Historical and Contemporary Psychology Paradigms of Leadership
Socrates lived in 4th Century B.C. Wrote no
book's and main source of
his ideas came from Plato's Dialogues.
"I suppose that under all conditions
human beings are most willing to obey those whom they
believe to be the best. Thus in sickness they most readily obey the doctor, on
board ship the pilot, on farm the farmer whom they think most skilled in
his business. People will obey willingly only those whom they perceive to the
better qualified or more knowledge above than they are in a particular
situation."
There are three main forms
of authority in human affairs the authority of position or rule, the authority
of personality and the authority of knowledge. Socrates emphasized the later.
It is the man or woman who knows what to do and how to do it will be obeyed,
especially in times of crises. For Socrates and his school as exemplified by Plato,
knowledge is the main gateway to leadership. Xenophon besides being a
successful military leader himself also taught leadership. From his close
observation of men in action, he made a distinction between those leaders who
won willing obedience from their subordinates and colleagues, as compared to
those who merely extracted compliance from them either out of fear or a
grudging acceptance of authority of knowledge.
People are most willing to obey those who know what they are
doing.
As the experience of Xenophon himself and
his observations of other generals suggests, a good leader gives
direction sets an example and shares danger or hardship on an
equal footing. He or she should win respect without courting popularity.
There is a difference between
managing-administration planning and controlling and leadership. A good leader
does those things but transcends them he or she has the secret of harnessing
the willing and support of others to the command task at hand. The story of
Xenophon's assault on the Carducci illustrates another Cardinal Principle of
leadership. Leaders encourage people. They renew spirits giving others fresh
courage to pursue the common course of action.
Xenophon
in the cyropaedia listed the qualities of good leader as:
* Temperance
* Justice
* Sagacity
* Amiability
* Presence of mind
* Tactfulness
* Humanity
* Sympathy
* Helpfulness
* Courage
* Magnanimity
* Generosity
* Considerateness.
Aristotle the, Plato's greatest pupil suggested Just four
qualities of leadership:
i) Justice
ii) Temperance
iii) Prudence
iv) Fortitude
Lordslim also taught
four qualities:
i) Courage
ii) Willpower
iii) Initiative
iv) Knowledge
These qualities are
necessary but not sufficient - they won't enable your a leader but you can't be
one without them.
It is important to
distinguish qualities of personality and character from knowledge in the
technical and professional sense.
Leadership Skills
There is no body who can't vastly improve his powers of leadership
by a little thought and practice.
Socrates explored the issue of transferability of qualities from
one profession to another.
Whatever a man controls, if he knows what he wants and can get it
he will be a good controller, whether he controls a chorus, an estate, a city
or army. Socrates described that successful businessmen and generals perform
much the same functions. Socrates identified six of these functions or skills.
* Selecting the right man for the right job.
* Punishing the bad and rewarding the good under
them.
* Attracting allies and helpers.
* Keeping what they have gained.
* Being industrious and strenuous in their own
work.
But (Nicomachides) one of the generals cross-questioned and said
all these are common to both but fighting is not. Socrates replied but surely
both are bound to find enemies?
Oh
yes they are?
Then
it is important for both to get the better of them?
Undoubtedly, but you don't say how business
capacity will help when it comes to fighting.
That is just where it will he most helpful, Socrates
concluded. For the good businessman, through his knowledge that nothing profits
or pays like a victory in the field, and nothing is so utterly unprofitable and
entails such heavy loss as a defeat, will be eager to seek and avoid what leads
to defeat, prompt to engage the enemy if he sees he is strong enough to win and
above all, will avoid an engagement when he is not ready.
A good leader meets the needs of his men, just
as a good shepherd looks after his flock.
Within the compass of human needs in working
groups, we can distinguish three distinct but overlapping areas of need, to
achieve the common task, to be maintained as a team, and the needs of which
individuals as such bring with them by virtue of being human. If the common
task has sufficient value for them, people in enterprises, organizations and
groups experience a need to accomplish it successfully and they look for
leaders who will help them to do so.
