- The document discusses the challenges of leadership in a rapidly changing global environment and argues that the key to overcoming these challenges is removing emotional barriers to sustainable high performance.
- It reviews studies showing that companies with cultures that tolerate truth-telling and embrace dissent achieve better long-term results, but that creating such cultures is difficult due to leaders' emotional limitations.
- The authors propose a model of leadership development focused on enhancing emotional intelligence to remove these barriers and create an environment where open and honest communication can occur, leading to more effective decision-making and performance.
Highly recommended course for everybody who seeks to find himself at dynamic 21st century environment! https://lnkd.in/eHabDGj
You'll find it @ https://www.coursera.org/learn/leadership-21st-century
The document discusses the need for a "Third Wave" of leadership development to better prepare leaders for today's challenges. It outlines three pressures leaders face: disruption of industries, erosion of trust in leadership, and a new power equilibrium between leaders and followers. The summary discusses how past models of leadership development focused on knowledge in the "First Wave" and skills/styles in the "Second Wave" but are now outdated. The "Third Wave" proposes focusing on developing leaders' agility, authenticity and sense of purpose through more immersive techniques to prepare them for the new challenges of disruption, lack of trust and shared power.
This document discusses the difference between corporate social responsibility (CSR) and having an authentic purpose-driven business. While CSR focuses on minimizing harm, purpose is about maximizing positive social and environmental impacts. Purpose requires a mindset that considers long-term societal wellbeing, not just short-term profits. Interviewees state that a purpose-driven business culture engages employees in living the company's purpose through their daily work.
Inside-Out Collaboration: An Integrated Approach to Working Beyond SilosDavid Willcock
In this article, David Willcock draws insights from psychology and organizational
development theory and practice to provide a framework for building and maintaining productive relationships across organizational boundaries. Through an integrated approach to collaboration that includes the individual, team, and organization, managers and leaders can serve as catalysts for “partnership working,” which can ultimately lead to high performance and competitive advantage.
Leadership for 2015 - A Dove Nest Thought PaperMike Kitson
This document discusses leadership needs for 2015. It identifies 7 key competencies needed for modern leaders: 1) Challenging the status quo and having the confidence to speak up, 2) Enabling others to challenge as well to foster reflection, 3) Aligning organizational values, structure, culture and people to achieve goals, 4) Adapting to constant change and complexity, 5) Making decisions with incomplete information and being accountable, 6) Developing talent and succession plans, and 7) Role modeling the behaviors needed to lead change. Effective leadership in 2015 requires challenging assumptions, aligning all levels of the organization, and guiding others through an uncertain environment.
Original article from the Flevy business blog can be found here:
http://flevy.com/blog/are-women-good-for-business/
Do women or men make better leaders?
Recently, McKinsey republished an article from 1976 entitled ‘ Sex bias – still in business ’ with the following 2014 introduction:
Despite much talk of equal opportunity for women, discrimination persists in business. This 1976 McKinsey Quarterly article, part of a series celebrating our 50th anniversary, shows how companies should correct disparities that are illegal, immoral, and bad for business.
Curious as to how a 38 year old article could offer fresh and relevant insights into a subject close to my heart, I sat down with keen anticipation to read it. My enthusiasm was quickly dispelled by tedium and increasing frustration. The article was too predictable. It gave a prescription of organisational measures to create greater opportunities for women, but the only reason it gave for doing so was ‘unfairness’ and the need to conform with legislation. I struggled to understand why McKinsey were bothering to republish it in 2014 – it certainly did not provide thought leadership..
Whilst the right of women to equal opportunities is undeniable there are even more positive and compelling reasons to advance their role in business. Ask yourself whether ‘the fairer sex’ or ‘the testosterone-fuelled sex’ are likely to fare better on the following, research-validated characteristics of Top 1% companies:
• Decisions, which can occasionally be bold and radical, are made on the basis of quiet, calm insight and understanding, not bravado.
• There is an holistic culture with a long-term, nurturing perspective and a recognition of the constant need to improve and to learn, personally and collectively.
• Staff regard the company as if it was their family and describe it with affection as an open, honest and supportive environment in which standards are high, but everyone’s contribution is valued.
The document discusses the lack of gender diversity in senior leadership roles in Canadian corporations despite 25 years of focus on advancing women. While women make up 48% of the workforce, only 36.5% of lower managers, less than 18% of top executives, less than 14% of boards, and 6% of CEOs are women. This lack of diversity represents a competitive disadvantage as research shows the most successful companies have diverse leadership that incorporates multiple perspectives. The authors argue that true change requires leadership that values diversity and holds teams accountable through transparent processes rather than just counting women or focusing on tactics. Leaders must uncover and address underlying biases to create lasting cultural change at all levels of an organization.
Lead from the Middle - Flip the Switch, Jazz Up Teams, Power InnovationMerom Klein
Executive summary of the book, Lead from the Middle. How to power past the limitations of top-down culture-shaping, innovation and transformation strategies. How to equip middle managers to step in, reach out, take charge and lift up fearful, reluctant or siloed partners.
Highly recommended course for everybody who seeks to find himself at dynamic 21st century environment! https://lnkd.in/eHabDGj
You'll find it @ https://www.coursera.org/learn/leadership-21st-century
The document discusses the need for a "Third Wave" of leadership development to better prepare leaders for today's challenges. It outlines three pressures leaders face: disruption of industries, erosion of trust in leadership, and a new power equilibrium between leaders and followers. The summary discusses how past models of leadership development focused on knowledge in the "First Wave" and skills/styles in the "Second Wave" but are now outdated. The "Third Wave" proposes focusing on developing leaders' agility, authenticity and sense of purpose through more immersive techniques to prepare them for the new challenges of disruption, lack of trust and shared power.
This document discusses the difference between corporate social responsibility (CSR) and having an authentic purpose-driven business. While CSR focuses on minimizing harm, purpose is about maximizing positive social and environmental impacts. Purpose requires a mindset that considers long-term societal wellbeing, not just short-term profits. Interviewees state that a purpose-driven business culture engages employees in living the company's purpose through their daily work.
Inside-Out Collaboration: An Integrated Approach to Working Beyond SilosDavid Willcock
In this article, David Willcock draws insights from psychology and organizational
development theory and practice to provide a framework for building and maintaining productive relationships across organizational boundaries. Through an integrated approach to collaboration that includes the individual, team, and organization, managers and leaders can serve as catalysts for “partnership working,” which can ultimately lead to high performance and competitive advantage.
Leadership for 2015 - A Dove Nest Thought PaperMike Kitson
This document discusses leadership needs for 2015. It identifies 7 key competencies needed for modern leaders: 1) Challenging the status quo and having the confidence to speak up, 2) Enabling others to challenge as well to foster reflection, 3) Aligning organizational values, structure, culture and people to achieve goals, 4) Adapting to constant change and complexity, 5) Making decisions with incomplete information and being accountable, 6) Developing talent and succession plans, and 7) Role modeling the behaviors needed to lead change. Effective leadership in 2015 requires challenging assumptions, aligning all levels of the organization, and guiding others through an uncertain environment.
Original article from the Flevy business blog can be found here:
http://flevy.com/blog/are-women-good-for-business/
Do women or men make better leaders?
Recently, McKinsey republished an article from 1976 entitled ‘ Sex bias – still in business ’ with the following 2014 introduction:
Despite much talk of equal opportunity for women, discrimination persists in business. This 1976 McKinsey Quarterly article, part of a series celebrating our 50th anniversary, shows how companies should correct disparities that are illegal, immoral, and bad for business.
Curious as to how a 38 year old article could offer fresh and relevant insights into a subject close to my heart, I sat down with keen anticipation to read it. My enthusiasm was quickly dispelled by tedium and increasing frustration. The article was too predictable. It gave a prescription of organisational measures to create greater opportunities for women, but the only reason it gave for doing so was ‘unfairness’ and the need to conform with legislation. I struggled to understand why McKinsey were bothering to republish it in 2014 – it certainly did not provide thought leadership..
Whilst the right of women to equal opportunities is undeniable there are even more positive and compelling reasons to advance their role in business. Ask yourself whether ‘the fairer sex’ or ‘the testosterone-fuelled sex’ are likely to fare better on the following, research-validated characteristics of Top 1% companies:
• Decisions, which can occasionally be bold and radical, are made on the basis of quiet, calm insight and understanding, not bravado.
• There is an holistic culture with a long-term, nurturing perspective and a recognition of the constant need to improve and to learn, personally and collectively.
• Staff regard the company as if it was their family and describe it with affection as an open, honest and supportive environment in which standards are high, but everyone’s contribution is valued.
