learning experience. Cengage Learning reserves the right to remove additional content at any time if subsequent rights restrictions require it.
24
PART 1 INTRODUCTION TO LEADERSHIP
Knowing about leadership research helps people analyze situations from a variety of
perspectives and learn how to be more effective. By exploring leadership in both business
and society, students gain an understanding of the importance of leadership to an
organization’s success, as well as the difficulties and challenges involved in being a
leader. Studying leadership can also lead to the discovery of abilities you never knew
you had. When students in a leadership seminar at Wharton were asked to pick
one leader to represent the class, one woman was surprised when she outpolled all
other students. Her leadership was drawn out not in the practice of leadership in student
government, volunteer activities, or athletics but in a classroom setting.51 Studying leadership gives you skills you can apply to the practice of leadership in your everyday life.
Exhibit 1.6 gives some tips for how you can begin honing your leadership skills.
Many people have never tried to be a leader because they have no understanding of what leaders actually do. The chapters in this book are designed to help you
gain a firm knowledge of what leadership means and some of the skills and qualities that make a good leader. You can build competence in both the art and the
science of leadership by completing the Self-Insight exercises throughout the book,
by working on the activities and cases at the end of each chapter, and by applying
the concepts you learn in class, in your relationships with others, in student groups,
at work, and in voluntary organizations. Although this book and your instructors
can guide you in your development, only you can apply the concepts and principles
of leadership in your daily life. Learning to be a leader starts now, with you. Are
you up to the challenge?
EXHIBIT 1.6 Learning to Be a Leader
Source: Based on “Guidelines for the Apprentice Leader,” in Robert J. Allio, “Masterclass: Leaders and Leadership—Many Theories,
But What Advice Is Reliable?” Strategy & Leadership 41, no. 1 (2013), pp. 4–14.
Copyright 2015 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part. Due to electronic rights, some third party content may be suppressed from the eBook and/or eChapter(s).
Editorial review has deemed that any suppressed content does not materially affect the overall learning experience. Cengage Learning reserves the right to remove additional content at any time if subsequent rights restrictions require it.
CHAPTER 1 WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO BE A LEADER?
25
ORGANIZATION OF THIS BOOK
The plan for this book reflects the shift to a new paradigm summarized in Exhibit
1.2 and the discussion of management versus leadership summarized in Exhibit 1.3.
The framework in Exhibit 1.7 illustrates the organization of the book.
Part 1 introduces leadership, its importance, and the transition to a new leadership paradigm. Part 2 explores basic research perspectives that evolved during a
more stable time when rational management approaches were effective. These
basic perspectives, including the Great Man and trait theories, behavior theories,
and contingency theories, are relevant to dealing with specific tasks and individuals
and are based on a premise that leaders can predict and control various aspects of
the environment to keep the organization running smoothly.
Parts 3, 4, and 5 focus on leadership perspectives that reflect the paradigm shift to
the turbulent, unpredictable nature of the environment and the need for fresh leader
approaches. Part 3 discusses the personal side of leadership and looks at some of the
qualities and forces that are required to be effective in the new reality. These chapters
emphasize the importance of self-awareness and self-understanding, the development
of one’s own leadership mind and heart, moral leadership and courage, and appreciating the role of followership. Part 4 is about building effective relationships, including
motivating and empowering others, communicating as a leader, leading teams,
embracing the diversity of today’s world, and using power and influence.
© Cengage Learning
EXHIBIT 1.7 Framework for the Book
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Editorial review has deemed that any suppressed content does not materially affect the overall learning experience. Cengage Learning reserves the right to remove additional content at any time if subsequent rights restrictions require it.
26
PART 1 INTRODUCTION TO LEADERSHIP
Part 5 brings together all of these ideas to examine the leader as builder of a
social architecture that can help an organization create a brighter future. These
chapters deal with creating vision and strategic direction, aligning culture and
values to achieve the vision, and leading change.
Taken together, the sections and chapters paint a complete portrait of the leadership experience as it has evolved to the present day and emphasize the new paradigm skills and qualities that are relevant from today and into the future. This book
blends systematic research evidence with real-world experiences and impact.