Individual needs include the basic ones for food and for shelter,
for care when wounded or sick and for security in time of danger. But we are
personal as well as human, so we seek the social acceptance and esteem which
comes from recognition by others of our personal contribution to the common
task or the common good. The Greek's thirsted for individual recognition,
competitive desire for fame, renown and a heightened sense of being.
The Servant Leader
We are not accustomed to thinking of leaders as
servants. We tend to emphasis position rather than responsibility. Socrates had
identified the command element of service in all leadership by insisting the
care responsibility of leaders is to meet human needs. Jesus clothed much the
same message with his religious authority. By so doing, he altered for all time
the moral climate of leadership. The deepest flaw in leadership is usually
arrogance. The root of arrogance is an inflated pride which makes a person in a
position of leadership act in an excessively determined, overbearing on
domineering way. The antidotes to the disease of arrogance in relation to
leadership go back as for as Lao TZ U, a Chinese thinker in the forth Century
BC and supremely to Jesus. In the concept of leadership advanced by both there
is a marked absence of assertiveness, a lack of vanity or presumption and the
feeling that a leader should see his or her part as something moderate or small
in scale especially in comparison to the contribution of others.
The Tao principle is what happens to itself. It is this quality of
things spontaneously and in an unselfconscious way, without regard to their
effects upon other people's perceptions of oneself, that links Lao Tzu with the
teaching of Jesus. There is a freedom from acting for show or indeed for
outward things. This refusal to dominate or to lord it over others again
parallels the teaching of Jesus. Lao envisaged a leader who practices humility,
being neither self assertive nor talkative. The highest good is like that of water wrote Lao. The goodness of water
is that it benefits ten thousand creatures, yes itself does not wrangle but it
is content with the places that all men disdain. On leadership for example, the
following words of AaoTzu have become justly famous:-
A leader is best
When people are hardly
aware of his existence.
Not so good when people
praise his government.
Less good when people stand in fear.
Worst, when people are contemptuous. Fail to
honour people, and they will fail to honour you. But of a good leader, who
speaks little
When his task is accomplished his work done.
The
People say, we did it our selves.
Jesus chose twelve disciples to apostles.
Selected from a largely self chosen band of disciples both men and women, who
accompanied Jesus as he went about the country (Israel) teaching and healing,
the twelve came to see themselves as the corps of the leaders for the new
movement. Jesus saw that they clearly needed instructions in that role and
especially in a style of leading other disciples or followers in "the
way" that would not be divisive. Their quarrels over prudence gave him
several opportunities to teach them about true nature of leadership.
On one occasion for example, as Jesus led his disciples on the
road tocapernaum, he heard the noise of voices raised in argument behind him.
When he was in the house he asked him, "what were you discussing on the
way"? But they were silent, for on the way they had been arguing with one
another as to which of them was the greatest. Jesus sat down and called the
twelve and he said to them if any of you would be first, he must be last of all
& servant of all.
And he took a child and put him in the midst of
them. Taking the small boy in his arms, he said, "Truly I say to you,
unless you turn to become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of
heaven. Whoever exalts himself will be humbled and he who humbles himself like
the child will be exalted. Ace to John's Gospel, this distinctive of Jesus on
the need for a humble style of leadership reached a climax shortly before the
end of his life on earth, in the most extra ordinary scene in the whole history
of leadership.
"Jesus rose from supper, laid aside his
garments and girded himself with a towel. Then he poured water into a basin and
began to wash the follower's feet and to wipe them with the towel with which he
was girded. He came to simian peter and peter said to him "Lord do you
wash my feet? Jesus answered him what I am doing to you do not know but
afterwards you will understand." When he had washed their feet and taken
his garment's and resumed his place, he said to them, "Do you know what I
have done to you? You call me teacher and Lord and you are right so I am. If
then your Lord & teacher have washed your feet you also ought to wash one
another's feet. For I have given you an example that you also do as I have done
to you. Truly, truly, I say to you, a servant is not greater than his master,
nor is he who is sent greater than who sent him. If you know these things
blessed are you if you do them.