The document discusses the lack of gender diversity in senior leadership roles in Canadian corporations despite 25 years of focus on advancing women. While women make up 48% of the workforce, only 36.5% of lower managers, less than 18% of top executives, less than 14% of boards, and 6% of CEOs are women. This lack of diversity represents a competitive disadvantage as research shows the most successful companies have diverse leadership that incorporates multiple perspectives. The authors argue that true change requires leadership that values diversity and holds teams accountable through transparent processes rather than just counting women or focusing on tactics. Leaders must uncover and address underlying biases to create lasting cultural change at all levels of an organization.
Lead from the Middle - Flip the Switch, Jazz Up Teams, Power InnovationMerom Klein
Executive summary of the book, Lead from the Middle. How to power past the limitations of top-down culture-shaping, innovation and transformation strategies. How to equip middle managers to step in, reach out, take charge and lift up fearful, reluctant or siloed partners.
Public Engagement: Survive and Thrive in a Bigger Society Vol. 3Edelman Digital
The third volume of Edelman’s annual publication, Public Engagement: Survive and Thrive in a Bigger Society, is a collection of thought pieces written by the UK team in which we continue to explore the shifting media, thought and working landscapes that we inhabit, as well as the increasingly complex relationship between businesses, brands, government, the media and society.
Strategic leadership of ethical behavior in businessMonamoharram
The document discusses the strategic leadership of ethical behavior in business. It argues that executives must accept responsibility for leading ethics initiatives within their organizations. Failing to do so can result in significant costs to the company from lack of ethical conduct. These costs go beyond direct fines and penalties to include long-term damage from loss of reputation and trust with stakeholders. The article examines the case of Arthur Andersen to illustrate how even large companies can collapse due to erosion of ethics. It emphasizes that executives must create a sense of urgency around ethics, influence employees to make ethical decisions as a norm, and anchor ethical culture within the organization.
Diversity in the Board Room_ How to Unlock Its Full Potential - by Christiana...Christiana Vonofakou, PhD
This document discusses diversity in corporate boardrooms and leadership. It argues that while increasing gender diversity is important, simply adding more women is not enough. True diversity requires addressing potential pitfalls like stereotypes and lack of trust that can inhibit creative thinking. It recommends five conditions to maximize the benefits of diversity: 1) organizational encouragement of equal status, 2) leadership support, 3) emphasis on common goals, 4) intergroup cooperation, and 5) developing personal relationships to overcome initial distrust.
Tech giant Microsoft’s India-born CEO Satya Nadella’s first book in which he explores his personal journey, the company’s ongoing transformation and the wave of technological change will hit the future.
The book titled “ Hit Refresh “ carries a foreword by Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates.
Some of my Key picks from the Book
Page 38 & 39- 3 Business & leadership principles learned from Cricket
• Compete vigorously and with passion in the face of uncertainty and intimidation
• Put your team first, ahead of your personal statistics and recognition.
• One brilliant character who does not put the team first can destroy the entire team.
Page 119
• “ To be a leader in this company, your job is to find the rose petals in the field of Shit “ – We can look at a leader as an operator of a machine. Machines are built up using a lot of different cogs of all sizes that coherently work together as one giant machine. So be definition it is important to select cogs that you know you can trust and rely on before operating your machine. Since without these cogs, it all falls apart and you would not be able to operate anything.
Page 119 & 120 -Leadership Principles
• Bring clarity to those you work with. By taking internal and external noise and synthesizing a message from it to deliver to your team.
• Leaders generate Energy, not only on their own teams but across the company.
• To find a way a way to deliver success to make things happen. This means driving innovations that people love and are inspired to work on; finding balance between long-term success and short-term wins; and being boundary-less and globally minded in seeing solutions.
Page 125 – Our Partners
• “ For everyone working with partners, I encourage you to ask yourself “ What could be?” and explore new, creative ways to do interesting things that add value back to our platforms for customers” .
Page 126 – Four initiatives every company must make a priority
• Engage with your customers base by leveraging data to improve the customer experience.
• Empower your own employees by enabling greater and more mobile productivity and collaboration in the new digital world of work.
• Optimize operations, automating and simplifying business process across sales, operations & finance.
• Transform products service and business models ( Become a digital company)
Page 166– Quantum Computers
• “ Quantum computers will not stake the form of new stand-alone, super-fast PC but will operate as a co-processor , receiving its instructions and cues from a stack of classical processors” .
This document discusses lessons that can be learned from military leadership and applied to organizations facing turbulent times. It introduces the concept of Goal Orientated Leadership (GOaL), which is based on principles developed by military leaders over centuries. Under GOaL, leaders set clear outcomes and constraints but empower subordinates to determine tactics. This allows flexibility to adapt to changing conditions. The document contrasts this with typical leadership responses to crises that increase control and reduce responsiveness. GOaL is presented as a framework to help organizations navigate turbulence more effectively through empowered and agile execution.
The document examines differences and similarities between male and female CEOs and their impact on corporate reputation. It finds that having a female CEO does not negatively impact a company's reputation. While some small differences in perceived leadership qualities exist along traditional gender stereotypes, the essentials of strong reputation are largely the same for both male and female CEOs. Both genders contribute similarly to their company's market value through reputation. However, perceptions of the number of female CEOs are inaccurate, and women are significantly more reluctant than men to take on the CEO role.
Strengths-based leadership development is the biggest revolution in the leadership development field in the last 50 years. We didn't pick up pitch forks or arms, but we have joined the revolution.
This document discusses organizational culture and provides a model for measuring it. It defines organizational culture as the shared values, beliefs, and assumptions that guide behavior in an organization. The document then presents the Denison Organizational Culture Model, which measures culture using four traits: involvement, consistency, adaptability, and mission. It describes how each trait is divided into further subdimensions and how an organization's scores in these areas can be plotted on a circular chart. The document concludes by providing an example culture profile for a Chinese company using this model.
The document discusses the key attributes of leadership character, which are integrity, shared vision, emotional intelligence, positive outlook, authenticity, confidence, forward focus, and listening ability. These attributes converge at the core of leadership as character. Integrity is described as the most important trait, as it establishes trust. Shared vision and emotional intelligence help inspire people and connect with them. Positive outlook, authenticity, and confidence guide a leader during difficult times. Forward focus and listening ability allow a leader to effectively lead teams through communication and collaboration. Developing these attributes of character is important for strong leadership.
The document discusses the limitations of focusing leadership development solely on individuals and argues that a systemic approach is needed. It notes that concentrating development on individuals does not significantly improve the organization, and that what happens between individuals is more important. The key points made are:
1) Organizations are systems and succeed when the entire system succeeds as an integrated whole, not just based on the success of individual managers.
2) Focusing too much on developing individuals neglects improving the organizational system surrounding them.
3) Many leadership and organizational failures are due to systemic issues rather than flaws in individual leaders.
4) To truly improve leadership and address challenges, one must think systemically and examine the entire organizational system and
The document discusses how humility can be an important quality for CEOs and business leaders. While charismatic leaders get more attention, humility helps leaders admit mistakes, listen to others, and be flexible. Studies show humble CEOs have more collaborative teams and better company performance. To develop humility, the document suggests leaders get feedback, be honest about weaknesses, empower others, and lead by serving their employees. Overall, humility may be a stronger leadership trait than aggressiveness or ego.
The document discusses the evolving role and skills required of modern CEOs. It notes that CEOs today face greater scrutiny and expectations to communicate frequently with employees, customers, and shareholders. They must have strong communication skills to articulate their vision and decisions. Additionally, CEOs need to empower others in the organization and create a culture of leadership to allow for speed and agility to address challenges. Successful CEOs exhibit traits like authenticity, empathy, and an ability to nurture talent so the organization can respond quickly when needed.
The CEO Report_Oxford Univeristy & Heidrick & StrugglesNiren Thanky
Our unique research initiative brought together two globally renowned institutions with a shared purpose of helping to enhance the practice and positive impact of leadership throughout the world.
The CEOs we interviewed represent every industry and geography, these global leaders have nearly 900 years of CEO experience at companies employing 6 million people, generating nearly $2 trillion in revenue.
‘The CEO Report – Embracing the Paradoxes of Leadership and the Power of Doubt’ was launched in Davos at the World Economic Forum 2015
The CEO Report offers unique insights into how CEOs experience the changing nature of their role and turn their new challenges into opportunities for business and personal growth.
This document discusses two perspectives on employee empowerment that often conflict. The mechanistic perspective views empowerment as delegating power through clear roles, tasks, and accountability. The organic perspective sees empowerment as trusting employees, tolerating mistakes, encouraging risk-taking and growth. Most empowerment programs focus on the mechanistic view, but both views are needed to fully understand how to effectively empower employees.
