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CHAPTER 1
Persuasive leadership in life and work
âEven when he attained a high position, he could hear the crying below.â
âAnon.1
âThe most unholy and savage animal is a human being without virtue.â
âAristotle [1]
âA new civilization is emerging in our lives and blind men everywhere are trying to suppress it. This new civilization brings with it new family styles, changed ways of working, loving, and living; a new economy, new political conflicts; and beyond all this an altered consciousness as well ⌠The dawn of this new civilization is the single most explosive fact of our lifetimes. It is the central eventâthe key to understanding the years immediately ahead. It is an event as profound as the First Wave of change unleashed ten thousand years ago by the invention of agriculture, or the earthshaking Second Wave of change touched off by the industrial revolution. We are children of the next transformation, the Third Wave âŚâ
âAlvin Toffler, The Third Wave
BEGINNING CASES
Dorothy Collins was appointed principal of a dilapidated high school in a disadvantaged area within a US city. The students were amongst the lowest performing students in the city and were producing grades well below the national average. Ms Collins was an articulate AfricanâAmerican female of considerable energy and optimism and showed superb ability and dexterity in her leadership skills. She devised a plan to improve the schoolâs performance. This involved completely re-structuring the discipline level tolerated in the school and exploring various alternative teaching methods that suited the schoolâs problematic students. To facilitate the newly implemented strategy she ensured the competence of each teacher was improved by selecting certain key teachers to study new teaching methods as they were being used at other schools. These teachers then were required to teach them to the other teachers in their school who would then employ them in the classroom. This notion of identifying and applying âbest practicesâ is a characteristic of effective social entities of all types.
In her role as a school principal she would frequently directly encourage parents to participate in their childâs education and learning processes as well as inspiring her teachers to do the same. She convinced local business professionals to donate funds, assist in the rehabilitation of the schoolâs infrastructure and increase the supply of teaching materials. On a typical day, she would wander around the school greeting students between classes and listen attentively at doors when classes were in session. On occasion, she would ask teachers to step out in the hall and provide suggestions on how to improve their performance. In doing so, she adopted the role of helpful counselor and mentor. After several such years, her school became one of the highest ranking schools in the city producing exceptional academic results.
âFrom a TV documentary
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As a young man, Abraham Lincoln was unsure what to do with his life. Prior to becoming a lawyer, he worked as a clerk in a general store and became popular and well respected by his local community. During this time, he also worked on a riverboat and was distressed to see slave auctions taking place at the shipping wharf. Soon after, at the time of a âfrontier warâ, he enlisted in the military and was quickly promoted to higher ranks. It was here he made a huge personal discoveryâhe had leadership skills! With this came exuberating confidence and the decision to pursue a political career. Despite his limited education, he became well known for his masterful speechmaking. It is believed that he had only one year of formal education; however, through determined self-study and practice he became one of the greatest public speakers and persuaders in American history. Lincoln remains an inspirational example for others of the potential for self-education. Through his familiarity with the Bible and the works of Shakespeare he developed a sophisticated command of the English language. This helped him to obtain the word mastery and language skills he later demonstrated. He was especially adept in the debate format which was popular practice at the time.
His rise to presidency was catalysed by the formation of a new political party with ideals he believed in and by an extremely persuasive and influential speech he gave in New York City early in his political career which gave him considerable prominence. This speech was pivotal in his career as he evolved from being an unknown Midwestern local politician to a national figure. He was a wonderfully charismatic man who would often draw from his vast collection of stories with a quick wit and humor which instantly engaged his audience. Never did he show his anger or lose control of his temper but remained humble and poised like a true gentleman. Lincoln was one of the most persuasive presidents in US history presiding successfully over the abolition of slavery and the triumphant conclusions of the Civil War. Many addresses today echo the rhyme of Lincolnâs persuasive elegance that was heard amongst the political platforms hundreds of years ago. It is right and proper that this year (2009) we are paying special honour to Lincolnâs memory not only in America but around the world also; without his persuasive abilities the world today would be much different than it is.
* * *
Jack Welch, retired CEO of General Electric (GE), is considered to be amongst the most effective business leaders of all time. Perhaps this accounts for the extensive biographical material available on him. We are aware that some readers say too much has been written about him. Several bestselling books, including his recent autobiography, recount his proficient approach to leadership which has taken both practitioner and academic communities by storm. When appointed the new CEO in 1981, Welch launched an explicit vision for GE, setting bold targets to be achieved by the end of the next decade. He then set about implementing these through the force of his persuasive powers and through various procedural and policy changes.
His remarkable persuasive leadership skills are highlighted clearly by his professional accomplishments and in films of one of his periodic speeches to senior executives at GE. The authors (Carroll and Flood) observed him in action several times in such a company film. During these speeches, his hands and arms are in constant motion emphasizing the significance of each issue, whilst the cadence of his voice oscillates appropriately in direct sequence to the content of his address.
His voice varies in tone from happy and enthusiastic to sadness with tinges of regret as he speaks. He would acknowledge various managers and divisions who were performing exceptionally well and describe new company initiatives which they can be jointly proud of. He describes his visits to customers, investors, and executive training programs at GE headquarters. On one such occasion, he vividly recalls a story of an individual customer whom he met that year with complaints regarding the service he received from GE. Throughout the story, Welsh expresses genuine distress, his eyes sombre and voice tinged with an irrefutable sadness.
âWe can do better than this; this is not what we are about.â
Throughout such speeches, he often referred to those present as âthe teamâ, reminding them of the united vision they have for the company. As always, he attempts to persuade his senior executives to accept this vision and align their personal goals with the wider ambitions of the company. He presented logical and emotional arguments for implementing his visions and uses stories to illustrate successes and failures in the companyâs actual modes of operating. He often emphasized ethical issues in such stories. He at times would reiterate how this vision can be achieved through the use of problem-solving teams. These teams would include lower level management groups working together to improve operating efficiency and resolve errors and wastefulness mistakes. Welsh would address all these serious issues in a wise and intimate voiceâlike that of a much loved uncle advising his admiring nieces and nephews.
