On Leadership Paperback – March 12, 1993

Gardner's first sentence of his introduction, "Why do we not have better leadership?' is first answered by his initial definition of leadership attached to a disclaimer: "attention to leadership alone is sterile--and inappropriate. The larger topic of which leadership is a subtopic is the accomplishment of group purpose" [italics original]. This purpose, he says, is furthered by people other than individuals traditionally identified by leaders, such as "innovators, entrepreneurs and thinkers." He did not intend "to deal with either leadership or its related subjects comprehensively" but wanted instead to "illuminate aspects of the subject that may be of use in facing our present dilemmas--as a society and as a species" (p. xvi).His book accomplished his purpose by highlighting, in vignettes, what by the 1990s had become the standard topics of leadership--traits, contexts, leader-follower dynamics, and so forth. In this sense, Gardner's book, with a flavor made particular by his extensive political examples, is in the genre of classic leadership textbooks, and his answer to the question posed in his first sentence was the book-length elaboration of the final sentence of his introduction: "We can do better. Much, much better" (p. xix).His contributions to the field of leadership studies include his discussion of "dispersed leadership," which is woven through the text, his thoughts about renewal, and his discussion of how leadership and followership can release human potential. His extended definition of leadership, found on the first page of the first chapter, stated "Leadership is the process of persuasion or example by which a leader (or leadership team) induces a group to pursue objectives held by the leader or shared by the leader and his or her followers" (p. 1).His book is a goldmine of aphoristic insights into leadership:* The concept of accountability is as important as the concept of leadership. (p. xviii)* The first step is not action; the first step is understanding. (p. xviii)* Many people with power are without leadership gifts. (p. 2)* Many writers on leadership take considerable pains to distinguish between leaders and managers. In the process leaders generally end up looking like a cross between Napoleon and the Pied Piper, and managers like unimaginative clods. This troubles me. (p.3)* Values always decay over time. Societies that keep their values alive do so not by escaping the process of decay but by powerful processes of regeneration [italics original]. (p. 13)* Indeed, one could argue that willingness to engage in battle when necessary is the sine qua non of leadership. (p. 16)* Leaders are invariably symbols. (p. 18)* Achieving a goal may simply make the next goal more urgent: inside every solution are the seeds of new problems. And as Donald Michael has pointed out, most of the time most things are out of hand. No leader enjoys that reality, but every leader knows it. (p. 22)* Executives are given subordinates; they have to earn followers [italics original]. (p. 24)* Woodrow Wilson said, "The ear of the leader must ring with the voices of the people." (p. 29)* One ambitious young lawyer asked one went about winning trust, and the senior partner said dryly, "Try being trustworthy." (p. 33)* Hobbes said that the reputation of power is power [italics original]. (p. 34)* As Peter Drucker put it, Vail saw that the only way to keep Bell a private company was "to stand for the public interest more forcefully than any public agency could." (p. 45)* He said, "He's a superb crisis manager, which is fortunate because his lack of judgment leads to a lot of crises." (p. 49)* Acclaim and derision are the rewards of leadership. (p. 53)* So the public (even the reasonably well-informed public) is deprived of the opportunity so cherished in a free society to exercise its native judgment in choosing the candidate who meets its needs. It knows its needs. But it does not know the candidates--only skillfully manufactured facsimiles thereof. (p. 54)* To say a leader is preoccupied with power is like saying that a tennis player is preoccupied with making shots an opponent cannot return. Of course leaders are preoccupied with power! The significant questions are: What means do they use to gain it? How do they exercise it? To what ends do they exercise it? (p. 57)* Our federal government is the biggest carrot-and-stick warehouse in the world. No wonder the power junkies gather. (p. 61)* In our society public opinion is a notable source of power. (p. 61)* A familiar failing of visionaries and of people who live in the realm of ideas and issues is that they are not inclined to soil their hands with the nuts and bolts of organizational functioning. (p. 65)* Even veteran observers are bemused by the overreaching of some who exercise power. It is a source of constant wonder that such ancient and dreary vice can spring up so freshly. (p. 66)* And who remembers the reigning princes? What heritage was left by those who held great worldly power when Buddha was teaching, or when Isaiah was prophesying or when Jesus spoke by the lakeside? (p. 76)* Cyert and March point out that an organization is generally a coalition of individuals and groups with diverse goals, engaged in continuous bargaining for power. (p. 91)* Mark Twain said, "There isn't a parallel of latitude that but thinks