Leadership

Performance Beyond Expectations

Elesa Zehndorfer

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2020
• ISBN:
  9781000194234
• Edition: 2
• Topic: Business
• Subtopic: Management
• Index: Business

The second edition of Leadership offers a unique, highly-applied academic treatise on leadership, uniquely blending a chronological analysis of the last 100 years of leadership theory with exclusive CEO interviews. The case studies, expert insights and other teaching aids are timely and hard hitting, making this textbook relevant, insightful and informative, while a research chapter empowers the reader to competently question the leaders that shape our world.

The world has turned on its political and corporate axis since the first edition of Leadership was published, and it became necessary to produce a second edition that fully encapsulated, respected and observed these changes. Numerous new case studies, discussion starters and examples subsequently reflect today's volatile technological, political, financial and social shifts, while exclusive interviews with successful CEOs powerfully blend theory with practice. Readers will learn the importance of navigating leadership in the most testing of times. A new chapter, 'Researching leadership', offers the reader the opportunity to develop significantly as a leadership researcher and to ably question reality in a post-truth world. A self-leadership chapter equips the reader to develop their own leadership capabilities, while retaining the ability to avoid destructive leadership. Ultimately, readers will become empowered to appreciate the complex, intersectional nature of leadership and to learn what it takes to lead in today's politically, technologically and socially tumultuous world.

This book will be particularly engaging for students and educators at secondary school, college, undergraduate and postgraduate level, and for leadership/management consultants. While the book's primary role remains as a core text for leadership, management and business modules, it will also be of interest to students on many other courses (e.g. psychology, politics, sociology). Packed with teaching resources which educators will find particularly useful, Leadership is the only textbook of its kind to offer such an applied view of this subject via the inclusion of 12 (mostly CEO) expert insights. The first edition was an "Amazon Hot New Release", so this second edition might also hold interest for a general readership.

1

AN INTRODUCTION TO LEADERSHIP

“You can only succeed in life if you try, and leadership requires you to fail as well as succeed.”

– Michael de Giorgio, OBE¹

The world has always needed great leaders. From the heroes and legends of Ancient Rome and Greece, through to the study of leadership in modern politics, economics and warfare, one is able to traverse the landscape of heroes, myths, legends – in other words, those great leaders – that have ruled earth, sea and the human spirit – in a thousand different ways. From the time-honoured storytelling of great tales such as Beowulf and Homer’s Iliad, to the study of religious texts, and the philosophical leadership of Epictetus, Plato and Aristotle, one is able to observe the motivation of society for leadership at every turn. Leaders come in every form: from the inspirational (Nelson Mandela) to the charismatic (Barack Obama), from the impeached (Donald Trump) to the unethical (Harvey Weinstein), from the groundbreaking (Greta Thunberg) to the utterly destructive (Adolf Hitler). The purpose of Leadership: Performance Beyond Expectations is to instil a passion for leadership in the reader by combining abstract theory with the views of real-world leaders, to develop the self-leadership of the reader and to encourage the critical deconstruction of key theories that together provide a comprehensive introduction to what is at once a seductive, complex, transformative and alluring topic.

Since the 1st Edition of this book was written, the world of leadership has shifted on its axis; students, scholars and educators are facing a different world, and the 2nd Edition seeks to reflect exactly those leadership challenges.

But before such a pedagogic journey can be undertaken, one must first ask the wholly important question: “Why study leadership?”.

Why study leadership?

The reader is encouraged to heed the seminal words of Marcus Aurelius, who advises us that one must “look back over the past, with its changing empires that rose and fell, and you can foresee the future too”.² The study of leadership allows us to learn from history, so that we are not consigned to repeating the mistakes of our forefathers, nor are we fated to ignore the lessons of their success. Developing self-leadership greatly enhances our lives by maximizing our human capital. Acting as role models and transforming others develops social capital, and carries the power to transform communities and nations. Most importantly, it allows us to be inspired to realize our own abilities as a leader.

The study of leadership equips us with the ability to understand the complex interplay of situational variables that contribute to leadership. Consider, for example, our role as electoral voters in a democratic society; we carry the right and responsibility to vote for a leader, yet our leaders often emerge as ineffective and corrupt. One reason for this might be explained by academic studies into leadership preferences; our instinct remains overwhelmingly to vote for candidates that we find physically appealing, as opposed to those who have the fairest policies or who possess the highest level of intelligence. In fact, studies of US presidents (discussed in Chapter 2, “Trait theories”) report that presidents who have elicited high levels of intelligence during their tenure are less likely to win by a landslide in subsequent elections.

The rampant use of propaganda in the 2016 US and UK election and referendum cycles have amplified our understanding of the incredibly powerful role of tech and media in transforming – and manipulating – the world that we see around us, and in shaping our political realities; another factor reflected in updates to the 2nd Edition of this book.

Studying leadership also challenges us to confront the notion of how we measure leadership. It is interesting that the use of instruments such as the MBTI (Myers Briggs Type Indicator) remains popular among business consultants and corporate recruiters, despite the fact that they possess little predictive power. For this reason, each chapter includes a list of instruments that are considered reliable and generalizable and that possess a high level of validity and reliability, thus facilitating the effective measurement of leadership. A new chapter has been added to this 2nd Edition as a means of further extending the concept of how to measure, research and analyse leadership (Chapter 12, “Researching leadership”).

