leadingtoday.org
Leadership Tip of
the Month
November 2005
Copyright 2005 ã weLEAD, Inc.
What Are The Roots
of Modern Leadership?
If you had serious problems and were to receive psychoanalysis treatment, you
would most likely be asked a series of questions about your past to
determine the events that led to where you are today and why. It is believed
that childhood experiences have a powerful psychological influence throughout
life. In a similar way, to understand where traditional autocratic leadership
is today and why it no longer works effectively, we must go back to the origin
or roots of modern leadership. To
review the present sad state of leadership in the United States please read the
October
2005 “Leadership Tip of the Month”.
Imagine yourself as an entrepreneur in the beginning of the
Industrial Revolution. The year is 1770 in urban England and you have an idea
to mechanize the weaving of textiles using a machine design you have patented.
You have found a location, good materials to use and limited financing to begin
your business. But, where will you find people to do the work and what models
exist in society to manage and lead these workers? As you look within your
culture of the late 18th century you have three strong models of management and leadership to
emulate. These models have proven to be successful over a period of time. Here
are your three choices…
1. The political government is a hierarchal
model beginning with the King and working down many levels to the local
government. Even though the King is partly responsible to a Parliament, the
political model is “command and control” oriented and rigidly established. To
question this structure is considered treason or civil disobedience and
punishment can be severe.
2. The military complex is part of the
government and is also highly hierarchal with a “top…down” approach to
management. Military personnel are taught to simply obey anyone of higher rank
beginning with a general or admiral at the “top” of the chain of command. The
military has established serious
consequences for disobedience or creative thinking.
3. The State religion is an ancient institution with
clear levels of clergy rank and authority. Beginning with an archbishop the
structure is also rigid, hierarchical and control oriented. To question
authority, or exhibit creativity is considered rebellion against God’s
established order and the consequences can be harsh.
In reality, your three models are very similar and offer little
contrast between them. What they had in common is that they were autocratic,
controlling and used intimidation as a way to motivate followers. Yet, they
were also organized, and had a history of gradual achievement. If you were an
entrepreneur in 1770 you would have certainly chosen a similar management
philosophy to guide your new business! It should be no surprise that later
industrialists and financial giants like Andrew Carnegie, John D. Rockefeller,
J.P. Morgan, Henry Ford and others were domineering, autocratic, controlling
and sometimes ruthless in their management and leadership styles.
The reasoning or justification behind this dictatorial management
approach was the type or quality of worker you would find available to hire for
your new business. Workers were streaming into the cities from rural farms and
agricultural communities. They were basically uneducated, illiterate and
desperate for work of any kind. They did not offer unique skills, only manual
labor. They were untrained, often undisciplined and unmotivated. They were not
valued for their knowledge or experience, only their ability to move their body
quickly to perform manual labor. They were treated like “things” and could
easily be replaced by hundreds of workers who were waiting to take their job.
This reinforced the idea that the business owner needed to be a paternalistic
and strong “father-like” figure.
That was then and this is now…
The reason rigid hierarchical management no longer works is
because of dramatic changes in the culture and society beginning in the
late 20th century. Most western governments are now democratic in
structure. The major influence of
democracy has changed education, expectations and choices in the cultures that
have embraced it. As Peter Block stated in his book, Stewardship,
“In some ways we are a nation profoundly conflicted about what we
believe. We live in political institutions that celebrate the rights of
individuals to express themselves, to assemble, to pursue happiness and
individual purposes…Yet when we enter the factory door or the lobby of business
cathedrals in our major cities, we leave our belief in democratic principles in
the car. The halls and chambers of these buildings have flourished on a very
different set of beliefs and rituals.”
People who live in democratic cultures resent and resist an
archaic philosophy that treats them like ignorant and untalented children.
Another change that has occurred is the quality of the
worker. Most workers today in western nations are educated and have far more to
offer than manual labor. The western economy has changed from one that centered
on manual labor to one that must be centered on the knowledge and intellectual
skills of each worker. Many college graduates now have unique focused
talents that exceed those of the
corporate president, CEO or management team. In our highly competitive
environment it is suicide to limit the potential of your workforce. Educated
workers have choices and will leave if not personally treated to their
satisfaction. Great employees are in limited
supply and can’t be easily replaced if they leave for a better opportunity.
Stephen Covey writes in his recent book entitled The Eighth Principle,
“The fundamental reality is, human beings are not things needing to be motivated and
controlled; they are four dimensional – body, mind, heart and spirit… People
make choices. Consciously or subconsciously, people decide how much of
themselves they will give to their work depending on how they are treated, and
on their opportunities to use all
four parts of their nature. These choices range from rebelling or quitting to
creative excitement:”
Covey later adds, “The point is, if you neglect any one of the
four parts of human nature, you turn a person into a thing, and what do you do
with things? You have to control, manage, and carrot-and-stick them in order to
motivate them.”
This months leadership tip is the understanding of why we have a
high degree of ineffective leadership
in our world today and its origins. Realize that we have moved from the Industrial Age to a Knowledge Worker Age where the true worth, talents and potential of
people must be tapped in order to competitively thrive in a digital and
technological world! Machines, technology, materials or buildings are not
your greatest asset… your people are!
For weLEAD, this is Greg
Thomas reminding you that Edward Simmons once wrote, “The difference
between failure and success is doing a thing nearly right and doing a thing
exactly right”.
On
the weLEAD Website you will
find over 70 other free helpful leadership tips. They are all available in a
text version or as an MP3 audio!