All articles of the course Leadership and Organisations from the VU Amsterdam.
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Goleman, Daniel (1998). “What Makes a Leader,” Harvard Busine...
Leadership and Organisations VU 2017-2018
College 1
Why should anyone be led by you?
R. Goffee, G. Jones
A small history:
Talking about leadership since the time of Plato
18th century – rationalist revolution, (Voltaire) people can control their destiny by
application of reason.
th
19 century – believe in progress and believe in perfectibility of man.
end 19th century – Freud and Max Weber – current search for good leadership consequence
of their work. Freud: unconscious responsible for big part of behaviour. Weber:
technical rationality = rationality without morality. Technical rationality shows
especially in bureaucracy. Bureaucracies are frightening cause they dehumanize
people. – Hilter’s bureaucracy.
Weber: charismatic leaders can resist bureaucratisation.
20th century – There are charismatic positive but also negative leaders (Hiltler, Stalin).
scepticism about power of reasoning and continuous progress of man. Interest in
concept of leadership. First research 1920: trait theory.
Now – contingency theory: leadership depends on a particular situation. In the article a mix
of all theories is used.
4 qualities
Everybody agrees that leaders need: vision, energy, authority and strategic direction.
inspirational leaders have 4 more (unexpected) qualities:
1) Selective show of their weakness. Showing some vulnerability to be approachable and
human.
2) Rely on intuition to feel the best timing and course of their actions. Collect and interpret soft
data.
3) Leading with tough empathy. Empathize with employees and care about them, but staying
realistic.
4) Show their differences. Know and show what makes them unique.
All 4 qualities necessary to be an inspirational leader. One or two not sufficient.
Mix of 4 qualities important
1) Weakness
Showing that you are genuine, approachable and humane.
If you don’t show weakness the world may also invent one for you. Showing one will prevent
something worse.
Exposing weakness establishes: Trust, A collaborative atmosphere, Solidarity between employees and
leaders
Pick a weakness carefully: no fatal flaw weakness (that is central for your professional role).
A weakness that can be considered as strength is possible (perfectionism).
Weakness should be perceived as real.
2) intuition
, Feel what’s going on.
Sometimes hard to judge how far you can go without losing followers.
Be careful not to attribute your own ideas to others (projection).
The feeling should always undergo a reality check.
3) tough empathy
Give people what they need, not what they want.
Respect for the individual and the task.
Commitment is important, people feel if you care about the job or not.
4) dare to be different
Capitalize what’s unique about oneself.
Use differences to keep a social distance.
Difference like: dress style, expertise, loyality, handshake.
Inspirational leaders use the differences to stimulate others to perform better. Followers push
themselves if the leader is a bit distant.
Don’t create too much distant – than its impossible to be a good sensor and identify and care – lose
followers.
Leadership in action
The four qualities should be part of someone’s personality. Use the four qualities in such a way that
they match with who you are. Be yourself with more skills.
Can female leaders be true to themselves?
Fewer women than men in management positions. Many women try to blend in with the men – way
of talking, way of dressing etc. But then she’s not seen as potential leader – not showing her real self
and promoting differences.
A second option is a organisation of all the woman to demand opportunities and equality, but often
there is no time to do so.
Third: woman use the stereotypes, but the danger is that if further nurtures the stereotype view and
prevents other women to get rid of them
Myths about leadership
1) Everyone can be a leader: No.
Many don’t have the knowledge or authenticity.
2) Leaders deliver business results – sometimes
Depends on the type of company and the time
3) Leaders are great coaches – not often
Often inspire others by their vision not coaching abilities.
4) People who get to the top are leaders – not necessarily
Leaders are people with followers independent of rank. People high in rank don’t have to be
good leaders (could e.g. be for political reasons)
What makes a leader?
D. Goleman
IQ and technical skills are important, but emotional intelligence is the sine qua non of leadership.
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