Organizational culture refers to the shared values and norms that control how people interact within an organization and with external stakeholders. Values are beliefs about goals and appropriate behaviors, while norms prescribe appropriate behaviors in different situations. Culture is transmitted through stories, myths, and socialization as new employees learn the organization's values and norms. An organization's culture can be adaptive and encourage innovation or inert and discourage initiative from middle and lower managers. Social capital refers to how norms and values influence how people work together and treat one another. Strong cultures can profoundly impact performance, either positively or negatively.
Emergent leaders, the ones that get noticed, promoted and pampered in their organizations, typically exhibit strong self-confidence, decisiveness, and visionary thinking – which are not bad things. These characteristics are related to charisma. Too much might be as unacceptable as too little, though. Charisma has a dark side; it is linked to narcissism, and narcissism comes with disastrous side effects.
Multiple studies have revealed that it is humility in leadership that ensures results, productivity and effectiveness of an organization. Humility is a personality trait that is not glamorous at all, and often overlooked. Yet, it seems what many companies are missing in their endeavors to face and cope with the exigencies the 4th industrial revolution is presenting. According to their conversation on leadership 4.0 at the World Economic Forum’s annual meeting of the new champions, working with millennials, leaders say humility works better than bossing around (Vanham, 2019). Today, there are fewer possibilities for dysfunctional narcissistic leaders to mask or coat their misconduct. It is a huge opportunity for HR departments to make identifying humble leaders and developing humility in charismatic leaders a priority.
Colin Powell on Leadership. 4 star General (ret) Colin Powell shares his insights to leadership, that enabled him to become the chairman of the Joint Chief of Staff and first African American Secretary of State.
This document discusses effective leadership and proposes a "Circumplex model of Effective leadership". It argues that effective leadership focuses on personal growth, followers' growth, and organizational goals. The model includes four elements: achieving organizational goals, developing followers, personal leadership, and self-transcendence. The author analyzes cases of failed leadership in developing countries and proposes that transformative leadership is needed to meet people's aspirations and address leadership problems systematically rather than through quick fixes.
The document discusses how confrontation is often viewed negatively but can actually be constructive for organizational health when handled properly. It argues that avoiding confrontation is detrimental and executives should instead focus on using confrontation to improve decision making. Some common confrontation scenarios that associations face include boards getting too involved in operational details, unwillingness to transform outdated programs, and a lack of clear goals or accountability. The document proposes that confrontation be viewed as a communication event to address broken commitments, and that embracing confrontation allows an organization to learn and grow beyond the status quo.
Autocratic Leadership and Qualities of a Good Leader
Introduction
Maintain your relevance and stay adaptable in today's time in an ever-changing environment? Become a better leader by learning how to efficiently adapt to change yourself accordingly. Adoption is the most important key to success in entrepreneurships.
Big changes of adoption happened in the past in the smartphone industry. Before Android started in smartphones, at that time it was the most popular Nokia brand. But when the Android operating system started in the smartphones officially. The key decision in Android history was Google's commitment to make Android an open-source operating system. That allowed it to become highly popular with third-party phone makers. Just a few years after the launch of Android 1.0, smartphones powered by the new OS were everywhere.
Autocratic Leadership and Democratic Leadership aren't good for a company, in leadership a person's combination of both in great leadership. Qualities of a Good Leader, that makes a person Good leader in entrepreneurship.
Leadership is not just about achieving company goals, and making the company profitable and focusing on business stability. In a business, leaders who are the main key person who decides the company or organizational future and contribute to achieving company goals and visions. How much a company will become successful totally depends on a business leader, who leads the company commands.
Leadership responsibility, solving the huge problems and focusing on solutions. Those are mainly focused on problem solving approaches. And a solution oriented person in a company. That person takes the responsibility of a company. Regarding company growth, company profitability, company stability.
In today's society we need to require a different set of skills than it did in the past. It's undeniable that social media platforms like Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and Tiktok have dominated and changed the way we compete in the business landscape. With a sea of competitors, it now matters how we present ourselves online and how we create experiences that are attractive to our clients and customers.
Although some leadership skills, qualities and leadership habits remain the same, refusing to adapt to the current norm will make it difficult for a leader to stay in the game. Most challenging: how do we adapt to change in this fast-paced digital world? But how do we keep up and stay relevant as a leader?
The document discusses the need for a new paradigm of leadership to address global challenges. It argues that leadership must be viewed as a relationship based on mutual influence between leaders and team members, rather than a top-down model. The new paradigm proposes that leadership involves mobilizing people to enact meaningful change through non-coercive relationships aligned with shared values and purposes. Leadership development programs should cultivate skills for collaboration, influence without authority, and facilitating adaptive organizational change.
Public Engagement: Survive and Thrive in a Bigger Society Vol. 3Edelman Digital
The third volume of Edelman’s annual publication, Public Engagement: Survive and Thrive in a Bigger Society, is a collection of thought pieces written by the UK team in which we continue to explore the shifting media, thought and working landscapes that we inhabit, as well as the increasingly complex relationship between businesses, brands, government, the media and society.
Strategic leadership of ethical behavior in businessMonamoharram
The document discusses the strategic leadership of ethical behavior in business. It argues that executives must accept responsibility for leading ethics initiatives within their organizations. Failing to do so can result in significant costs to the company from lack of ethical conduct. These costs go beyond direct fines and penalties to include long-term damage from loss of reputation and trust with stakeholders. The article examines the case of Arthur Andersen to illustrate how even large companies can collapse due to erosion of ethics. It emphasizes that executives must create a sense of urgency around ethics, influence employees to make ethical decisions as a norm, and anchor ethical culture within the organization.
Diversity in the Board Room_ How to Unlock Its Full Potential - by Christiana...Christiana Vonofakou, PhD
This document discusses diversity in corporate boardrooms and leadership. It argues that while increasing gender diversity is important, simply adding more women is not enough. True diversity requires addressing potential pitfalls like stereotypes and lack of trust that can inhibit creative thinking. It recommends five conditions to maximize the benefits of diversity: 1) organizational encouragement of equal status, 2) leadership support, 3) emphasis on common goals, 4) intergroup cooperation, and 5) developing personal relationships to overcome initial distrust.
Tech giant Microsoft’s India-born CEO Satya Nadella’s first book in which he explores his personal journey, the company’s ongoing transformation and the wave of technological change will hit the future.
The book titled “ Hit Refresh “ carries a foreword by Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates.
Some of my Key picks from the Book
Page 38 & 39- 3 Business & leadership principles learned from Cricket
• Compete vigorously and with passion in the face of uncertainty and intimidation
• Put your team first, ahead of your personal statistics and recognition.
• One brilliant character who does not put the team first can destroy the entire team.
Page 119
• “ To be a leader in this company, your job is to find the rose petals in the field of Shit “ – We can look at a leader as an operator of a machine. Machines are built up using a lot of different cogs of all sizes that coherently work together as one giant machine. So be definition it is important to select cogs that you know you can trust and rely on before operating your machine. Since without these cogs, it all falls apart and you would not be able to operate anything.
Page 119 & 120 -Leadership Principles
• Bring clarity to those you work with. By taking internal and external noise and synthesizing a message from it to deliver to your team.
• Leaders generate Energy, not only on their own teams but across the company.
• To find a way a way to deliver success to make things happen. This means driving innovations that people love and are inspired to work on; finding balance between long-term success and short-term wins; and being boundary-less and globally minded in seeing solutions.
Page 125 – Our Partners
• “ For everyone working with partners, I encourage you to ask yourself “ What could be?” and explore new, creative ways to do interesting things that add value back to our platforms for customers” .
Page 126 – Four initiatives every company must make a priority
• Engage with your customers base by leveraging data to improve the customer experience.
• Empower your own employees by enabling greater and more mobile productivity and collaboration in the new digital world of work.
• Optimize operations, automating and simplifying business process across sales, operations & finance.
• Transform products service and business models ( Become a digital company)
Page 166– Quantum Computers
• “ Quantum computers will not stake the form of new stand-alone, super-fast PC but will operate as a co-processor , receiving its instructions and cues from a stack of classical processors” .
This document discusses lessons that can be learned from military leadership and applied to organizations facing turbulent times. It introduces the concept of Goal Orientated Leadership (GOaL), which is based on principles developed by military leaders over centuries. Under GOaL, leaders set clear outcomes and constraints but empower subordinates to determine tactics. This allows flexibility to adapt to changing conditions. The document contrasts this with typical leadership responses to crises that increase control and reduce responsiveness. GOaL is presented as a framework to help organizations navigate turbulence more effectively through empowered and agile execution.