Jesus would be unknown today if he had spent all
his time meeting physical needs of his followers. What comes across to us,
however is the double message of Jesus, that a leader is one who meets needs
and that his or her style should reflect that reality?
How does the idea of servant leadership relate
today's hierarchical organizations and the barriers which so often exist with
them? All organizations are hierarchical; for organizations are hierarchy it is
being organized into orders or ranks each subordinate to the one above it. The
principal reason for it was original communication rather than authority, the
means by which a leader could communicate effectively with a large goody of
people. The real choice is between elaborate organizations with many ranks and
much more simple structures. For a variety of reasons, modern organizations
have become flatter as unnecessary levels of management have been stripped, we
are moving towards just three broad & over lapping bands: strategic
operational and team leaders. However this is still a hierarchy. Leadership is
paradoxical in that it can and does work in a formal structure, fulfilling
managerial roles and respecting order and system as necessary means to an end.
Qualities knowledge and skills all have been much emphasized in the context of
leadership but inner attitudes the way you think and the way you are inside
yourself are as fully important for by a kind of extra sensory perception your
people will always come to sense, who you are. You can't hide your inner self
as a leader.
As the Zulu proverb say's “I can't hear what you say because what
you are is shouting at me." Leadership is just being you.
The ability to give direction
Not the cry but the height of the wild duck
leads the flock to fly & follow. Chinese proverb.
Alexander the great on an his Journey through Asia. The world leader suggests the importance
of guidance and a journey forwards in time.
There are three kinds of need discernible in any human enterprise.
Firstly people need to know where they are going, literally or metaphorically
is terms of their common task. Secondly they need the help together as a team.
Last but not least each individual, by virtue of being human & personal,
also brings & set of needs that require satisfaction. These three variety
of need should be conceived of being separate entities, they overlap or
interact in a rich variety of ways, sometimes with good and sometimes with ill
effects.
Alexander personified the Cardinal military virtues, such as
physical courage, as well as mental qualities of a brilliant commander. A team
is like a Jigsaw puzzle, of complementary parts fitting perfectly together.
Under Alexander’s compelling leadership the Greek army worked as a high
performance team. However desperate his circumstances, Alexander was also with
its aid, to defeat much bigger armies time after time. Apart from caring his
men's individual needs food and water, security, family Alexander also ensured
that the outstanding received personal recognition. He knew their names and
praised them in public.
Making Right Decisions:
Leadership is about giving direction, but it has to be the right
direction. That calls for a practical ability both natural and educated. The
Greeks called it phronesis which we might translate as practical judgment or
transcendent common sense. Thought precedes decision, decision leads to action.
Depending on the Circumstances and especially upon degree of crisis as a leader
you need to know when to cut off debate and to initiate the action phase. Intuition
is sensing situation as they really are when the evidence is incomplete. It can
be disturbed by anxiety or fear, and it should be tested by reason or
experiment before being accepted. In the country of the blind, the one-eyed man
is king, but even a leader with partial vision may sometimes rely upon the
blind man's guide dog-intuition.
Imagination is also necessary, for new circumstances call for new
ideas. Again, a leader does not have to be particularly imaginative but should
be able to stimulate and respond to imaginative thinking in the organization.
The Art of Inspiring
while informing effective communicator. To define effective communications,
first they know what the aim is. What are the effects or actions that should
result from this communication? Secondly they understand the feelings and
information already present in the minds of their hearers or readers.
Thirdly they put over what they have to say clearly, simply and
vividly, using the most appropriate methods of communication personal conversation, telephone, presentation report or
letter. In the context of human enterprise, leaders must both impart and
receive a great deal of information daily. They need to be skilled both in
putting across information with necessary clarity and conciseness and in
listening to what other have to report.
Vision.-What's vision? The word suggests the power of seeing, and
by implication the ability to see further ahead and see a wider field than
others. A leader has to be concerned with emotion and motive.
