In: Economics
Everyone should be concerned about Leadership: We're each leaders in various ways—within our families, our community organizations, our work organizations, groups we belong to, even of (and maybe most importantly, of) ourselves. And all of us, without exception, are consumers of others' leadership, like it or not. We're subject to the leadership influences of others at all systemic levels, ranging from the smallest social unit, to gigantic organizations, world governments, and other influential systems. Living as we do in more or less constant relationship with leadership, it behooves us all to be informed consumers and wielders of leadership.
The Cry for Leadership
Why do we not have better leadership? The question is asked over
and over. We complain, express our disappointment, often our
outrage; but no answer emerges.
When we ask a question countless times and arrive at no answer, it
is possible that we are asking the wrong question--or that we have
misconceived the terms of the query. Another possibility is that it
is not a question at all but simply convenient shorthand to express
deep and complex anxieties. It would strike most of our
contemporaries as old-fashioned to cry out, "What shall we do to be
saved?" And it would be time-consuming to express fully our
concerns about the social disintegration, the moral disorientation,
and the spinning compass needle of our time. So we cry out for
leadership.
To some extent the conventional views of leadership are shallow,
and set us up for endless disappointment. There is an element of
wanting to be rescued, of wanting a parental figure who will set
all things right. Such fantasies for grown-up children should not
lead us to dismiss the need for leaders nor the insistent popular
expression of that need. A great many people who are not given to
juvenile fantasies want leaders-- leaders who are exemplary, who
inspire, who stand for something, who help us set and achieve
goals.
Unfortunately, in popular thinking on the subject, the mature need
and the childlike fantasies interweave. One of the tasks of this
book is to untangle them, and to sketch what is realistically
possible. Leadership is such a gripping subject that once it is
given center stage it draws attention away from everything else.
But attention to leadership alone is sterile--and inappropriate.
The larger topic of which leadership is a subtopic is the
accomplishment of group purpose, which is furthered not only by
effective leaders but also by innovators, entrepreneurs and
thinkers; by the availability of resources; by questions of morale
and social cohesion; and by much else that I discuss in this book.
It is not my purpose to deal with either leadership or its related
subjects comprehensively. I hope to illuminate aspects of the
subject that may be of use in facing our present dilemmas -- as a
society and as a species.
The Issues Behind the Issues
We are faced with immensely threatening problems--terrorism, AIDS,
drugs, depletion of the ozone layer, the threat of nuclear
conflict, toxic waste, the real possibility of economic disaster.
Even moderately informed citizens could extend the list. Yet on
none of the items listed does our response acknowledge the manifest
urgency of the problem. We give every appearance of sleepwalking
through a dangerous passage of history. We see the life-threatening
problems, but we do not react. We are anxious but
immobilized.
I do not find the problems themselves as frightening as the
questions they raise concerning our capacity to gather our forces
and act. No doubt many of the grave problems that beset us have
discoverable, though difficult, solutions. But to mobilize the
required resources and to bear what sacrifices are necessary calls
for a capacity to focus our energies, a capacity for sustained
commitment. Suppose that we can no longer summon our forces to such
effort. Suppose that we have lost the capacity to motivate
ourselves for arduous exertions in behalf of the group. A
discussion of leadership cannot avoid such questions.
Could it be that we suppress our awareness of problems--however
ominous--because we have lost all conviction that we can do
anything about them? Effective leaders heighten both motivation and
confidence, but when these qualities have been gravely diminished,
leaders have a hard time leading. Suppose that fragmentation and
divisiveness have proceeded so far in American life that we can no
longer lend ourselves to any worthy common purpose. Suppose that
our shared values have disintegrated to the point that we believe
in nothing strongly enough to work for it as a group. Shared values
are the bedrock on which leaders build the edifice of group
achievement. No examination of leadership would be complete without
attention to the decay and possible regeneration of the value
framework. Suppose that our institutions have become so lacking in
adaptive-ness that they can no longer meet new challenges. All
human institutions must renew themselves continuously; therefore,
we must explore this process as it bears on leadership.
I think of such matters--motivation, values, social cohesion,
renewal--as the "issues behind the issues," and I shall return to
them often in the pages that follow.
Our Dispersed Leadership
In this society, leadership is dispersed throughout all segments of
the society--government, business, organized labor, the
professions, the minority communities, the universities, social
agencies, and so on. Leadership is also dispersed down through the
many levels of social functioning, from the loftiest levels of our
national life down to the school principal, the local union leader,
the shop supervisor.
We have always associated both kinds of dispersion with our notions
of democracy and pluralism. But as our understanding of the
principles of organization has developed, we have come to see that
there is really no alternative to such dispersal of leadership if
large-scale systems are to retain their vitality. The point is
relevant not only for our society as a whole but also for all the
organized subsystems (corporations, unions, government agencies,
and so forth) that compose it.
Most leadership today is an attempt to accomplish purposes through
(or in spite of) large, intricately organized systems. There is no
possibility, that centralized authority can call all the shots in
such systems, whether' the system is a corporation or a nation.
Individuals in all segments and at all levels must be prepared to
exercise leaderlike initiative and responsibility, using their
local knowledge to solve problems at their level. Vitality at
middle and lower levels of leadership can produce greater vitality
in the higher levels of leadership.