The document examines differences and similarities between male and female CEOs and their impact on corporate reputation. It finds that having a female CEO does not negatively impact a company's reputation. While some small differences in perceived leadership qualities exist along traditional gender stereotypes, the essentials of strong reputation are largely the same for both male and female CEOs. Both genders contribute similarly to their company's market value through reputation. However, perceptions of the number of female CEOs are inaccurate, and women are significantly more reluctant than men to take on the CEO role.
Strengths-based leadership development is the biggest revolution in the leadership development field in the last 50 years. We didn't pick up pitch forks or arms, but we have joined the revolution.
This document discusses organizational culture and provides a model for measuring it. It defines organizational culture as the shared values, beliefs, and assumptions that guide behavior in an organization. The document then presents the Denison Organizational Culture Model, which measures culture using four traits: involvement, consistency, adaptability, and mission. It describes how each trait is divided into further subdimensions and how an organization's scores in these areas can be plotted on a circular chart. The document concludes by providing an example culture profile for a Chinese company using this model.
The document discusses the key attributes of leadership character, which are integrity, shared vision, emotional intelligence, positive outlook, authenticity, confidence, forward focus, and listening ability. These attributes converge at the core of leadership as character. Integrity is described as the most important trait, as it establishes trust. Shared vision and emotional intelligence help inspire people and connect with them. Positive outlook, authenticity, and confidence guide a leader during difficult times. Forward focus and listening ability allow a leader to effectively lead teams through communication and collaboration. Developing these attributes of character is important for strong leadership.
The document discusses the limitations of focusing leadership development solely on individuals and argues that a systemic approach is needed. It notes that concentrating development on individuals does not significantly improve the organization, and that what happens between individuals is more important. The key points made are:
1) Organizations are systems and succeed when the entire system succeeds as an integrated whole, not just based on the success of individual managers.
2) Focusing too much on developing individuals neglects improving the organizational system surrounding them.
3) Many leadership and organizational failures are due to systemic issues rather than flaws in individual leaders.
4) To truly improve leadership and address challenges, one must think systemically and examine the entire organizational system and
The document discusses how humility can be an important quality for CEOs and business leaders. While charismatic leaders get more attention, humility helps leaders admit mistakes, listen to others, and be flexible. Studies show humble CEOs have more collaborative teams and better company performance. To develop humility, the document suggests leaders get feedback, be honest about weaknesses, empower others, and lead by serving their employees. Overall, humility may be a stronger leadership trait than aggressiveness or ego.
The document discusses the evolving role and skills required of modern CEOs. It notes that CEOs today face greater scrutiny and expectations to communicate frequently with employees, customers, and shareholders. They must have strong communication skills to articulate their vision and decisions. Additionally, CEOs need to empower others in the organization and create a culture of leadership to allow for speed and agility to address challenges. Successful CEOs exhibit traits like authenticity, empathy, and an ability to nurture talent so the organization can respond quickly when needed.
The CEO Report_Oxford Univeristy & Heidrick & StrugglesNiren Thanky
Our unique research initiative brought together two globally renowned institutions with a shared purpose of helping to enhance the practice and positive impact of leadership throughout the world.
The CEOs we interviewed represent every industry and geography, these global leaders have nearly 900 years of CEO experience at companies employing 6 million people, generating nearly $2 trillion in revenue.
‘The CEO Report – Embracing the Paradoxes of Leadership and the Power of Doubt’ was launched in Davos at the World Economic Forum 2015
The CEO Report offers unique insights into how CEOs experience the changing nature of their role and turn their new challenges into opportunities for business and personal growth.
This document discusses two perspectives on employee empowerment that often conflict. The mechanistic perspective views empowerment as delegating power through clear roles, tasks, and accountability. The organic perspective sees empowerment as trusting employees, tolerating mistakes, encouraging risk-taking and growth. Most empowerment programs focus on the mechanistic view, but both views are needed to fully understand how to effectively empower employees.
Organizational culture refers to the shared values and norms that control how people interact within an organization and with external stakeholders. Values are beliefs about goals and appropriate behaviors, while norms prescribe appropriate behaviors in different situations. Culture is transmitted through stories, myths, and socialization as new employees learn the organization's values and norms. An organization's culture can be adaptive and encourage innovation or inert and discourage initiative from middle and lower managers. Social capital refers to how norms and values influence how people work together and treat one another. Strong cultures can profoundly impact performance, either positively or negatively.
Emergent leaders, the ones that get noticed, promoted and pampered in their organizations, typically exhibit strong self-confidence, decisiveness, and visionary thinking – which are not bad things. These characteristics are related to charisma. Too much might be as unacceptable as too little, though. Charisma has a dark side; it is linked to narcissism, and narcissism comes with disastrous side effects.
Multiple studies have revealed that it is humility in leadership that ensures results, productivity and effectiveness of an organization. Humility is a personality trait that is not glamorous at all, and often overlooked. Yet, it seems what many companies are missing in their endeavors to face and cope with the exigencies the 4th industrial revolution is presenting. According to their conversation on leadership 4.0 at the World Economic Forum’s annual meeting of the new champions, working with millennials, leaders say humility works better than bossing around (Vanham, 2019). Today, there are fewer possibilities for dysfunctional narcissistic leaders to mask or coat their misconduct. It is a huge opportunity for HR departments to make identifying humble leaders and developing humility in charismatic leaders a priority.
Colin Powell on Leadership. 4 star General (ret) Colin Powell shares his insights to leadership, that enabled him to become the chairman of the Joint Chief of Staff and first African American Secretary of State.
This document discusses effective leadership and proposes a "Circumplex model of Effective leadership". It argues that effective leadership focuses on personal growth, followers' growth, and organizational goals. The model includes four elements: achieving organizational goals, developing followers, personal leadership, and self-transcendence. The author analyzes cases of failed leadership in developing countries and proposes that transformative leadership is needed to meet people's aspirations and address leadership problems systematically rather than through quick fixes.
The document discusses how confrontation is often viewed negatively but can actually be constructive for organizational health when handled properly. It argues that avoiding confrontation is detrimental and executives should instead focus on using confrontation to improve decision making. Some common confrontation scenarios that associations face include boards getting too involved in operational details, unwillingness to transform outdated programs, and a lack of clear goals or accountability. The document proposes that confrontation be viewed as a communication event to address broken commitments, and that embracing confrontation allows an organization to learn and grow beyond the status quo.
Autocratic Leadership and Qualities of a Good Leader
Introduction
Maintain your relevance and stay adaptable in today's time in an ever-changing environment? Become a better leader by learning how to efficiently adapt to change yourself accordingly. Adoption is the most important key to success in entrepreneurships.
Big changes of adoption happened in the past in the smartphone industry. Before Android started in smartphones, at that time it was the most popular Nokia brand. But when the Android operating system started in the smartphones officially. The key decision in Android history was Google's commitment to make Android an open-source operating system. That allowed it to become highly popular with third-party phone makers. Just a few years after the launch of Android 1.0, smartphones powered by the new OS were everywhere.
Autocratic Leadership and Democratic Leadership aren't good for a company, in leadership a person's combination of both in great leadership. Qualities of a Good Leader, that makes a person Good leader in entrepreneurship.
Leadership is not just about achieving company goals, and making the company profitable and focusing on business stability. In a business, leaders who are the main key person who decides the company or organizational future and contribute to achieving company goals and visions. How much a company will become successful totally depends on a business leader, who leads the company commands.
Leadership responsibility, solving the huge problems and focusing on solutions. Those are mainly focused on problem solving approaches. And a solution oriented person in a company. That person takes the responsibility of a company. Regarding company growth, company profitability, company stability.
In today's society we need to require a different set of skills than it did in the past. It's undeniable that social media platforms like Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and Tiktok have dominated and changed the way we compete in the business landscape. With a sea of competitors, it now matters how we present ourselves online and how we create experiences that are attractive to our clients and customers.
Although some leadership skills, qualities and leadership habits remain the same, refusing to adapt to the current norm will make it difficult for a leader to stay in the game. Most challenging: how do we adapt to change in this fast-paced digital world? But how do we keep up and stay relevant as a leader?
The document discusses the need for a new paradigm of leadership to address global challenges. It argues that leadership must be viewed as a relationship based on mutual influence between leaders and team members, rather than a top-down model. The new paradigm proposes that leadership involves mobilizing people to enact meaningful change through non-coercive relationships aligned with shared values and purposes. Leadership development programs should cultivate skills for collaboration, influence without authority, and facilitating adaptive organizational change.