What is leadership?
âThe function of leadership is to engage followers, not merely to activate them, to comingle needs and aspirations and goals in a common enterprise and in the process to make better citizens of both leaders and followers.â
âJames McGregor Burns, Leadership [2]
âLeadership is the heart and soul of management. It is the ability to inspire other people to work together as a team, following your lead, in order to attain a common objective, whether in business, in politics, in war, or on the football field. Leadership is learned âŚâ
âHoward Geneen, Managing [3]
Persuasive leadership in a new world
These are the best of times and the worst of times for leadership. It is a more difficult time for leaders because the challenges of today are truly enormous. In Managing Strategy Inplementation [4] we documented some of the more significant changes which have occurred in the past 50 years in this world we all inhabit. These changes included not only significant changes in our world-wide economic, technological, and political systems but in our social attitudes, relationships, and expectations as well. Knowledge rather than physical effort is increasingly important in todayâs world. Obedience to authority can no longer be assumed. In fact there is documentation of world-wide changes in reactions to authority by people everywhere. Nevertheless, in spite of all of these changes we do know a great deal more about managing some of the problems arising from such changes than we did before, which is not to say that we still face much uncertainty in this new world in which we all must live.
Over the decades, there have been countless definitions of leadership emphasizing the different elements necessary to achieve greater leadership effectiveness. We have purposely chosen the previously cited definitions to conceptualize our understanding of true persuasive leadership. We believe this type of leadership is necessary to thrust through the many difficult problems we face. These problems are old and new, certain and uncertain, solvable and unsolvable. We feel that Harold Geneen, a former executive and president of an international telephone and telegraph company, captures the most relevant components of leadership in his definition. However in reading his writings on management we are not sure he actually followed this definition when he was actually managingâit seems rhetoric and reality may not always match up. Nonetheless, we see merit in his definition even if he failed to achieve it consistently in practice. Geneenâs definition suggests that leadership is ubiquitousâit is an ever-present, world-wide phenomenon which reflects our natural way of thinking. It is found wherever human beings cooperate to achieve mutually desirable goalsâin the home as well as at work and on the athletics and battle field, and in the pulpit and classroom and in all friendship groups.
The definition explained by Burns is conceivably the most widely referenced book on leadership and is equally relevant for our perspective on leadership. Burns emphasizes the importance of engaging the mind and emotions of followers. Of course philosophers since Aristotle have also said the same thing. We perceive this as the first necessary step to initialize an effective leadership strategy. It is our strong belief that borrowing from the arts is the most effective means of achieving this mental and emotional engagement. Furthermore, like Burns, we believe that effective leadership should aim at creating and developing better people for long-run
benefits and in the greater scheme of things rather than merely using leadership as a short-term task solution. The examples at the beginning of this chapter clearly illustrate this type of persuasive leadership, which we want to discuss. This book arose out of a chapter by Carroll in a book entitled Managing Strategy Implementation which we authored with others. This chapter established the increased importance of adding persuasive approaches to the older management techniques of goal setting and strategies.
A newer focus on emotions and logic
Since its inception (around 1910), the âscientific managementâ approach has influenced management techniques within formal organizations. This involves the application of logic and analytical skills to management decision making. This approach brought a scientific perspective and analytical methods into all types of organizations. However, Peters and Waterman strongly argue that, in todayâs world, newer, more intuitive, and artistic perspectives are needed by managers and leaders and claim this has already been documented in the actions and methods of higher achieving business organizations [5].
Present research in human neurobiology illustrates that emotions and logic are in fact inseparable components within the information-processing system. During the decision-making process, emotional sections of the brain tend to be active when rational processes are functioning. The great philosopher Hume seems to have been correct when he arguedâârationality is typically the slave of some passionâ [6]. This is not to say that logic, science, and systematic analysis are no longer neededârather, emotions are a central facet of effective leadership in organizations today. Thus, leaders must emphasize both the rational and the emotional in their relationships with others. This has always been one of the primary perspectives of the arts and the humanities.
Leadership as a social role in all living groups
Leadership has always existed as a social role necessary for the survival of all human groups. Early hunter-gatherer bands and early agrarian groups consisted of men and women cooperating within functional collective groups to survive and reproduce. Of course, as Jack London describes in his great book Call of the Wild, the animals these groups hunted would also consist of groups with a leader at the top of their social
hierarchy. It appears that the evolution of human kind, from primitive socialization processes to a fantastically higher level of human functioning can be attributed to the efforts of billions of parents, teachers, and other leaders throughout human history. These individuals may consider their efforts to be meagre on the larger scale of human existence but collectively they have accomplished a truly remarkable progression in human evolution even though periodic regression to past more primitive modes of behaviour frequently occurs. We can expect that the collective teaching and persuasive efforts of leaders and teachers throughout history will certainly pay dividends to the important future achievements of mankind. Nonetheless, much remains to be achieved in terms of further advancing human behaviour and thinking.
âWhen the long winter nights come on and the wolves follow their meat into the lower valleys, he may be seen running at the head of the pack through the pale moonlight or glimmering borealis, leaping gigantic above his fellows, his great throat a-bellow as he sings a song of the younger world, which is the song of the pack.â
âJack London [7]
Leadership legacies
Historical biographical accounts and history in general document how the actions of an individual leader can change the whole future dynamic and identity of nations, organizations, groups, and the inter-relationships among these collectives. Like the butterfly effect in weather, the death of a leader can have significant consequences. Although Geneen discusses leader...