The final purpose of studying leadership is to challenge the very notion of leadership success. Should it be measured by the power, authority and/or materialistic wealth that a business or political leader has accrued throughout their career (Mark Zuckerberg, Donald Trump)? Alternatively, should it be measured by the transformative effect that an individual has exerted over society (the hugely philanthropic investments of George Soros, founder of the pro-democracy Open Society Foundations), or in challenging discrimination and great injustice in society itself (Steve Biko, Greta Thunberg, Elijah Cummings, Nobel prize winner Donald Woods)? The intellectual and technological contribution that an individual has contributed (Steven Hawking) might also provide an incontrovertible measure of leadership success, due to the manner in which their work has exerted a transformative and enriching effect on our understanding of the world in which we live. Finally, might leadership success simply be measured by the way in which we have demonstrated the effective use of self-leadership in the achievement of eudaemonia (happiness)?

Such questions will form the focus of debate throughout this book. The first step in this process is to define leadership.

Defining leadership

The Collins English Dictionary defines leadership as:

1. The position or function of a leader; 2. the period during which a person occupies the position of leader: during her leadership very little was achieved; 3. the ability to lead; 4. (as modifier): leadership qualities, and 5. the leadership of a group of a party, union, etc.; the union leadership is now very reactionary.³

While the dictionary definition above is useful, modern scholars of management and leadership have found it fundamentally problematic to reach a clear consensus on what they feel leadership actually is. Stogdill (1974), a theorist who believed in the ‘Great Man’ theory (that leaders are born with innate abilities – see Chapter 2, “Trait theories”), perhaps put it best when he commented succinctly that “there are almost as many definitions of leadership as there are persons who have attempted to define the concept” (p. 259).

Nevertheless, one might positively view such disagreements as a worthwhile representation of the rich intellectual activity that surrounds this field of study (which has now grown to include the unique contributions of neurology, business and management studies, behavioural finance, psychology and physiology). We will not seek to enter the debate of how to conceptualize leadership in this chapter; it remains instead the responsibility of the reader to consider intellectually the merits of the many theories of leadership (and their corresponding definitions) that follow in the remaining eleven chapters of this book, to understand their merits, to define their weaknesses and to adopt a personal stance relating to the definition(s) that they feel best encapsulate what leadership means to them.

Leadership timeline

Look back over the past, with it changing empires that rose and fell, and you can foresee the future too.⁴

Marcus Aurelius (AD 121–AD 180)

Figure 1.1 provides an overview of the modern theories of leadership that feature throughout the book. These theories have been chosen due to their dominance within the field of leadership and management studies throughout the twentieth and early twenty-first centuries. Each theory has been assigned its own separate chapter.

Each chapter contains a range of interactive materials that facilitate and augment the reader’s understanding of key theories. These materials constitute:

• Discussion starters. Brief statements or examples designed to stimulate brief discussion and debate.

• Ideas in brief. These provide a short, sharp observation of a particular topic, and serve as thought-provoking examples of leadership for the reader.

• Quizzes. End-of-chapter quizzes allow the reader to consolidate their learning of key theories.

• Case studies. These allow the reader to apply theory to practice via the use of real-world examples.

• Expert insights. Written by successful leaders, these provide a real-world, pragmatic complement to the academic theory included in each chapter.

Each chapter is now outlined in greater detail. Readers are encouraged to jump to those chapters that they find most interesting, or to take a leisurely sojourn through the chapters in order to gain a historic perspective of the way in which studies of leadership have progressed. Academics and students will benefit from interacting with the pedagogic materials that accompany each chapter.

FIGURE 1.1 Leadership timeline.

Chapter 1: An introduction to leadership

This chapter provides an introduction to the textbook, and to the concept of leadership. A case study of leadership in Ancient Rome immerses the reader in the application of theory to practice and introduces key theories that will be studied later. The expert insight (“Changing lives”) for this chapter is provided by Michael de Giorgio OBE, co-founder and former CEO of Greenhouse Sports.

Chapter 2: Trait theories

Never give in – never, never, never, in nothing great or small, large or petty, never give in except to convictions of honour and good sense. Never yield to force; never yield to the apparently overwhelming might of the enemy.

Winston Churchill (1874–1965)⁵

In Chapter 2, the reader is introduced to the ‘Great Man’ theory of leadership, also referred to as the trait theory. The trait theory asks whether great leaders are born or made, and whether effective leaders possess specific traits (such as intelligence, charisma or physical strength) that ineffective leaders do not. The reader is invited to define leadership, to identify leaders that have inspired them, and to consider what makes a leader great. The expert insight (“The role of personality traits in leadership success”) that accompanies this chapter is provided by Bassma El Amir-Riley, former Head of Trading (Government Bonds & Repo) at a leading global universal bank. This precedes a case study of Winston Churchill (“Winston Churchill: born leader?”).

Chapter 3: Skills theories

Time is neutral and does not change things. With courage and initiative, leaders change things.

Jesse Jackson⁶

Chapter 3 considers the skills theory of leadership, which asks whether great leaders become great due to the acquisition of extremely well-developed skills, talents and abilities. The fascinating question here is whether leadership can be taught and developed, or whether leadership is really an incontrovertible feature of nature, endowed upon a special few at birth. The expert insight for this chapter profiles Mavens & Moguls CEO Paige Arnof-Fenn, whose innovative, disruptive entrepreneurial approach inspired a Harvard Business Review case study and allows her to connect ...