This document discusses the importance of leaders looking inward at themselves during times of organizational change. It argues that change efforts often fail because leaders do not make fundamental changes within themselves. To successfully drive change, leaders must develop both profile awareness and state awareness. Profile awareness involves understanding one's typical tendencies, while state awareness is recognizing one's inner state in the moment. Developing these self-awareness skills allows leaders to close the gap between their intentions and actions, thereby increasing their ability to lead change. The document advocates mapping one's "Big Four" inner roles - Dreamer, Thinker, Lover, and Warrior - to develop profile awareness and adopting an "inner lookout" to develop state awareness. Mastering self-
This document contains summaries of several articles on leadership. The first article discusses that no leader is perfect and the best leaders focus on their strengths and find others to make up for their limitations. It also outlines four steps in a leadership framework: sense making, relating, creating a vision, and inventing. The second article discusses how leaders can use difficult experiences or "crucibles" to reflect on their values and grow as leaders. The third discusses a study that found the most effective leaders have personal humility and professional will. It also notes that leadership can develop under the right circumstances.
Mindfulness4business leaders… The latest hype-2Anne Lemaire
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As SH&E professionals move to become more integrated into the business environment it is even more crucial that the pure technical disciplines typically associated with the profession are complimented by a strong set of relevant leadership and business skills. In this presentation we will examine the various traits and core attributes that need to be displayed by the SH&E Professional not only to provide clear direction within their area of influence but also to gain credibility, and achieve alignment, with the rest of the organization.
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IN SEARCH OF GLOBAL LEADERSHIP Mark E. Mende.docxjaggernaoma
IN SEARCH OF GLOBAL LEADERSHIP
Mark E. Mendenhall
Burton Frierson Chair of Excellence in Business Leadership
College of Business
University of Tennessee, Chattanooga
615 McCallie Avenue
Chattanooga, TN 37403
[email protected]
Allan Bird
Darla and Frederick Brodsky Trustee Professor in Global Business
Northeastern University
D’Amore-McKim School of Business
360 Huntington Avenue
Boston, MA 02035
[email protected]
Published as:
Mendenhall, M.E., & Bird, A. 2013. “In search of global leadership.” Organizational Dynamics,
42: 167-174.
IN SEARCH OF GLOBAL LEADERSHIP
2
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The vast majority of top management teams of firms from all over the world would likely agree
that they need more global leaders in their managerial cadres. Unfortunately, most firms struggle
to develop their existing managers into global leaders. It turns out that developing global
leadership competencies in managers does not occur with “one-size-fits-all” training programs or
traditional management development courses. We contend that firms’ failures in their global
leadership development efforts stem mainly from two “disconnects” – failing to understand what
global leadership is, and failing to understand the core competencies needed for global
leadership. Based on recent research, we provide a framework to assist top management to better
understand the relationship between the “global” dimension of leadership and the strategic
development of global leadership development programs that are effective, and how to decide
which competencies should be included in their global leadership development programs and
how to approach developing those competencies in their managers.
IN SEARCH OF GLOBAL LEADERSHIP
3
IN SEARCH OF GLOBAL LEADERSHIP
Few executives disagree with the notion that “we need more people — at all levels of the
company — who have the ability to effectively operate in their roles from a global perspective.”
A recent study by the World Economic Forum that investigated the most urgent issues that
leaders face, reported:
One theme that recurs more than any other is the need for clear, dynamic leadership in a
fast changing world. Given … that most of today’s leaders … grew up in a vastly
different world from today’s, it is perhaps no surprise that leadership remains the biggest
challenge of all for 2013 and beyond.
Yet, by all accounts, the effectiveness of efforts to develop global leaders for most
companies has been mixed at best, and in most cases disappointing. Why is that?
We, along with our colleagues, have been studying global leadership since it emerged as
an important issue for companies in the late 1990s. While it is too early to say that we know all
about global leadership and.
The document discusses Michael Fullan's six secrets of change which are focused on building organizational capacity. The six secrets are: 1) Love your employees; 2) Connect peers with purpose; 3) Non-judgmentalism and capacity building over judgment; 4) Learning is the work; 5) Transparency rules; 6) Systems learn. The document provides explanations and examples for each secret. It emphasizes that the secrets are interrelated and reinforce each other to create high-performance organizations through continuous learning and improvement.
The REAL Leadership Framework and Leadership Development Canvas - 101415Curt Buermeyer
This document introduces the REAL Leadership Framework, which provides a universal framework for understanding leadership through four perspectives: Results, Effect on People, Actions, and Leader Attributes. The framework was developed by the author over 15 years of studying leadership theory and finding that existing frameworks were too complex or contradictory. It evaluates leadership based on the measurable outcomes of Results and Effect on People, the observable actions a leader takes, and inherent leader attributes. The document explains each of the four perspectives in more detail.
This document summarizes key concepts from a book about leading in a culture of change. It discusses the importance of moral purpose in leadership and using strategies to achieve goals. It also emphasizes the importance of relationships, knowledge building, understanding change, and creating coherence. Some specific points made include that moral purpose must be accompanied by strategies, relationships are critical for success, and effective leaders combine intellectual brilliance with emotional intelligence to appreciate resistance and ambiguity during change. The document advocates for disturbance to push an organization to the "edge of chaos" in a way guided by moral purpose to create new patterns and coherence through self-organization.
The document discusses the roles and skills needed for CEOs in the 21st century. It notes that today's business environment is volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous (VUCA). Successful CEOs are forward-thinking, adventurous, and team-focused. Their key behaviors include looking beyond the obvious, being insightful, and acting boldly but with clarity. Additionally, CEOs must take calculated risks, focus on execution, and be tough-minded yet eager to learn. Fostering collaboration, engagement, trust, and networks is also important. Finally, the document contrasts 20th century CEOs, who focused on influencing people, with 21st century CEOs, who must transform how organizations operate to constantly adapt to
What are the traits that make an association CEO exceptional? This eBook is based on conversations with association leaders, and experience within the association sector.
LS160219-LeaderShape Global Brochure -Intl Digital-FinalJohn Knights
This document discusses the need for transpersonal leaders who can shape ethical, caring organizational cultures for the future. It notes that the world is changing dramatically due to technological advances, and that tomorrow's global organizations need leaders who are performance-enhancing, ethical, and caring to be sustainable. It advocates for developing transpersonal leaders through programs that enhance their emotional awareness, ethics, and ability to move beyond self-interest to act for the greater good.
Must Have Leadership Skills For The 21st CenturyIf you want to m.docxrosemarybdodson23141
Must Have Leadership Skills For The 21st Century
If you want to make a difference at home, at work or in your community, you need these skills.
Good communication skills. The ability to work as part of a team. Comfortable with change. Flexible. These are all skills good leaders have. But are they enough? Perhaps more important, are they still valid for the 21st century?
We live and work in a rapidly changing environment. Wolf Rinke, a management consultant and executive coach in Clarksville, Maryland, and the author of Don't Oil the Squeaky Wheel... and 19 Other Contrarian Ways to Improve Your Leadership Effectiveness, says "you cannot rely on what may have worked in the past. Today's world is different. The stakes are high. The challenges and issues you face are changing at a rapid speed."
All this is certainly true. But are the required skills changing?
John Baldoni doesn't think so. Baldoni is a leadership communications consultant in Ann Arbor, Michigan, and the author of four books on leadership, including Great Communication Secrets of Great Leaders.
"Leadership skills for the 21st century are the same as were necessary in the 20th," says Baldoni. "Leaders need to demonstrate character, communicate clearly, coach frequently, execute for results and always lead by example."
Who needs leadership skills? We all do. You don't have to have a formal title or people reporting to you to be a leader. Fred Gibson is the director of the Pioneer Leadership Program at the University of Denver. "While we do not have to be in charge of groups, businesses or governments, we each have an obligation to make a difference, to contribute actively to a community and to work in the public sphere to create great capacity, confidence and continuity," says Gibson. "If more people accept this role, crises will be met with leadership at several levels. Leadership vacuums will be less common.
Marjorie Brody, president of Brody Communications in Jenkintown, Pennsylvania, agrees. "People need to understand that they can display leadership characteristics and he leaders without having authority or title," she says.
While there are literally dozens of traits that leadership experts point to as "must haves," certain skills keep coming up again and again. Here are 10 "must have" leadership skills for the 21st century:
1. Character is number one, says Brody. "People have to be trustworthy." Especially in today's environment where leaders frequently are being taken to task for their lack of character. "Character is the root of good leadership," says Baldoni. "By character I mean the values and beliefs the leader brings to the workplace. They should be authentic - that is, rooted in integrity, honor and ethics."
Kevin Cashman is founder and CEO of LeaderSource, an international leadership development and executive coaching consultancy. Cashman also speaks of "authenticity" and says, "In the 21st century, we can no longer afford to split off profit and performance from prin.