Twitter
Now that you’ve read the chapter, check out how today’s leaders are applying these concepts.
Log in to CengageNOW to follow the leaders on Twitter.
LEADERSHIP ESSENTIALS
•
•
•
•
This chapter introduced the concept of leadership and explained how individuals can grow as leaders. Leadership is defined as an influence relationship
among leaders and followers who intend real changes and outcomes that reflect
their shared purposes. Thus leadership involves people in a relationship, influence, change, a shared purpose, and taking personal responsibility to make
things happen. Most of us are aware of famous leaders, but most leadership
that changes the world starts small and may begin with personal frustrations
about events that prompt people to initiate change and inspire others to follow
them. Your leadership may be expressed in the classroom, at work, or in your
neighborhood, religious community, or volunteer organizations.
Concepts of leadership have evolved over time. Major research approaches
include Great Man theories, trait theories, behavior theories, contingency theories, influence theories, and relational theories. Elements of all these approaches
are still applicable to the study of leadership.
The biggest challenge facing leaders today is the changing world that wants
a new paradigm of leadership. The new reality involves the shift from stability to change, from control to empowerment, from competition to collaboration, and from uniformity to diversity. In addition, the concept of leader as
hero is giving way to that of the humble leader who develops others and
shares credit for accomplishments. These dramatic changes suggest that a
philosophy based on control and personal ambition will probably fail in
the new era. The challenge for leaders is to evolve to a new mindset that
relies on human skills, integrity, and teamwork.
The “soft” skills of leadership complement the “hard” skills of management,
and both are needed to effectively guide organizations. Although leadership is
often equated with good management, leadership and management are different processes. Management strives to maintain stability and improve efficiency. Leadership, on the other hand, is about creating a vision for the
future, designing social architecture that shapes culture and values, inspiring
and motivating followers, developing personal qualities, and creating change
within a culture of integrity. Leadership can be integrated with management
to achieve the greatest possible outcomes. Organizations need to be both managed and led, particularly in today’s turbulent environment. Many managers
already have the qualities needed to be effective leaders, but they may not
have gone through the process needed to bring these qualities to life.
Copyright 2015 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part. Due to electronic rights, some third party content may be suppressed from the eBook and/or eChapter(s).
Editorial review has deemed that any suppressed content does not materially affect the overall learning experience. Cengage Learning reserves the right to remove additional content at any time if subsequent rights restrictions require it.
27
CHAPTER 1 WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO BE A LEADER?
Leadership is an intentional act. It is important to remember that most people
are not born with natural leadership skills and qualities, but leadership can be
learned and developed.
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
1. Look through recent magazines and newspapers and identify one leader who seems to illustrate the “leader-as-hero” mindset and one who seems more typical of the humble Level 5
leader described in the text. Describe their differing characteristics. Which was easier to find?
2. What do you consider your own strengths and weaknesses for leadership? Discuss your
answer with another student.
3. Of the elements in the leadership definition as illustrated in Exhibit 1.1, which is the
easiest for you? Which is hardest? Explain.
4. How might the paradigm shift from competition to collaboration make the job of a
leader more difficult? Could it also make the leader’s job easier? Discuss.
5. Describe the best leader you have known. How did this leader acquire his or her capability?
6. Why do you think there are so few people who succeed at both management and
leadership? Is it reasonable to believe someone can be good at both? Discuss.
7. Discuss some recent events and societal changes that might have contributed to a shift “from
hero to humble.” Do you agree or disagree that humility is important for good leadership?
8. “Leadership is more concerned with people than is management.” Do you agree? Discuss.
9. What personal capacities should a person develop to be a good leader versus those
developed to be a good manager?
10. Why is leadership considered both an art and a science?
LEADERSHIP AT WORK
Leadership Right–Wrong
C
Complete
this
aassignment online with
CCengageNOW.
Leader Wrong: Think of a specific situation in which you were working with someone who
was in a leadership position over you and that person was doing something that was wrong
for you. This person might have been a coach, teacher, team leader, employer, immediate
boss, family member, or anyone who had a leadership position over you. “Wrong for you”
means that person’s behavior reduced your effectiveness, made you or your coworkers less
productive, and was demotivating to you or your colleagues. Write a few words below that
describe what the leader was doing that was wrong for you.
