Beyond the Cult of the Leader The Tasks of the Executive in the 21 st Century Stephen Bungay, Director Ashridge Strategic Management Centre
Beyond the Cult of the Leader
The Tasks of the Executive in the 21st Century
Stephen Bungay, Director Ashridge Strategic Management Centre
© Stephen Bungay 2010 2
The executive 1908 - 1977: a manager
• Management = administration – Harvard Graduate School of Business Administration
founded 1908
• Administration is rational: Weber, 1947
‒ Not traditional (religious) ‒ Not charismatic (heroic)
• Managers make organisations efficient – Organise work and people – Allocate resources – Control
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The executive 1977-2001: a leader
• Leadership = inspiration – Harvard Business School ‘educates leaders who make a
difference in the world’ (from ca 1990)
• Leadership is emotional: Zaleznick 1977
‒ Not team players, but individuals ‒ Not acceptance, but love or hate
• Leaders are change agents – Tolerate chaos – Shape goals – Seek risk and danger
© Stephen Bungay 2010 4
Leaders: great or toxic?
Visionary Ambitious
Charismatic Self belief Risk taker
Fantasist Megalomaniac
Conman Narcissist Gambler
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Collins, 2001: the ‘level 5’ leader
• Level 5 leaders have willpower – Run every ‘good’ company transitioning to ‘greatness’
between 1965 and 1995
• Level 5 leaders are humble
‒ Not charismatic, but self-effacing ‒ Not egocentric, but modest
• Level 5 leaders build institutions – Ambitious for the organisation – Diligent tortoises not racing hares – Thoughtful, sure-footed
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‘MORE COLLINS MORE CLAPTRAP’?
‘In Jim Collins’ latest book, Good to Great, the author celebrates ‘self-effacing, quiet, reserved, even shy’ leaders who bring about the big transformations. Fine Jim… Michael Maccoby recently wrote of ‘larger than life leaders…e.g. egoists, charmers, risktakers with big visions. Exemplars he cites: Carnegie, Rockefeller, Edison, Ford, Welch, Jobs, Gates. He, of course could have added Messier and Middlehoff and Ebbers and Lay. Nonetheless, I’ll still take Michael’s list over Jim’s’
Tom Peters, Re-imagine!, p. 44
© Stephen Bungay 2010 7
What are we talking about?
• Personality?
• Skills?
• Behaviour?
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The officer: 500 BC - present
Command
Management Leadership
Authority, responsibility and duty of direction
Organising and controlling resources to achieve objectives
Getting people to achieve objectives
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Different mental attitudes
Command: intellectual
Managing: physical
Leading: emotional
Probing: ‘What should we do?’
Pragmatic: ‘Let’s get organised!’
Positive: ‘We can do it!’
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Requiring self awareness
Command: intellectual
Managing: physical
Leading: emotional
Detached Calculating
Flexible
Engaged Pragmatic Realistic
Committed Passionate Determined
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Different skills
Resourcing
Controlling Organising
Achieving the task
Developing individuals
Building the team
Building the organisation
Giving direction
Developing strategy
Command: Intellectual (conceptual)
Leadership: Human (moral)
Management: Technical (physical)
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Directing as ‘command in business’
Directing: intellectual
Managing: physical
Leading: emotional
READY: I understand what I have to do and why
ABLE: I have the skills and resources to carry it through
WILLING: I am committed to making it a success
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Great commanders
© Stephen Bungay 2010 14
Masters of the trinity
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Distinctive qualities of the commander INTELLECTUAL
Conceptual
Absorb information
Identify essential point
MORAL Willpower
Resilience
Openness
PSYCHOLOGICAL Self-confident
Realistic
Flexible
COMMUNICATION Writing
Listening/questioning
Speaking/directing
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The executive’s trinity: propositions
• Managing, leading and directing are different
• Confusing them creates confusion
• Organisations need all three
• Mastering all three is very rare
• Top teams need the combination
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The commander’s ethos: ‘Viel leisten, wenig hervortreten, mehr sein als scheinen’
(‘Work hard, avoid the limelight, be more than you seem’)