The document discusses the five levels of leadership. Level one is leadership from position, where people follow due to one's job title and authority. Level two is leadership by permission, where people follow due to respect and trust. Level three is leadership by production, where people follow due to what one has done for the organization. Level four is leadership by people development, where people follow due to what one has done for them personally and professionally. Level five is leadership by personhood, where people follow due to who one is and what one represents.
Special Session on Leadership for INTEL FinanceRoshan Thiran
This document provides an introduction to leadership in the 21st century given by Roshan Thiran. It discusses how leadership is both innate and developed over time through experience. It also addresses how the nature of leadership and organizations is changing due to factors like globalization and new technologies. Additionally, it examines how developing clarity of vision, addressing individual constraints like mindsets, and creating the right organizational culture are important for leadership in the current context.
The document discusses the need for a new "Third Wave" approach to leadership development. It outlines three key pressures facing today's leaders - disruption, diminished trust, and a new power equilibrium. Previous approaches to leadership development (First Wave focused on traits, Second Wave on styles) are no longer sufficient. The Third Wave proposes an integrated ideology, a focus on leader purpose over traits/styles, developing ecosystems not just individuals, immersive techniques, and developing the three A's of agility, authenticity and agency in leaders. This Third Wave approach is needed to develop leaders for the new world.
This document summarizes key concepts from Chapter 1 of an organizational behavior textbook. It defines organizational behavior as the field studying how individuals, groups, and structure influence behavior in organizations. It notes that OB draws from various disciplines like psychology and sociology. Knowing OB can help managers improve performance and employees understand work dynamics. Challenges in today's workplace exist at the individual, group, and organizational levels.
That reality is starkly revealed in Korn Ferry’s latest examination of the skills future leaders need, as detailed in this executive summary. The findings of our report, The Self-Disruptive Leader, were based on analyzing the profiles of more than 150,000 leaders, as well as opinion research from 795 investors who fund outwardly “winning” organizations. Not only were investors of companies dissatisfied with what they saw (70% argued short-term pressures stripped leaders of the ability to push through innovation, digitization, and change), but they considered current leadership styles to be in urgent need of change. A surprising two-thirds (67%) identified current leadership norms as “not fit for the future.”
Similar to Ivey Business Journal The New Leadership Challenge July August 2008 (20)
Ivey Business Journal The New Leadership Challenge July August 2008
1. FEATURE ARTICLE
July/August 2008
THE NEW LEADERSHIP CHALLENGE: REMOVING THE EMOTIONAL
BARRIERS TO SUSTAINABLE PERFORMANCE IN A FLAT WORLD
by Paul Wieand and Jan Birchfield and M. Carl Johnson III
Paul Wieand is the Founder and Director of The Centre for Advanced Emotional Intelligence,
Ottsville, Pennsylvania.
M. Carl Johnson III is Senior Vice President & Chief Strategy Officer, Campbell Soup
Company.
It may be overly simplistic to say that a company’s success depends on the quality of its
communication and internal dialogue. But look at the top and you’ll see that a leader
who is authentic is a leader who has inspired clear and honest communication.
It is critical that leaders understand who they are and how their identity affects their capacity to
communicate (and to collaborate). Leaders need to model the kind of communication that they
view as critical to the success of their organization. Once a leader has addressed his or her own
communication challenges and shortcomings, he or she can begin to systematically address the
barriers to effective, highly collaborative communication within the organization. Ultimately, it
is the quality of the company’s dialogue that will determine how it receives the incoming flow of
rapidly changing information. Whether the information confuses and overwhelms, or informs
and inspires will have a direct impact on the decision-making process, and by extension, on the
performance of the company.
The new leadership challenge
The dictum “Adapt or die” has never been more true. The complexity of globalization and
technology are putting demands on leaders that render old models of leadership woefully
inadequate. Leaders today must be highly flexible, comfortable with fast-changing environments
and capable of utilizing multiple leadership styles.
These far-reaching developments have created unique challenges for leaders. The rapidity of
change and subsequent increase in complexity have exceeded the ability of leaders to adapt.
Today, perhaps the most critical factors for effective leadership are the capacity to embrace
paradox, tolerate ambiguity, and/act flexibly. These factors determine a leader’s ability to master
ongoing change and create sustainable, good performance. Significantly, this ability to adapt
largely represents an emotional challenge rather than an intellectual one. Our work suggests that
the only effective way to meet this emotional challenge is to attack and remove the critical
emotional barriers that restrain effective leadership. This article will describe how an
organization can remove such barriers.
1
2. We founded the Center for Advanced Emotional Intelligence (AEI) in 1995 based on
advancements in the field of neuroscience. These advancements identified powerful new
knowledge about the interaction between emotions, the intellect, and values, and the subsequent
impact of this interaction on leadership. We found that we could help leaders increase their
internal flexibility by addressing the emotional barriers inhibiting their ability to change. We saw
this as the single most important issue for leaders to address to create a more effective corporate
culture. But as the pace of change has continued to escalate, adapting has become exponentially
more difficult – and even more essential to a company’s success.
The critical component of effective leadership today is the ability to see reality as clearly and as
objectively as possible. This is a far more complex process than most leaders realize. Only those
who have a stable and authentic sense of self, who know their blind spots, fears, and
shortcomings, can view the unfolding of the world around them with equanimity and objectivity,
and thus enable themselves to see the opportunities – and challenges – that arise. Without this
self knowledge, and even if their business strategies and initiatives are right, leaders will be
ineffective because their organizations will execute sub-optimally.
In the past five years, thinking and writing on leadership have converged on the reality that the
key to adapting to change is a strong capacity for relationship-building and collaboration. As
Thomas Friedman writes in The World Is Flat, “In the flat world, more and more business will
be done through collaboration within and between companies, for a very simple reason: the next
layers of value creation – whether in technology, marketing, biomedicine, or manufacturing – are
becoming so complex that no single firm or department is going to be able to master them
alone.”
It is our observation and strong belief that there is a direct relationship between a leader’s
authentic sense of self and the effectiveness of collaboration in his/her organization. More than
any other variable, the quality of dialogue within a company shapes its culture and affects its
performance. Based on a decade of research and real world experience, we know that companies
that achieve sustainable results have cultures that tolerate truth-telling and embrace dissent. And
we know that the largest barriers to the creation of this kind of culture are directly linked to the
emotional barriers of the leaders who run the company.
In 2001, Jim Collins published the results of a five-year study of over 1400 companies. In this
study, described in his book, Good to Great, Collins strove to understand why certain companies
were able to achieve extraordinary results over time. The “great” companies in his study
averaged cumulative stock returns that were 6.9 times those of the general market over at least a
fifteen year period: One key finding was that companies defined as “great” had, at their helm,
leaders who were paradoxical in nature. He called them “Level 5 Leaders,” and defined them as
having both fierce resolve and true humility.
Collins’ research concluded that there was a direct relationship between the quality of the
dialogue within a company, the authenticity of the leader, and the sustainability of high
performance. He writes:
“All good-to-great companies began the process of finding a path to greatness by
confronting the brutal facts of their current reality… Your leadership personality
can deter people from bringing you the brutal facts.”
2
3. Similarly, Peter Drucker recognized how critical high-quality communication and truth-telling
were to the success of an organization. But Drucker also recognized the enormous challenge of
developing leaders capable of leading in this kind of truth-telling environment. Drucker wrote,
“At its most powerful, communication brings about ‘conversion,’ that is a change of personality
involving values, beliefs, aspirations. But this is a rare existential event and one against which
the basic psychological forces of every human being are strongly organized.” Drucker
recognized how unlikely it is that most organizations will be able to make a “conversion,” a
transformation of culture, which will produce sustainable high performance. The reasons for this
are complex and deeply psychological. The complexity inherent in creating organizational
transformation is one of the aspects of leadership least understood by executives.
What follows is an exploration of AEI’s model of leadership, one which we believe can remove
the emotional barriers to success in a flat world. This model connects the five critical elements
required for a company’s sustainable high performance: personality, leadership, collaboration,
culture, and commitment. It explains how removing leaders’ emotional limitations enhances a
company’s culture, particularly its capacity for collaboration, decision-making, and ultimately its
performance. Removing the emotional barriers to performance ultimately creates an environment
in which you can have unity without consensus.
Understanding our model requires some familiarity with the complexity of its theoretical base.
Therefore, we will first discuss this theoretical base, using Jim Collins’ important findings as a
starting point. We hope that this discussion will give you an appreciation of the complexity
behind both leadership development and the ability to capitalize on the human side of
organizations. We hope to provide you with a new way to think about leadership and corporate
culture that is practical and applicable to your organization.