Think of a second situation in which someone in a leadership position did something wrong
for you. Write a few words below that describe what the leader was doing that was wrong for you.
Copyright 2015 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part. Due to electronic rights, some third party content may be suppressed from the eBook and/or eChapter(s).
Editorial review has deemed that any suppressed content does not materially affect the overall learning experience. Cengage Learning reserves the right to remove additional content at any time if subsequent rights restrictions require it.
28
PART 1 INTRODUCTION TO LEADERSHIP
Leader Right: Think of a specific situation in which you were working with someone who
was in a leadership position over you and that person was doing something that was right
for you. This person might have been a coach, teacher, team leader, employer, immediate
boss, family member, or anyone who had a leadership position over you. “Right for you”
means that person’s behavior made you or your coworkers more productive, highly motivated you or others, and removed barriers to make you more successful. Write a few words
below that describe what the leader was doing that was right for you.
Think of a second situation in which someone in a leadership position did something
right for you. Write a few words below that describe what the leader was doing that was
right for you.
The previous answers are data points that can help you understand the impact of leader
behaviors. Analyze your four incidents—what are the underlying qualities of leadership that
enable you to be an effective performer? Discuss your answers with another student. What
leadership themes are present in the eight combined incidents? What do these responses tell
you about the qualities you want and don’t want in your leaders?
In Class: An interesting way to use this exercise in class is to have students write (five words
maximum) their leader “rights” on one board and their leader “wrongs” on another board.
The instructor can ask small groups to identify underlying themes in the collective set of
leader data points on the boards to specify what makes an effective leader. After students
establish four or five key themes, they can be challenged to identify the one key theme that
distinguishes leaders who are effective from those who are not.
Source: Based on Melvin R. McKnight, “Organizational Behavior as a Phenomenological, Free-Will Centered Science,”
Working Paper, College of Business Administration, Northern Arizona University, 1997.
C
Check
out CengageNOW
ffor additional cases with
iinteractive activities.
LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT: CASES FOR ANALYSIS
Sales Engineering Division
When DGL International, a manufacturer of refinery equipment, brought in John Terrill to manage its Sales Engineering division, company executives informed him of the urgent situation.
Sales Engineering, with 20 engineers, was the highest-paid, best-educated, and least-productive
division in the company. The instructions to Terrill: Turn it around. Terrill called a meeting of
the engineers. He showed great concern for their personal welfare and asked point blank:
“What’s the problem? Why can’t we produce? Why does this division have such turnover?”
Without hesitation, employees launched a hail of complaints. “I was hired as an
engineer, not a pencil pusher.” “We spend over half of our time writing asinine reports in
triplicate for top management, and no one reads the reports.” “We have to account for
every penny, which doesn’t give us time to work with customers or new developments.”
After a two-hour discussion, Terrill began to envision a future in which engineers were
free to work with customers and join self-directed teams for product improvement. Terrill
concluded he had to get top management off the engineers’ backs. He promised the
Copyright 2015 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part. Due to electronic rights, some third party content may be suppressed from the eBook and/or eChapter(s).
Editorial review has deemed that any suppressed content does not materially affect the overall learning experience. Cengage Learning reserves the right to remove additional content at any time if subsequent rights restrictions require it.
CHAPTER 1 WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO BE A LEADER?
engineers, “My job is to stay out of your way so you can do your work, and I’ll try to keep
top management off your backs, too.” He called for the day’s reports and issued an order
effective immediately that the originals be turned in daily to his office rather than mailed to
headquarters. For three weeks, technical reports piled up on his desk. By month’s end, the
stack was nearly three feet high. During that time no one called for the reports. When other
managers entered his office and saw the stack, they usually asked, “What’s all this?” Terrill
answered, “Technical reports.” No one asked to read them.
Finally, at month’s end, a secretary from finance called and asked for the monthly travel
and expense report. Terrill responded, “Meet me in the president’s office tomorrow
morning.”
