NICE TO KNOW: TWO BOOKS ON LEADERSHIP

The notion that vision and decisiveness are not always conducive to good leadership, is something we often encounter.

For example, read this study by Harvard Professor Joseph Nye on the leadership of American presidents: ‘Presidential Leadership and the Creation of the American Era’ (2013). These are its key findings:

Nye draws a distinction between two types of presidents. Presidents with a vision, who want to change the world decisively. He calls this transformational leadership. There are also presidents with a transactional style – with no particularly pronounced vision, they consider small steps to be more important than major leaps forward. George H.W. Bush, president from 1989-1993, was this kind of transactional president. This is typical of Bush Senior: he walks into a meeting and asks what it is about. “We are thinking about your vision”, comes the reply. He has no desire to do that. ‘The vision-thing’, he says famously. During his Presidency, Bush saw off two major international crises without accident: the end of the Cold War and the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait.

Nye argues that other presidents without a vision can also be extremely effective. They are flexible, because they are not bogged down by a vision and therefore act as they find things. Having no clear and unambiguous vision means that they often govern cautiously and analyse with precision. More than that, their cautious style enables them to make major structural changes. If you implement major changes carefully and gradually, they are often more likely to succeed than if you try the big-bang approach.

From public sector to business community.

Several years ago, in 2011, ‘Enduring Success. What We Can Learn from the History of Outstanding Corporations’ by Christian Stadler was published, a book about the most powerful European corporations. Here are some of its conclusions:

• Successful companies do not have a charismatic leader – leaders with outspoken visions actually constitute a risk. Because if that vision does not work, their charisma can lead the business into the abyss.
• Successful leaders do not like radical innovation or risky changes. They are ‘smart and conservative’ – just like the American presidents. Smart leaders respect existing structures within businesses. They never stop talking to their people about the change that is needed.
• Changes to the organization proceed gradually.
• The businesses grow very large but in gradual steps.