In a Nutshell
Doing
the right thing is its own reward, but being a person of high
ethics and strong character also helps you lead others. While many
pseudo-transformational leaders are able to exert control over their followers,
their lack of character and ethical behavior ultimately bring harm to their
followers and/or others. Authentic transformational leaders, by acting
on a core set of benevolent values, bring out the best in their followers
and do great things for society. That's why I believe any discussion
of effective leadership should start with character!
In This Issue
Transformational Leadership
The most challenging times
for leaders are when they are leading a group "into the unknown."
When leaders communicate a vision and give direction to their followers
that involve pushing them out of their comfort zones and taking risks,
it's natural for the followers to resist the change. Managers find
that it's far more difficult to lead change than it is to continue business
as usual. Nonetheless, managers are increasingly responsible for
leading change. With the rapid pace of innovation and growth of international
competition, managers who simply maintain the status quo are an endangered
species.
Transformational leaders
are able to persuade their followers to step out of their comfort zones,
take a leap of faith and follow their leaders into the unknown. In
other words, transformational leaders build trust. Trust is a willingness
to take a risk and make oneself vulnerable. We are more inclined
to trust people when we understand their values and observe that their
actions are congruent with those values because we can reliably predict
how they will act. Leaders of high character instill trust.
Not all charismatic leadership
is authentic transformational leadership. Pseudo-transformational
leaders are also persuasive. Leaders such as Adolph Hitler and Osama
bin Laden have been able to inspire their followers. However, they
violate trust and ultimately bring harm to their followers. They
lack character and act immorally. While not morally equivalent to
bin Laden, the business leaders who are responsible for the collapse of
investors' confidence are commonly identified as charismatic or visionary,
but their lack of morality has led to destruction of wealth and harm to
their employees' careers.
Moral
Analysis of Leaders, Their Actions and Their Values
Moral analysis can be applied
to leaders, to their actions and to their values. A leader is praiseworthy
as a moral agent if he or she possesses a developed conscience and acts
in ways that are kind, charitable and altruistic rather than selfish or
maleficent. Pseudo-transformational leaders often show that they
do not have a well-developed conscience and take actions with self-serving
or destructive intentions.
Similarly, leaders' actions
are judged in terms of their ends sought, means used and consequences achieved.
Moral actions have purposes that are aligned with core values, employ moral
methods to achieve those ends, and result in fair treatment of affected
parties.
To a great degree, values
are culturally relative. However, there are some values that transcend
cultures. Values that reflect an intention to maintain and even enhance
the well being of society are held in esteem in any culture. The
core values of authentic transformational leaders respect other's rights
and dignity, and demonstrate a genuine concern for others. For business
managers, core values that show concern for all organizational stakeholders
are respected by society.
The
Behavior of Authentic Transformational Leaders
It should also be noted
that not all good, moral people are transformational leaders. Transformational
leaders engage in idealized influence, inspirational motivation, intellectual
stimulation and individualized consideration as they lead their followers.
Source
Bass, B. M. & Steidlmeier,
P. (1999). Ethics, character, and authentic transformational
leadership behavior. Leadership Quarterly, 10(2): 181-217.
About
the Newsletter and Subscriptions
LeaderLetter is written
by Dr. Scott Williams, Department of Management, Raj
Soin College of Business, Wright State University, Dayton, Ohio.
It is a supplement to my MBA 751 - Managing People in Organizations class.
It is intended to reinforce the course concepts and maintain communication
among my former MBA 751 students, but anyone is welcome to subscribe.
In addition, subscribers are welcome to forward this newsletter to anyone
who they believe would have an interest in it. To subscribe,
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E-mail Your Comments
Whether you are one of my
former students or not, I invite you to share any insights or concerns
you have regarding the topic of this newsletter or any other topic relating
to management skills. Please e-mail
them to me. Our interactions have been invaluable. I
learn a lot from LeaderLetter subscribers! Let's
keep the conversation going.
King George III's Response to the Declaration of Independence
The Court of King George III London, England
July 10, 1776
Mr. Thomas Jefferson
c/o The Continental Congress Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Dear Mr. Jefferson,
We have read your "Declaration of Independence" with great interest. Certainly, it represents a considerable undertaking, and many of your statements do merit serious consideration. Unfortunately, the Declaration as a whole fails to meet recently adopted specifications for proposals to the Crown, so we must return the document to you for further refinement. The questions which follow might assist you in your process of revision:
1. In your opening paragraph you use the phrase the "Laws of Nature and Nature's God." What are these laws? In what way are they the criteria on which you base your central arguments? Please document with citations from the recent literature.
2. In the same paragraph you refer to the "opinions of mankind." Whose polling data are you using? Without specific evidence, it seems to us the "opinions of mankind" are a matter of opinion.
3. You hold truths to be "self-evident." Could you please elaborate. If they are as evident as you claim then it should not be difficult for you to locate the appropriate supporting statistics.
4. "Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of happiness" seem to be the goals of your proposal. These are not measurable goals. If you were to say that among these is the ability to sustain an average life expectancy in six of the 13 colonies of at last 55 years, and to enable newspapers in the colonies to print news without outside interference, and to raise the average income of the colonists by 10 percent in the next 10 years, these could be measurable goals. Please clarify.
5. You state that "Whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute a new Government...." Have you weighed this assertion against all the alternatives? What are the trade-off considerations?
6. Your description of the existing situation is quite extensive. Such a long list of grievances should precede the statement of goals, not follow it. Your problem statement needs improvement.
7. Your strategy for achieving your goal is not developed at all. You state that the colonies ought to be Free and Independent States, and that they are "Absolved from All Allegiance to the British Crown." Who or what must change to achieve this objective? In what way must they change? What specific steps will you take to overcome the resistance? How long will it take? We have found that a little foresight in these areas helps to prevent careless errors later on. How cost-effective are your strategies?
8. Who among the list of signatories will be responsible for implementing your strategy? Who conceived it? Who provided the theoretical research? Who will constitute the advisory committee? Please submit an organization chart and vitas of the principal investigators.
9. You must include an evaluation design. We have been requiring this since Queen Anne's War.
10. What impact will your problem have? Your failure to include any assessment of this inspires little confidence in the long-range prospects of your undertaking.
11. Please submit a PERT diagram, an activity chart, itemized budget, and manpower utilization matrix.
We hope that these comments prove useful in revising your "Declaration of Independence." We welcome the submission of your revised proposal. Our due date for unsolicited proposals is July 31, 1776. Ten copies with original signatures will be required.
Sincerely,
Management Analyst to the British Crown