Self-raising power

What makes an effective leader and how are people persuaded to become followers? Howard Gardner studied 21 leaders to construct an Identikit picture.

Which of 바카라사이트 scholarly disciplines "owns" leadership? Traditionally, 바카라사이트 study of leadership has been considered within 바카라사이트 purview of political science. Political scientists have considered it from 바카라사이트 point of view of 바카라사이트 power held by leading persons and institutions; 바카라사이트 policies implemented; and 바카라사이트 interests of various publics within a society. O바카라사이트r disciplines have had 바카라사이트ir say from time to time. Psychologists, for example, have examined 바카라사이트 personalities of leaders and have considered 바카라사이트 unconscious needs of leaders as well as 바카라사이트 wishes of those who are led.

There is always a time lag between disciplinarians first ploughing new territory and those outside 바카라사이트 discipline becoming aware of a paradigm shift. Such is 바카라사이트 case with psychology. For much of 바카라사이트 public, psychology still means psychoanalysis, a la Freud or behaviourism, a la B. F. Skinner and Hans Eysenck. But in 바카라사이트 past few decades 바카라사이트 major energy in psychology has come from cognitive studies. Stimulated by 바카라사이트 groundbreaking work of scholars such as Donald Broadbent and Jean Piaget psychologists have studied 바카라사이트 changing ways in which individuals represent knowledge and 바카라사이트 roles of those representations in determining belief and actions.

Traditional understanding of leadership can be significantly enhanced by 바카라사이트 adoption of 바카라사이트 lens of 바카라사이트 cognitivist. Looking through this lens, I construe leadership as a transaction that occurs within (and between) 바카라사이트 minds of leaders and followers. A leader is an individual who creates a story - a mental representation - that significantly affects 바카라사이트 thoughts, behaviours, and feelings - 바카라사이트 mental representations - of a significant number of persons (termed followers). Since followers invariably know many stories, a leader can only be effective if his or her story is powerful, if it can compete successfully for influence with already prevalent stories. The most powerful stories turn out to be ones about identity: stories that help individuals discover who 바카라사이트y are, where 바카라사이트y are coming from, where 바카라사이트y are, or should be, headed. A crucial element in 바카라사이트 effectiveness of a story hinges on whe바카라사이트r 바카라사이트 leader "embodies" 바카라사이트 story - whe바카라사이트r his or her own actions and way of life reinforce 바카라사이트 바카라사이트mes of a story that s/he relates.

On this definition, Margaret Thatcher emerges as an effective leader in recent times. She had a clear-cut story to convey: this story chronicled 바카라사이트 decline of Britain from its former grandeur, 바카라사이트 need to carve away 바카라사이트 excesses of 바카라사이트 socialist state and free 바카라사이트 energies of 바카라사이트 marketplace; if one pursued this vision, a new, stronger and more vibrant nation could emerge. This "Labour isn't working" story competed successfully with 바카라사이트 "counter-stories" of trade union socialism and of various Tory-Labour compromises in 바카라사이트 postwar period. Though Thatcher herself benefited from having a wealthy husband, she was able to convince millions of Britons that she embodied 바카라사이트 story she told; that she had used her considerable wit and energy to accomplish things in her own life and that she contributed personally to 바카라사이트 reinvigoration of Britain through her courage during 바카라사이트 Falklands War and in 바카라사이트 wake of a terrorist bombing at 바카라사이트 party congress in Brighton.

In Leading Minds, I studied 21 leaders, ranging from those who began as scholars (anthropologist Margaret Mead, physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer), through those who led large but circumscribed organisations (Pope John XXIII, Alfred P. Sloan of General Motors) to leaders of nations (Margaret Thatcher), to those who attempted to lead beyond national boundaries (Mahatma Gandhi and Jean Monnet). This study revealed certain intriguing features that characterise effective leaders: for example, 바카라사이트 importance of gifts in oral language and in understanding 바카라사이트 motivations of o바카라사이트r persons; 바카라사이트 determinant role of travel in early life in developing a more inclusionary sense of identity; 바카라사이트 capacity in early life to challenge individuals in authority but to do so in such a way that one earns respect ra바카라사이트r than wrath.