Moral is a state of mind. It is that intangilete
force which will move a whole group of men to give their last ounce to achieve
something, without counting the cost to themselves that makes them feel they
are part of something greater than themselves. It they are to feel that their
moral must, if it is endure and the essence of moral is that it should endure
have certain foundations. These foundations are spiritual intellectual and
material and that is the order of their importance. Spiritual, first, because
only spiritual foundation can stand real strain. Next intellectual, because men
are swayed by reason as well as feeling. Material last important but last
because the highest kinds of morale are often met when material conditions are
lowest. Spiritual is used not only in religious meaning strictly, but as a belief
in a cause.
One did not need to be an orator to be
effective. Two things are very necessary first to know what you are talking
about and second and most important to believe it yourself.
In our daily music of life who thinks of a
telephone operator until he fails to get his connection, of the clerk in our
office until he makes a mistake in our salary statement and so on. Unless each
department members feel directly that its success and honor are in their hands
as much as any body.
A good leader should speak straight at his
audience and create an atmosphere to live and work. An atmosphere of doubt of
looking back of loss of confidence must cease.
The effect of address to the audience be
electric and terrific that it creates new hopes and confidence in future.
Great leaders write their own speeches. But
today political leaders and organizational leaders hire speech-writers,
professionals who help them to communicate more effectively. It is indeed
difficult to appear sincere when one is using borrowed words in order to
inspire others. This belief that we can create and sustain an image of good
leadership through our borrowed ad campaigns is still a doubtful concept?
No single leader knows all the answers but a
good leader tends to show empathy-the capacity for participating in another
feelings and ideas. In that context certain theatricality is involved in it.
For leader who is invisible and in audile to some and selectively communicating
to the rest can seldom he effective and certainly not great.
Listening leaders with their hearts and heads and third inner ear
to the leanings and feelings is always better.
Any one can hold the helm when the seas are calm. The test of your
powers of communication comes when seas are rough with change, and people feel
disoriented and out of touch. Can you communicate hope when all about you are
doubting the promise of future?
It is not merely the thing that is said, but the man who says it
that counts, the character which breathes through the sentences. Trust and good
communication go hand in hand. Where there is a trust even bad news can be
communicated. The more you communicate the plain truth or the realities of the
situation, the more people will trust and support you. The bird carries the
wings but the wings carry the bird. Techniques have a place but truth is great
communicator.
Part of human nature is the desire to excel-very often this latent
greatness needs to be merely sparked into life by a leader. Good leaders draw
from ordinary people extraordinary performance.
Wise leaders win valuable support by seeing as
much consensus as possible in decision-making.
A leading school master of the day wrote to his
fellow teachers. We are they who help to make or mar all. They that are flower
of our nation, and these who become leaders of the rest are committed to our
education & Instruction. Self control enabled a man to find the mean
between extremes, to see both himself and the world which lived with objective
justice and to apply such justice. A brave captain is as root, out of which as
branches, the courage of his soldiers does spring.
It he permitted reason to rule his abilities
would become virtues, If on the other hand, he was driven by the lower part of
his soul if his emotions and passions ruled without the bridle of reason, than
his abilities would degenerate into vices.
Courtesy consists of two parts
Knowing what behavior fits to each person including oneself, and
graciousness in giving to each his or her due. The fountain of all excellent
manners is majesty. Machiavelli (1500) wrote men ought to be treated well or
utterly crushed. He wrote since they can avenge small injuries but not great
ones. A prince who wants’s to hold his own must know how to do wrong when
necessary."
George Washington born in 1732 on April 30, 1789
Washingtonian took the oath of office as first president of United States.
Laborer considered as a
set of number. In prayer before birth, the twentieth century poet Louis Macniece
voiced these lingering fears as he prayed against.
"Those who would freeze my humanity, would
dragoon me into a lethal automaton would make me a cog in a machine, a thing
with one face a thing and against all those who would dissipate my
entirety."
Let them not make me stone and let them not
spill me otherwise kill me." Industrialists saw them as masters, bosses
not as leaders.
War office selection on board (WOSB) spread over several days.