In addition to all people down the line who may properly be called
leaders at their level, there are in any vital organization or
society a great many individuals who share leadership
tasks unofficially, by behaving responsibly with respect to
the purposes of the group. Such individuals, who have been
virtually ignored in the leadership literature, are im-mensely
important to the leader and to the group. (And as I point out
later, even the responsible dissenter may be sharing the leadership
task.)
Understanding Leadership
I have seen a good many leaders in action. My first chore for a
president was for Eisenhower, whom I had known earlier when he
headed Columbia University. Of the seven presidents since then, I
have worked with all but two. But I have learned powerful lessons
from less lofty leaders--from a top sergeant in the Marine Corps,
from university presidents, corporate chief executive officers,
community leaders, bank-ers, scientists, union leaders, school
superintendents, and others. I have led, and have worked in harness
with other leaders.
The development of more and better leaders is an important
objective that receives a good deal of attention in these pages.
But this is not a how-to-do-it manual. The first step is not
action; the first step is understanding. The first question is how
to think about leadership. I have in mind not just political buffs
who want more and better leaders on the political scene, nor just
CEOs who wonder why there are not more leaders scattered through
their huge organizations. I have in mind citizens who do not want
to be victimized by their leaders, neighborhood organizations that
want to train their future leaders, the young people who dream of
leadership, and all kinds of people who just want to comprehend the
world around them.
Citizens must understand the possibilities and limitations of
leadership. We must know how we can strengthen and support good
leaders; and we must be able to see through the leaders who are
exploiting us, playing on our hatred and prejudice, or taking us
down dangerous paths.
Understanding these things, we come to see that much of the
responsibility for leaders and how they perform is in our own
hands. If we are lazy, self-indulgent, and wanting to be deceived;
if we willingly follow corrupt leaders; if we allow our heritage of
freedom to decay; if we fail to be faithful monitors of the public
process--then we shall get and deserve the worst.
Accountability
The concept of accountability is as important as the concept of
leadership. Humankind has spent thousands of years trying to
figure out how to hold power accountable. And we have come a long
way in devising the strategies that make that difficult task
possible. The rule of law, trial by jury, the secret ballot, a free
press and other principles have contributed importantly to that
end. But it is still difficult. And that, too, is a part of the
conversation about leaders.
Leadership Development
How many dispersed leaders do we need? When one considers all the
towns and city councils, corporations, government agencies, unions,
schools and colleges, churches, professions and so on, the number
must be high. In order to have a target to think about, and setting
precision aside, let us say that it is 1 percent of the
population--2 .4 million men and women who are prepared to take
leaderlike action at their levels. How can we ever find that many
leaders?
Fortunately, the development of leaders is possible on a scale far
beyond anything we have ever attempted. As one surveys the subject
of leadership, there are depressing aspects but leadership
development is not one of them. Although our record to date is
unimpressive, the prospects for improvement are excellent. Many
dismiss the subject with the confident assertion that "leaders1 are
born not made." Nonsense! Most of what leaders have that enables
them to lead is learned. Leadership is not a mysterious activity.
It is possible to describe the tasks that leaders perform. And the
capacity to perform those tasks is widely distributed in the
population. Today, unfortunately, specialization and patterns of
professional functioning draw most of our young potential leaders
into prestigious and lucrative non-leadership roles.
We have barely scratched the surface in our efforts toward
leader-ship development. In the mid-twenty-first century, people
will look back on our present practices as primitive.
Most men and women go through their lives using no more than a
fraction--usually a rather small fraction--of the potentialities
within them. The reservoir of unused human talent and energy is
vast, and learning to tap that reservoir more effectively is one of
the exciting tasks ahead for humankind.
Among the untapped capabilities are leadership gifts. For every
effectively functioning leader in our society, I would guess that
there are five or ten others with the same potential for leadership
who have never led or perhaps even considered leading. Why? Perhaps
they were drawn off into the byways of specialization...or have
never sensed the potentialities within them... or have never
understood how much the society needs what they have to give.
We can do better. Much, much better.
YOUR DISCUSSION QUESTION:
Q1: Find at least 3 things in the "Cry for Leadership" that really speak to YOU—get you thinking, questioning, opining, agreeing, disagreeing, worked up, excited, ticked (or whatever) off, etc.—about something you see as important in TODAY'S world. Share the 3 things from "Cry…," how/why they're relevant TODAY, how they speak to YOU, and any other aspects of your reaction to "The Cry for Leadership," etc. In your original (i.e., first) posting, pleaseSEPARATE your 3 selections so that it's clear what each is, each one's relevance, your views regarding each, etc., etc. This will give others a rich source of comments to react to. (Please NO postings as "see attached file"—post text directly).
Everyone in their life is a leader it may be at work, at home or in their community. This is the most interesting question today i come through.Everyone Cry For Leadership but today's leaders don't have proper vision and commitment for people. its just my view . The question arises is before becoming a great public leader leader's are good in giving their promises and their approach to work after that they become selfish and greedy. In today's world there is a great need for a good leader in organisatios and in politics.
IN MY VIEW: Bill Gates is a great leader he is not only succesfull in his business. But he is as a person who give's funds to many of the people who are needy. every leader should have a corporate social responsiblity. By that his success is shared to others. SUCESS SHOULD'NT BE LIMITED TO US IT SHOULD BE SPREADED TO OTHERS.
A leader must have the zeal to make people follow him. By seeing great leaders like Gates others will follow their foot steps and by this the people who are needy will be benefited