it would have been the equator if it had had its rights" . . . . People who think of themselves as victims are in no mood to collaborate with others to shape a constructive future. (p. 96)* Pluralism that reflects no commitments whatever to the common good is pluralism gone berserk. (p. 97)* Leaders unwilling to seek mutually workable arrangements with systems external to their own are not serving the long-term interests of their constituents. [italics original] (p. 99)* Hitler said, "The art of leadership consists of consolidating the attention of the people against a single adversary." (p. 104)* Transactional leadership accepts and works within the structure as it is. Transformational leadership renews. (p. 122)* Leaders must understand the interweaving of continuity and change. [italics original] (p. 124)* The person who works for social change must not be assumed to be a believer in Utopia and human perfectibility. Change will occur. We must cope. Leaders should understand the point made by Francis Bacon 350 years ago: "He who will not apply new remedies must expect new evils; for time is the greatest innovator." (p. 125)* A feature of the trance of nonrenewal is that individuals can look straight ata flaw in the system and not see it as a flaw. (p. 126)* Nothing is more vital to the renewal of an organization than the arrangements by which able people are nurtured and moved into positions where they can make their greatest contributions. (p. 127)* H.G. Wells said, "Leaders should lead as far as they can and then vanish. Their ashes should not choke the fire they have lit." (p. 132)* There is no doubt that a certain number of top executives have, in the secrecy of their minds, closed the books on one or another portion of their responsibilities. (p. 133)* Pity the leader who is caught between unloving critics and uncritical lovers. (p. 135)* The final issue is the most serious. Power lodges somewhere. When "the people" take power away from an individual or group they dislike, they may inadvertently empower those they like even less. In a leaderless system, where will power lodge? (p. 142)* There is a French saying, "Be sure you want the consequences of what you want." (p. 142)* Most of the endlessly debated questions about leadership are ancient, but there is one that has a distinctly modern ring: How can we define the role of leaders in the way that most effectively releases the creative energies of followers in the pursuit of shared purposes [italics original]. (p. 143)* The first duties of citizens are not of a sophisticated political nature. Those duties are to look after one another in the family circle, get themselves educated and equipped to support themselves, obey the law, pay their taxes, and rear their children as responsible members of the community. These are authentic forms of participation, though they are rarely mentioned in discussions of the subject. (p. 145)* The generalization may be that explosive crises produce great leaders, creeping crises do not. (p. 158)* They learn that it is how they perform as individuals that counts, not how they relate to others. So it is not surprising that many young executives--even middle-aged executives--are still pirouetting for some scorekeeper, real or imagined, with little thought of their possible constituency. Their gaze is directed upward, at the executive staff meetings they want to worm their way into, at the executive vice-presidents they want to impress. They are not even paying attention to the people at their own level or below, whom they might hope to lead. (p. 167)* Experience, thought to be the best teacher, is sometimes a confusing teacher. Robert Benchley said that having a dog teaches a boy fidelity, perseverance, and to turn around three times before lying down. (p. 168)* Mentors are "growers," good farmers rather than inventors or mechanics. (p. 169)* No leadership course can affect young men and women so powerfully as a well-designed sequence of reassignments. (p. 175)* Are these just questions to be tossed into the box that lies beyond the in-box and the out-box? (Dean Acheson said there should be a third box, labeled Too Hard.) (p. 182) [note: this is the segue quotation to Heifetz and Peck]* As a consequence, beneath the surface of most constituencies are dormant volcanoes of emotion and motivation. Oddly, when leaders tap those geothermal sources and evoke intense responses, we attribute the intensity not to the subterranean fires but to charisma in the leader. (p. 186)* Your identity is what you have committed yourself to--whether the commitment is to your religion, to an ethical order, to your life work, to loved ones, to the common good, or to coming generations. (p. 189)* We are not only problem solvers but problem seekers. If a suitable problem is not at hand, we invent one. Most games are invented problems. We are designed for the climb, not for taking our ease, either in the valley or at the summit. (p. 195)* Harlan Cleveland points out that the leader has little choice but to be optimistic. The analyst, the critic, the journalist can afford not to be. But taking a positive view is not something that effective leaders have to work at: It is in their temperament, and no doubt had much to do with their attainment of a leadership role. It may have been a leader who said, "I'd be a pessimist but it would never work." (p. 196)