Selecting leaders for groups by placing candidates in groups with tasks to
perform. The tasks are developed to do outdoor exercises, such as getting a
barrel over a stream with limited equipment. Role plays, giving a talk and
leading group. The pace and demands of the programma introduce element of
stress, no new thing when selecting leader for battle. How far each candidate
perform necessary functions to help the group to achieve the task and hold it
together as a working team. From the moment a man start to be trained as an
officer he must be thought to regard himself as someone who has voluntarily
accepted a huge responsibility and who has a very high standard to maintain
everything he does. Lawrence of Arabia said, "No man can be a leader
except he eats the same food as his men, wears the same clothes, leads the same
life and yet appears better in himself.
Leadership is of the spirit, commanded of personality and vision,
its practice is an art. Management is of the mind more a matter of accurate
calculation of statistics, of methods time, tables and routine, its practice is
science. If managers are necessary leaders are essential. The most brilliant
surgeon is not necessarily the best man to run a hospital nor the bestselling
author to run a publishing house. The technically trained man in not answer to
solve a leadership position.
Charisma-There is a useful distinction to be made between invocation and
evocation. Evocation happens without design but invocation is a conscious
intention. Charisma could be deliberately invoked.
Women as leaders
In 1960 Srimao-Bhandarnaike of Srilanka became the world’s first
women prime minister. Since then Indira Gandhi, Golda Meir, Isabelita person,
Margreat Thatcher, Benazir Bhulto and Cora Aquino have all risen to the chief
position in their respective countries. Christianity brought seeds of change in
the perception of the value of women relative to Men. Queen Elizabeth I was
head of the state and head of the church of England (1588).
Prejudice dies hard. Not
until nineteenth century the age of progress did women begin to emerge in
larger numbers as leaders. In 1854 Florence Nightingale heard about the
terrible conditions of the wounded British soldiers is the Crimean war; she
offered to lead a party of women nurses to work in the military hospital. She
introduced important technique of modern reform the use of statistics. In 1903
Emmelive pankhursts formed the women's social and political union along with
her three daughters and ten other women. Their slogan was simple but, powerful,
vote for women on the very day in June 1928 that Mrs. Pankhurstdied, the final
Bill giving women the same voting rights as Men went through parliament in England. The two world wars
gave further stimulus to take-up Careers.
In family we usually make better decisions when both sexes are
involved and same applies to Industry. Women seem to have better intuitive
capabilities and a deeper in build sense of fundamental responsibility. They
are prepared to stick with details longer then men and to ensure that things
are actually done right. The best decisions come when men & Women work
together as a team. There is no evidence however that male and female qualities
as such exist. Courage and aggressiveness, are by no means uniquely
characteristics. All attempts to generalize about the leadership qualities or
abilities that women possess as opposed to men upon closer examination seem to
collapse like a house of cards.
Necessary Art of Persuasion
You use logic, persistence and personal
enthusiasm to get others to buy a good idea. Most effective persuader seem to
share a common trait, they are open minded never dogmatic. Effective persuaders
involves four distinct and essential steps. First effective persuades establish
credibility second they frame their goals in way that identifies common ground
with those they intend to persuade. Third they reinforce their positions using
vivid language and compelling evidence. And fourth they connect emotionally
with their audience.
The strategy of presentation is also very critical. Credibility
grows out of two source : expertise and relationship. People are considered to
have high levels of expertise if they have a history of sound judgment. On
relationship side people with high credibility are trusted to listen and work
in the best interest of others. To overcome the expertise aspect one should
consult the knowledgeable individuals through formal or informal means. To
overcome relationship gap one should meet one to one with all key people you
plan to persuade.
After all few people will jump on board a train
that will bring them to ruin or even mild discomfort. Effective persuader must
be adept in framing their position that illuminates the advantage of shared
benefit.
Most common mistakes of persuasion-setting out a
strong position at the start of persuasion effort gives potential oppenent.
Many managers see compromise as surrender but compromises can
often lead to more sustainable solutions. They think the secret of persuasion
lies in presenting great argument in one shot effect. Persuasion is a process
not an event.
Experiments in psychology indicate that people
are more likely to follow someone who is similar to them than someone who is
not. The intuitive truth that people tend to treat you the way you treat them.
