Leadership

Dr. Joe O’Mahoney

1. What is Leadership?

2. Constructing Leadership

3. Limits of Leadership

4. Leadership and Morality

The Agenda

What is Leadership?

What is Leadership?

• Peter Drucker : "The only definition of a leader is someone who has followers."

• John C Maxwell : "leadership is influence - nothing more, nothing less."

• John W. Gardner :Leadership is the process of persuasion and example by which an individual (or leadership team) induces a group to take action that is in accord with the leader’s purpose, or the shared purposes of all.”

• Imposing your will upon others

Popular view of Leadership

• Key people:– Drucker

– Mintzberg

• Mostly studied as:– A necessary thing

– A good thing

– Separate from management

– Something that can be learned

• Leaders as heroes– Born

– Exceptional

– Loved

History of Leadership Theories

Classical Origins of the Hero

• Classical hero– Stoic

– Rational

– Male

• Compared to….– Females (hysterical)

– Barbarians (emotional)

• Massive influence– Victorian Britain

– Military heroes

The Leader as Hero

• Machiavelli “The Prince”– Classical Heroes (stoic, unemotional, male)– Renaissance Prince’s– The Great Man view of history

• Nietzsche's Superman– Will to Power– Slave / Master– Hated Christian morality

• Traits– Eg.– What about Martin Luther, Ghandi etc…– What about the context? (Stogdill, 1948)– Roots in aristocratic view of the world

Contingency Leadership

• Fiedler, Vroom, Hersey..– No best way to manage

– Depends on leader and environment

– Right person in the right place

• Contingent traits– Myers Briggs

– Entrepreneurial / Innovative

– Hierarchical / Authoritarian

– Visionary / Charismatic

• But– People Change

– Low Predictability

– Based on positivism: weak ontology

An example contingency - trait approach (from Boje)

(De)constructing Leadership

Constructing Leadership

• Leadership as a 20th century phenomenon– No books on leadership before 1900– Need to be led– The military metaphor: 3– Fits with the fetish of change (Grey)– e.g. women as leaders

• Leadership as story-telling– How I changed the world– The role of PR– Heroes to Villains (Enron)– The role of the Press

• Leadership as performance– Richard Branson

The Limits of Leadership

• Proving leadership– Cause and effect?

– Could have done better?

• Limits on leadership– Resources

– Shareholders

– Law

– Employees

Morality and Leadership

• What makes a good leader?– Vision

– Securing followers

– Achieving aims

– Charisma

• Power– All leadership rests on power

– Usually direct

– Rarely charismatic

Questions?