First published in 1990, this book was written primarily to address the young people just coming into their adulthood. This population is where the new leaders of tomorrow will emerge from. Gardner believes that leadership skills are lacking, and we need good leaders to take this country forward.Gardner’s discussion on leadership is also within the context of history and culture. Leadership cannot be set apart from historical background, social environment, or cultural context. Leadership does not occur in a vacuum. Rather, leadership effectiveness depends on their own background and culture as well as those of the constituents. The background, culture, size of groups, cohesiveness, tenure, and turnover of the constituents are all considerations that a good leader must navigate in order to be effective. One leadership style may not be as effective as another leadership style depending on the items mentioned above.Gardner begins by taking the reader through a series of examples as to what is not leadership. Leadership is not that same thing as status, power, a manager, or even official authority. However, good leadership requires a major effort of time and energy. Most people do not want to exert the time and energy needed to be an effective leader.Good leadership must be taken out of the context of power and status. Having power and status does not make an effective leader. These features are given by default to those in high office. It is only when a leader motivates and builds trust with his/her constituents that the leader gets to be effective.Leadership is a two-way communication structure with each constituent as well as the constituent group. Effective leaders understand this and work tirelessly to understand each constituent’s needs. Knowing these needs and helping each constituent achieve their goals through motivation and foresight is extremely important. Gardner know this and writes this book to impress upon the reader the importance of these aspects of leadership.Gardner spends lots of time discussing the tasks of leadership important to this cause. Goals setting, affirmation of values for all involved, and motivating are all important aspects of effective leadership. In addition, an effective leader builds unity, trust, and renewal within the group. This keeps things fresh and does not allow for stagnation in the organization. Gardner also explains that perception of the leader is greater than the actual leadership style. If constituents do not see a leader as effective, motivating, or inspiring, then he/she is not an effective leader.Finally, Gardner discusses the realm of human possibilities. He mentions that good leaders do not always make history, but history can make good leaders. In other words, its when there is conflict and things are not going well; this is when the best leaders shine. Effective leaders need to step up in times of crisis and only those capable and willing will rise to the occasion. Leaders needs to be able to see what the future holds and be optimistic about it, even though it may not always be a rosy picture.Gardner has three main points: goal setting, motivation, and revitalization. Gardner describes two main tasks of an effective leader. The first of these is goal setting. An effective leader has a sense of where the organization is going, looking in the rear mirror to learn from the past, but also looking right out the front windshield to what is on the horizon just beyond what the eye can see. This leader provides goals that the organization can march toward being fully ready and able to achieve those goals.An effective leader must be able and willing to set attainable yet stretch goals for his/her constituents and all those in the organization. People work best when given a set of goals for which they can personally contribute. With the addition of a goal that is somewhat out of reach, but still achievable, constituents will be motivated to reach those goals.Gardner states that a good leader is also a very motivating leader. An effective leader will naturally find ways to motivate his/her constituents corporately as well as individually. He discusses the importance of motivating and providing leadership opportunities to all young people.Gardner also believes that our educational institutions from grade school to the university level do not adequately prepare our young people to engage in meaningful leadership roles. Instead, the educational system serves to make specialist of our students, putting them at a disadvantage for not learning those transferable skills such as leadership.He points out many ways to accomplish this from a very young age into their early adulthood years. Clubs, committees, planning opportunities, and volunteering for local government election cycles are all excellent ways to get our youth to take on leadership roles and learn valuable lessons early in life, thus better preparing them for future leadership roles.The third main point was that of revitalization. An effective leader is always looking for opportunities to self-renewal and revitalization. The leader needs to stay fresh and full of energy when he/she carries the weight of the world on his/her shoulders.Effective leaders must also reenergize and refocus on potentially forgotten goals as well as create new goals. They must continually learn how to revitalize constituents. Leaders must revitalize themselves just as generations must regenerate shared values, etc.Gardner concludes that if leaders want to be effective and viewed as effective by their constituents, then he/she must understand that they serve as a symbol for constituents to look up to. Effective leaders are looked upon as someone to strive towards. They are symbols of what constituents can become if they also do the things that make great leaders.Leadership is different from management in several ways. Leaders are distinctive from managers as leaders have a longer-term view of events and goals. Effective leaders are more interested in the effects of corporate changes in the long run versus a manage who just looks at meeting today’s production goals. Constituents can collectively identify with a unifying leader and this leader should be able to strengthen and help their constituents develop their own sense of leadership. This is how good leaders are made.Finally, Gardner discusses the release of human possibilities. Here we see that not only the leader, but the constituent, must have a positive attitude as it pertains to the future. They must be positive, optimistic, yet realistic; knowing that there will be tough times to come, but they are fully prepared with confidence to take on anything that comes their way.

Got bored of it very quickly. Verbosity with unclear utility.

John Gardner was a University lecturer, an officer in the Marines in WWII, a company President and then held high office under various US Presidents. His deep understanding of the nature of leadership is shown in this highly readable book. It clearly reviews the challenges and context of leadership in modern society. The book is illuminating and well-written.

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