Individuals are more likely to keep promises they make voluntarily and
explicitly. Exclusive information is more persuasive then widely available
data. Playing the "Because I am the boss" Card is out. It is
demeaning and demoralizing for all concerned.
Give what you want to receive. Leaders should model the behavior
they want to see from other a sense of trust, a spirit of cooperating or a
pleasant demeanor. If an undertaking is forced, co-erced or imposed from
outside it is not a commitment it is an unwelcome burden.
There is no trick to motivating others. It
requires a clear unbiased of understanding of the situation at hand, deep
insight into the vagaries of human nature at both individual and group levels,
the establishment of appropriate and reasonable expectations and goals and the
construction of balanced set of tangible and intangible incentives.
People at the top of their organization often forget how hard is
it for the people at bottom. If the leader can make the people at the bottom
feel like they are cared for the entire organization will feel inspired and
motivated.
Through the period (1999 to 2001) 1700 executives were surveyed to
know about their decision making processes by Miller Williams. After doing the
cluster analysis of the data executives’ behaviors fell into five groupings.
25% of the executives’ interviews were charismatic. Charismatic are often
described as enthusiastic, captivating, talkative, domiant and persistent. They
are risk taking yet responsible individuals. They are rarely convinced by
one-sided arguments that lack a orientation toward results. Charismatic make
their final decisions very methodically and the decisions are based on balanced
information.
Thinkers:- 11 % of the executives interviewed were most difficult decision
makers to understand and consequently toughest to persuade. They are often
described as cerebral. Intelligent , logical and academic. They are voracious
readers and selective about the words they use. Not usually known for their
social skills, thinkers tend to guard their emotions. They are driven more by
the need to retain control than by need to innovate. Prominent examples include
Michael bell, Bill Gates. They strive to understand all perspectives of a given
situation and a strong aversion to risk.
Skeptics:-
19% of the executives were highly suspicions of every single data, especially
any information that challenges their worldview. The most important trait of
skeptics is that they tend to have very strong personalities. They can be
demanding. Disruptive , disagreeable rebellions and even antisocial. He will be
demanding of both your time & energy.
Followers:- 36% of executive
interviewed made decisions on how they have made similar choices in the past or
how other tested executive have made them.
Because they are afraid of making wrong choice, followers will
seldom be early adopters. Instead they trust in known brands and in bargain,
both of which represent less risk. Above all they are responsible decision
makers which are why they are most often found in large corporations. With a
follower, don't try to sell yourself unless you have a strong track record of
success.
Controllers:- 9% of the executive interviewed were controllers. They abhor
uncertainly and mutuality and they will focus on the pure facts and analysis of
an argument. They are both constrained and driven by their own fears and
insecurities. They are described as logical, unemotional, sensible, detail
oriented, accurate, analytical and objective. Controllers can be loners and are
often self absorbed, traits that lead them to make unilateral decision. Indeed,
although a controller may talk to others about a decision, he will seldom
generally listen to them or consider their input. When dealing with
controllers, you need to overcome their internal fears, which they will pretend
they don't have. In a meeting, remember that controllers can be self-absorbed,
so be prepared for long silences during your interactions. Often a controller
will jump to illogical conclusions. In practice, the only way to sell on idea
to controller is not to sell it your best bet is to simply supply them with
information they need and hope they will convince themselves. Although
controllers and skefitics share several characteristics, a key difference is
that controllers need ample time to make decision (they hate to be rushed). One
of the worst things you can do with a controller is to push your proposal too
aggressively. When that happens controllers are likely to see you as part of
the problem and not the solution. There is also a concept of "tempered
radicals" as they effect significant changes in moderate ways. There are
four incremental approaches that leaders can use to create lasting cultural
change. Most subtle is "disruptive self expression" in dress, office
decor, or behavior which can slowly change an unproductive atmosphere as people
increasingly notice and emulate it. Once people take notice of the expression
they begin to talk about it. Eventually, they may feel brave enough to try some
thing themselves. In a classic case of tempered radical "Dr. Frances Conley was a leading neuro Surgeon at Stanford Medical School. She struggled daily to maintain her
feminine identify in a macho profession and her integrity amid gender
discrimination. Complicated brain surgery and sometime male colleague would
stride into operating room to say "Move over honey". Despite the
frustration and anger. She felt, Dr. Conley at that time had no intention of
making a huge issue of her gender. She did not went to compromise her position;
so she expressed herself in all sorts of subtle ways, including what she wore. Along
with her green surgical scrubs, She donned white lace
ankle socks- an unequivocal expression of her femininity. In itself wearing
lace ankle socks could hardly he considered a Gandhian act of civil
disobedience. The socks merely said "I can be a neurosurgeon and be
feminine."