The limitations of the Good to Great model: Creating a Level 5 environment
Good to Great has added invaluable new knowledge to the field of leadership and culture. But as
invaluable as this work is, it has practical limitations. Collins’ conclusion, that the path to
greatness begins with the identification of “Level 5 Leaders” (leaders with the paradoxical
qualities of both humility and fierce resolve), does not address the reality that few companies
have Level 5 leaders at the helm. Based on AEI’s decade of experience, we believe that a Level 5
leader is an extremely rare phenomenon and that it is best thought of as an ideal to which
companies should strive.
Therefore, instead of searching for those rare Level 5 leaders or becoming discouraged by their
scarcity, we asked ourselves, “What kind of culture does the Level 5 Leader naturally create?
How can leaders create a Level 5 environment – an environment where people are able to talk
openly and candidly about the right issues within the company, and thus get to brutal reality –
without a Level 5 leader at the helm?” We believe that the first step towards creating a Level 5
environment is the development of leaders who can comfortably operate in such an environment.
AEI’s model of effective leadership is designed to develop such leaders, so that they can be
successful in a “flat world.” Our model recognizes that in the flat world the ability to adapt is
more an emotional challenge than an intellectual one. Therefore, emotional intelligence is
required for leadership success. The basis for high emotional intelligence is authenticity, which
comes from deep self-knowledge. With high emotional intelligence, leaders can build effective
relationships in a collaborative culture that can “confront the brutal facts” and achieve unity
3
4. without necessarily having consensus. This type of unity allows an organization, even without a
Level 5 leader at the helm, to achieve sustainable good performance.
AEI’s model of effective leadership is summarized as follows:
Step 1: Overcoming the Removing barriers to self-knowledge and authenticity
Personality:
Step 2: Authentic Leadership: Developing an authentic leadership style and applying it
for effective decision-making
Step 3: Collaboration: Communicating to create unity without consensus
Step 4: Culture: Helping the leader create an environment that enhances
openness, candor and dissent as essential characteristics
of communication
Step 5: Commitment: Committing to a Level 5 environment for sustainably
good results
We will now discuss each step of this model and then draw conclusions for practical action.
1. Overcoming the personality: Removing the barriers to self-knowledge and authenticity
The key goal of this step is to overcome the identity or the essential personality of the leader,
which inherently inhibits getting to the brutal reality of a company’s situation.
The central finding of Good to Great was that companies defined as “great” were led by leaders
who had an uncanny capacity to get to the brutal reality of their business situation by getting
their people to perceive and speak the truth. Collins deduced that this capacity was related to the
leaders’ paradoxical qualities – their genuine humility and their fierce determination to succeed.
This finding sounds like a deceptively simple one, and represents the first stumbling block to
understanding the subtlety and brilliance of Collins’ findings.
The problem is this: Which of us does not think that we can perceive brutal reality? At best, we
may admit that we benefit from others’ perspectives to round out our point of view. But what
Collins’ research suggests and what most readers miss is that the problem is more subtle than
this. Reality is continually distorted through the lens of our identity (for this discussion, the
relevant aspects of identity are our beliefs, values, emotions, memories, and experiences). Each
one of us approaches an issue with a perspective shaped by our identity. This is why
collaboration that encourages and protects divergent points of view within companies is critical
to high quality decision-making.
Our natural identity is a lens that narrows our field of perception and distorts, at least in part, the
information that comes in. There is both an emotional and an intellectual component to this. The
emotional component can be illustrated using a fictitious example: John and Judi have been peers
as well as competitors for years, and are both in the running for the position of Senior Vice
President of their division. Judi ends up winning the position and John now reports into her. John
is a critical player, important to the success of the division. Believing that he should have gotten
the position, John continually finds fault with Judi’s leadership, disagreeing with her point of
view. His view of the issues being discussed is colored by his disappointment that he did not win
the position, and by his belief that he could be doing a better job. This is an emotional barrier,
4
5. affecting John’s ability to engage in an objective dialogue with Judi. But he is unaware of this;
he believes that his perspective is “objective.” His lack of self-awareness affects the division’s
ability to get to brutal reality quickly and thus has a negative impact on performance.
The intellectual component of the lens of identity can be referred to as a “worldview.” Our
worldview is the way we take in information and the way that information is internally
processed. It is our beliefs, our education, and most significantly, our experience. It is a cognitive
mapping and it is quite helpful because it simplifies complex data. But it also can be limiting and
distorting. There are times when the nature of our experience clouds our ability to see the present
in a way that is fresh and distinct from the past. This is precisely why effective dialogue with
others with diverse, unique viewpoints is an essential component of a Level 5 environment.
Thus, we look through the filter of both the emotional and intellectual components of our identity
to interpret reality. The more clearly we can understand the biases, limitations, and blind spots of
that filter, the more we will be able to compensate for them, and the better we will be at effective
dialogue. Emotional intelligence, acknowledged as the underpinning of effective leadership, can
be understood as the capacity to perceive the present moment with clarity. Self-knowledge, a
critical component of emotional intelligence, involves gaining clarity about the filters through
which we see reality.
Understanding the limits of our identity is the first challenge on the road to facing brutal reality.
There is a “survival instinct” that is part of our identity. We resist having to change how we see
ourselves and how we see the world. This is what Drucker is referring to when he notes how
difficult it is to change someone’s beliefs, aspirations, or values. It is equally difficult to change
one’s worldview.
We are dealing here with what we call the “Leader in a Box” syndrome. It comes in two
varieties. In one, the Leader creates the box because he does not have the requisite self-
awareness. In the other, the people around him create the box because people by human nature
are afraid to bring “bad news” to higher ups.
Thus, in addition to understanding the limitations of our own identity, we must get others to tell
the truth as they see it. Jim Collins makes the critical point that the personality of the leader can
deter people from speaking the brutal truth or from bringing the leader the brutal facts.
Additionally, the higher your position, the less likely it is that people will tell you the brutal
truth. Leaders who are aware of this reality will often try to compensate for it. During World
War II, Winston Churchill set up an office outside of the chain of command; its main purpose
was to tell him the unvarnished truth. Some leaders make sure to keep informal truth tellers
nearby.
In Good to Great, Collins says:
I would love to be able to give you a list of steps for becoming Level 5 (leaders), but
we have no solid data that would support a credible list. Our research…(shows)
level 5 as a key component inside the black box of what it takes to shift a company
from good to great. Yet inside that black box is yet another black box – namely, the
inner development of a person to Level 5.
5
6. Our experience indicates that the “black box within the black box” that Collins refers to
represents the development of emotional intelligence in the form of self-knowledge (knowing the
limitations of the lens of your identity) and social knowledge (knowing how your personality
may limit other people’s ability to communicate openly and honestly with you). As a leader
develops such knowledge, he or she begins to remove the emotional barriers that hinder honest
dialogue.
In Managing on the Edge, Richard Pascale writes, “we simply don’t understand (all) the forces
that sustain organizational success…however an important truth about organizations [is that]
their transformation is tied to the growth of those who manage them.” Not every leader must
reach Level 5 in order to create a Level 5 environment. But each key leader must transform him
or herself to the degree that he or she can help create and operate within a Level 5 environment.
And an organization must then encourage all its key leaders to do this. This is a practical
although still difficult solution for countering the rarity of the Level 5 leader. It also is a realistic
solution to the problem of how to get to brutal reality, the foundation of sustainable high
performance.
2. Authentic leadership: Developing an authentic leadership style and applying it to
decision-making.
The key goal of this step is to help the leader recognize and reveal his or her uniquely authentic
self, so that the quality of his or her dialogue is “truth-laden” and can lead to effective decisions
that are embraced by the organization.
For close to 50 years after World War II, the most effective style of leadership was a “command
and control,” or authoritarian, style. A strong leader at the top of an organization could see the
entire picture, develop a vision for what was needed to move forward, and then direct people to
do what was necessary. But with increasing complexity – the speed of change, the amount of
information available at all times, the twenty-four/seven work environment, leadership needs
have drastically changed. Leaders need multiple ears and eyes to keep up with the pace of
change and the level of specialization. They need to be able to use multiple leadership styles
instead of mastering one, primarily authoritarian style. Authenticity is the bedrock of effective
leadership in a complex world because it accommodates the paradox of extreme complexity and
extreme simplicity.
As top leadership has become more and more dependent on those below them, the need for high
quality communication, or dialogue, becomes critical. As Charles Munger, Vice Chairman of
Berkshire Hathaway has noted, most companies focus on developing “best practices.” Instead,
Munger focuses on the one or two factors that, if neglected, would guarantee failure. The quality
of a company’s dialogue is one of these factors. This quality is too often invisible, and yet it
affects every decision because it has a direct impact on a company’s access to brutal reality. And
it is a critical component of success.