The next morning the engineers cheered as Terrill walked through the department pushing a cart loaded with the enormous stack of reports. They knew the showdown had come.
Terrill entered the president’s office and placed the stack of reports on his desk. The
president and the other senior executives looked bewildered.
“This,” Terrill announced, “is the reason for the lack of productivity in the Sales
Engineering division. These are the reports your people require every month. The fact that
they sat on my desk all month shows that no one reads this material. I suggest that the engineers’ time could be used in a more productive manner, and that one brief monthly report
from my office will satisfy the needs of the other departments.”
QUESTIONS
1. Does John Terrill’s leadership style fit the definition of leadership in Exhibit 1.1? Is it
part of a leader’s job to manage upward? Explain.
2. With respect to Exhibit 1.4, in what leadership era is Terrill? In what era is headquarters? Explain.
3. What approach would you have taken in this situation? What do you think the
response of the senior executives will be to Terrill’s action?
The Marshall Plan
Marshall Gordon was recognized by associates and competitors as a man on a mission. One
of four members of the design team for a large chair manufacturing corporation, Marshall’s
obsession with the creation of comfortable seating dated to a childhood back injury and a
lifetime of pain. He recognized, more than most in the industry, the importance of designing
chairs that offered some relief to those suffering from debilitating back, hip, and neck pain
as well as helping people of all ages to avoid problems with proper posture. In his early days
with the company the staff jokingly called his approach the Marshall Plan, after America’s
1947 initiative (named for Secretary of State George Marshall) to rebuild European economies
after the war. Like someone fighting to save the world, Marshall Gordon brought passion
and a creative intensity to design meetings as if each drawing, each design tweak would
change civilization as we knew it.
Single and with no apparent family or friendship ties, Marshall was married to his work.
He seemed to thrive on 70-hour work weeks, although as a salaried manager, he received no
overtime pay. Even his “down time” at meals or on weekends was spent sketching, studying
the latest in ergonomics, or reconnoitering each design adjustment by competitors.
“When you visit a furniture store, you fully expect to see Marshall, skulking about in
trench coat and hat, checking to see what the competition is offering,” says fellow team
member John Craddock. “We all laugh about it. The guy brings—actually brings—chairs to
meetings and tears them apart to show us some miniscule discovery.”
This obsession with chairs, pain and gravity, and one-upping the competition has made
Marshall a valuable employee and earned him a reputation in the industry for creative
design. Not since Peter Opsvik’s Gravity Balans ergonomic chair of the 1970s has anyone
made such an impact on the industry. The effect of Marshall’s work on company profits is
undeniable. The fact that competitors are chomping at the bit to lure him away is also
undeniable.
Copyright 2015 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part. Due to electronic rights, some third party content may be suppressed from the eBook and/or eChapter(s).
Editorial review has deemed that any suppressed content does not materially affect the overall learning experience. Cengage Learning reserves the right to remove additional content at any time if subsequent rights restrictions require it.
29
30
PART 1 INTRODUCTION TO LEADERSHIP
But the Marshall Plan comes at a price. Over the 15 years he has worked with the company, five as leader of the design group, there has been a constant turnover within the design
group as frustrated workers leave the company to “get away from Marshall.”
“Anything you could learn from this brilliant and dedicated man is destroyed by his
cold, calculating attitude,” Craddock complains. “I came to this company excited about the
chance to work with him. But any knowledge he possesses is carefully guarded. His design
ideas are perfect, while ours are picked apart. We all swear he has listening devices scattered
around everywhere, because if the rest of the team huddles in some corner of the world to
discuss a design idea, voila! He walks into the next meeting with our idea. Once when he
was a few minutes late to a meeting, we thought we had beaten him and quickly presented
our idea. Just then, he walks in, and announces, ‘Ideas must be in the air. I have something
very similar,’ and throws his completed design on screen. Guess who won.”
Marshall presents a continuing challenge to company management, having both incredible
positive and negative influence on the culture. While his contributions to design and profits far
exceed those of other employees, his negative effect on the culture and his team’s creativity and
morale results in the loss of ta...
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