But they spoke loudly enough in the stolid
masculinity of surgical environment and along with other small actions on her
part, they sparked conversation in the hospital. Nurses and female residents
frequently commented on Dr. Conley's style. "She is as demanding as any
man and is not afraid to take them on." They would say in admiration.
Does a wearing lacy sock force immediate change in the culture? Of
course not: such acts are too modest. But disruptive self expression does do
two important things. First, it reinforce the tempered "radical's sense of
the importance of his or her convictions. These act are self affirming.
Secondly it pushes the status auto door slightly ajar by introducing an
alternative modus operand)' verbal jujitsu - like most martial arts, jujitsu
involves taking a force coming at you and redirecting it to change the
situation. Considerable self control and emotional intelligence is required in
practicing it. You study and listen to the situation at hand and carefully
calibrate others responses to disarm without harming.
Variable-Term opposition:- Like Jazz musician who
build completely new musical experiences from old standards as they go along,
tempered radicals must be creatively open to opportunity. Being alert to capitalize
on short term circumstances and being ready to capitalize on long term
opportunities is very essential.
Strategic Alliance Building
When one enlists the help of like minded, similarly tempered
co-workers the strategic alliance gains clout of course tempered radicals know
that not everyone is an ally, but they also know it's pointless to see those,
who represent status Quo as enemies. How can I best use the alliance to support
my efforts?
There are two parts of the leadership equation and one part
leadership is always highlighted ignoring the follower part. What most analyses
seem to ignore that followers have their own identify. Follower's motivations
are of two categories couscions and well known and unconscious ones. A number
of studies have shown that positive transference are closely linked to
productivity. Transference (or transferring experiences and emotions of past to
present) is the emotional glue that binds people to a leader.
What we don't know about making Decision
Most leaders think of decision making as a singular event that
occurs at a particular point in time. In reality decision making is a process
fraught with so many factors of politics, power, play, ego clash, and
institutional history and so on. Leaders who can visualize such factors make
far better decision than those who preserve in fantasy that decisions are
events that they alone control. When a leader uses an advocacy process for
decision making using selective presentation, withholding conflicting data and
makes it appear as a convincing case.
But the other method of decision making
involving inquiry process in which people consider a variety of options and
work together to discover the best solution. Moving from advocacy to inquiry
requires careful alteration to three critical factors fostering constructive
rather than personal conflict. Making sure everyone knows that their view
points are given serious consideration if they are not ultimately accepted and
knowing when to bring deliberations to a close.
Ability to embrace divergence allows us to forge
unity needed for effective implementation. Critical thinking and rigorous
debate invariably lead to conflict. The good news is that conflict brings issue
into focus allowing leaders to make more informed choices. Indeed conflict
comes in two forms-cognitive and affective. In practice the two types of
conflict are surprisingly hard to separate. People tend to take any criticism
personally and react defensively. The atmosphere quickly becomes charged and
emotional fallout tends to linger even if a high quality decision emerges. The
challenge for leaders is to increase cognitive conflict while keeping affective
conflict low-no mean feat. One technique is to establish norms that make
vigorous debate the rule rather than exception.
(Death by power point of an creative culture) and analysis
paralysis fine tuning their choices without making a final decision are some of
the limitations.
These are Contemporary and historical perspective of leadership
that needs to be understood while discovering various facets of this process.
It is such an emerging field that nothing could be said with certainty for
future and more analysis and researches are needed in this direction.