So the question emerges: “What are the characteristics of leaders who can operate in and help
shape an environment based on truth-telling and effective dialogue? We believe that the
strongest and most effective leaders have, at their core, an identity best described as authentic.
Authenticity is difficult to define, but we know it when we meet it and we know when it is
absent. Most noticeably, authenticity creates a foundation of trust. Authentic leaders
demonstrate:
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7. • The absence of defensiveness and arrogance
• The presence of humility
• The presence of accurate empathy
• The presence of social values
• Appropriate transparency
• The presence of emotional courage
• A tolerance for ambiguity
The process of developing leaders who can operate within a Level 5 environment thus begins
with helping them become more authentic. True authenticity, like the Level 5 leader, is an ideal.
Increasing the quality of the dialogue within a company requires the recognition that we all
speak more loudly based on who we are than on what we say. High-quality dialogue begins with
trust. Trust is multi-faceted, reaching far beyond the words we say. The level of trust in a leader
is directly related to the level of authenticity of the leader.
3. Collaboration: Communicating to create unity without consensus.
The key goal of this step is to help the leader bridge from revealing his or her authentic self to
using this increased authenticity to create unity without necessarily having consensus.
As authenticity increases, leaders gain the internal flexibility that allows them to use multiple
leadership styles, and gives them a much stronger foundation from which to cope with the
rapidly changing world. Colin Powell, in his autobiography, My American Journey, summarizes
two critical leadership styles:
“When we are debating an issue, loyalty means giving me your honest opinion,
whether you think I’ll like it or not. But once a decision has been made, the debate
ends. From that point on loyalty means executing the decision as if it were your own.
This particular emperor expected to be told when he was naked. He did not care to
freeze to death in his own ignorance. ‘If you think something is wrong, speak up,’ I
told them. ‘Bad news isn’t bad wine. It doesn’t improve with age.”
We call this “Powell’s Challenge.” Embedded in this simple quote is tremendous complexity.
The first part of Powell’s Challenge describes the Level 5 environment at its best. Powell
recognizes the absolute importance of truth-telling, and he does not make the assumption that he
will automatically get it. He describes a collaborative style of leadership, the aspect of good
decision-making that involves open and candid input from others. He implicitly recognizes that
there can be emotional barriers which impede people’s capacity to tell or hear the truth.
The second part of Powell’s Challenge, however, illustrates the limitations of focusing
exclusively on collaboration. Powell notes that once a decision has been made he expects people
to execute it as if it were their own. This represents the “authoritarian” style of leadership,
namely “here’s what we are going to do. Follow me.” Paradoxically, the effectiveness of the
authoritarian style depends, in part, on how well the leader implements the participative style of
leadership. If people do not feel that they have truly been heard, as illustrated in the first part of
Powell’s Challenge, then it becomes very difficult for them to implement that decision down the
road “as if it were their own.”
If a leader meets both sides of Powell’s Challenge – creates an atmosphere of trust and safety
where people tell the truth, and then makes a decision and rallies people behind that decision
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8. regardless of whether or not they agree – then he or she has created unity without consensus.
Only an authentic leader, capable of generating an atmosphere of trust and safety, can pull off
this two-part challenge. This ability is a key component of a high-performing or Level 5
corporate culture.
4. Culture: Helping the leader create an environment that enhances openness, candor and
dissent as essential characteristics of communication.
The key goal of this step is to help the leader understand how to create the essential elements of a
high performance culture by using his or her unique authenticity. These elements are openness,
candor and dissent.
The reader can see from our discussion that it is critical for companies to pay attention to the
quality of truth-telling in their communications. We have illustrated how a leader’s personality
can deter people from communicating brutal reality. We have shown that increasing a leader’s
level of authenticity increases trust, and allows him or her to hear and speak the truth. Leadership
consultant and author Ram Charan speaks most eloquently to the link between truth-telling, the
quality of the dialogue and the quality of the corporate culture. He writes, “Dialogue…is the
single-most important factor underlying the productivity and growth of the knowledge worker…
dialogue shapes…the corporate culture…faster and more permanently than any reward system,
structural change, or vision statement.”
So now the question emerges: “What are the specific features of the dialogue that are present in
high-performing cultures?” There are three essential characteristics of effective dialogue. All
three must work in concert; any one or two alone is not sufficient.
• Openness: Openness means that the outcome of a decision-making process has not been
predetermined. Can the leader walk into a room in which an important decision is being
debated and leave his or her opinion at the door when listening to others? Can the leader
be truly receptive to the point of views of others, despite his or her wealth of experience
and knowledge? If the leader is meeting with subordinates, can he or she withhold
sharing his/her opinion with those below, in order to allow them to respond honestly?
• Candor: Candor refers to the ability to “speak the unspeakable.” It refers to the level of
dialogue that sits underneath the surface of the group process because something about
what needs to be said is difficult. Candor can be measured by the question, “How close
are our public conversations to our private ones? How well do the water cooler
conversations line up with the conversations we have in public meetings?”
• Dissent: Peter Drucker sums up the importance of dissent in the decision-making
processes when he says, “Decisions are made well only if based on a clash of conflicting
views. The first rule of decision-making is that one does not make a decision unless there
is disagreement. It safeguards the decision-maker against becoming a prisoner of the
organization (or culture).” We ask the question, “Can the leader not only tolerate but
actually encourage dissent in decision-making?” This ability is particularly important in
matrix-structured organizations, which derive their value from encouraging diverse points
of view from both strong line and strong functional leaders.
Once these three characteristics are understood, a leader must use his or her unique authenticity
to address each in order to transform the culture in to a Level 5 environment.
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9. 5. Commitment: Committing to a Level 5 environment for sustainable good results.
The key challenge in this step is truly for those at the top of a company. The CEO and the
executive team must commit to investing in their own development so they can help create and
operate in a high-performance culture.
Behind every decision made within an organization lies one or more relationships. When a
company increases the openness and candor of its dialogue, it affects the quality of virtually
every decision that is made. When a company invests in the development of leaders who can
operate in a Level 5 environment, it is, in essence, investing in the quality of the entire decision-
making process. Jim Collins writes, “a primary task in taking a company from good to great is to
create a culture wherein people have a tremendous opportunity to be heard, and ultimately, for
the truth to be heard.” Collins sums up the impact that this has on the performance of the
company when he says, “When you start with an honest and diligent effort to determine the truth
of the situation, the right decisions often become self-evident.” This is at the heart of a refined
decision-making process that emphasizes openness, candor and dissent.
When the right conversations are being held and the truth is being spoken, some people will
thrive and others will not. Over time, there is a natural selection process of people who have the
courage to withstand the heat of facing the truth about both themselves and the business
situation. In the long term, this builds a sustainable corporate culture on a solid foundation of
honesty and truth.
It is critical that leaders understand who they are and how their identity affects their capacity to
communicate (and to collaborate). Leaders need to model the kind of communication that they
view as critical to the success of their organization. Once a leader has addressed his or her own
communication challenges and shortcomings, he or she can begin to systematically address the
barriers to effective, highly collaborative communication within the organization. Ultimately, it
is the quality of the company’s dialogue that will determine how it receives the incoming flow of
rapidly changing information. Whether the information confuses and overwhelms, or informs
and inspires, will have a direct impact on the decision-making process, and by extension, on the
performance of the company.
At the core of an authentic leader we find self-knowledge – a realistic assessment of both
strengths and shortcomings, and a lack of defensiveness that allows people to offer ongoing
candid and constructive feedback. This, in turn, builds humility, and paradoxically, self-
confidence. At AEI, we are gratified that our approach, using the 5-step model outlined above,
has been effective in helping leaders make step-changes in their self-knowledge and as a result,
positively impact their careers and their companies’ performance. So that we and our clients
never forget the basis for leadership success, we have framed on the wall of AEI’s headquarters
the following quote by the philosopher Montaigne, summarizing our core belief that a good
leader is an authentic person – and an authentic leader.
The art of conducting one’s life requires not only deep knowledge of what one as a
person really is, but also acceptance of it. Humble acceptance of the fact of our real
limitations and our real abilities is the beginning of all wisdom.
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10. Accordingly, we would encourage CEOs and their executive staffs to embrace the 5-step model
we describe above and commit to achieving a highly collaborative culture founded on
authenticity. With this achievement, we believe that organizations will raise their success odds
for delivering sustainably good performance.
About the Authors
Paul Wieand
Paul Wieand is the Founder and Director of The Centre for Advanced Emotional Intelligence,
Ottsville, Pennsylvania.
Jan Birchfield
M. Carl Johnson III
M. Carl Johnson III is Senior Vice President & Chief Strategy Officer, Campbell Soup
Company.
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