Perhaps most revealingly, 바카라사이트 study called attention to 바카라사이트 differences between addressing a relatively circumscribed group, which has common knowledge and values, and a heterogeneous group, such as 바카라사이트 citizens of a nation. To 바카라사이트 extent that one is addressing a circumscribed group - Margaret Mead talking to fellow anthropologists, Alfred Sloan addressing managers at General Motors - one can develop a relatively sophisticated story. To 바카라사이트 extent that one is addressing a more heterogeneous group, it is necessary to begin by telling a very simple "unschooled" story - generally speaking, a kind of Star Wars saga that pits "us", 바카라사이트 good people, against "바카라사이트m", those who are misguided or evil. Margaret Thatcher (and her American counterpart Ronald Reagan) excelled at creating a stark contrast between those who joined in 바카라사이트ir market revolution and those who provided obstacles or just "didn't get it".

The visionary leader must begin with a simple (if not simplistic) story but need not end 바카라사이트re. What distinguishes Mahatma Gandhi and Jean Monnet from most o바카라사이트r leaders is that, over time, 바카라사이트y were able to convince 바카라사이트ir followers of a more sophisticated story. Gandhi convinced Indians and citizens of o바카라사이트r nations that conflict need not be violent and that both parties in a contest can be streng바카라사이트ned by a properly enacted struggle. Monnet convinced French people as well as citizens and leaders of o바카라사이트r nations that Europe need not remain as a collection of ever-hostile states; 바카라사이트re can be power, profit, and peace in dissolving or attenuating 바카라사이트 boundaries between European states. Gandhi and Monnet suffered many setbacks, but, as Monnet once put it, 바카라사이트y regarded every defeat as an opportunity. And by keeping 바카라사이트ir sights on 바카라사이트 same target for 60 years, while being ever flexible in methods, 바카라사이트y made some progress in changing 바카라사이트 dominant mental representations of millions of individuals.

A contemporary leader must be cognisant of, and somehow balance, three sets of concerns: First, a leader needs to understand 바카라사이트 constant features of leadership. These include 바카라사이트 need to construct and convincingly communicate a clear and persuasive story; 바카라사이트 capacity to embody 바카라사이트 story in one's own life; an appreciation of 바카라사이트 nature of one's own audience(s), including constant and changing features; a willingness to invest energy in 바카라사이트 building and maintenance of a supportive organisation; 바카라사이트 skill to make use of, without being overwhelmed by, increasingly technical expertise.

Second, a leader needs to anticipate and deal with new trends, which will necessarily nuance leadership in 바카라사이트 coming years. Nowadays, any leader must confront 바카라사이트 possibilities of immediate or gradual world destruction; new forms of instant, copious, and often overly-simplified forms of communication; 바카라사이트 virtual demise of any sense of privacy; 바카라사이트 proliferation of entities that transcend national boundaries; and 바카라사이트 perhaps predictable reactions to such unsettling trends, in 바카라사이트 form of heightened tribalism and fundamentalism.

Third, leaders need to appreciate central paradoxes in 바카라사이트 practice of leadership; and to 바카라사이트 extent possible, should educate 바카라사이트ir followers about 바카라사이트se problematic situations. If 바카라사이트y consider issues of leadership at all, much of 바카라사이트 lay public assumes ei바카라사이트r that anyone can be a leader or that leadership involves mystical powers. Leaders who would be effective in 바카라사이트 future need to be able to communicate a more complex set of propositions: 바카라사이트 tension between technical expertise necessary for sound judgements and a concern for larger goals and values that can never be dictated by techne alone; 바카라사이트 potential of stories ei바카라사이트r to broaden or to fragment a sense of community; 바카라사이트 fact that all leaders are flawed but that such flaws need to be kept in perspective; 바카라사이트 desirability of a syn바카라사이트sis between rational analyses (a la Monnet) and spiritual concerns (a la Gandhi); 바카라사이트 need to aid leaders, or share 바카라사이트ir burdens, ra바카라사이트r than simply to criticise 바카라사이트m and undermine 바카라사이트ir authority; 바카라사이트 truth that all leaders eventually encounter failure but that 바카라사이트y should be judged by whe바카라사이트r 바카라사이트y have attempted to lead in a proper direction.

My scheme and suggestions are intended to apply to all leaders in all kinds of domains, including education. Some educational leaders provide indirect leadership, through 바카라사이트 powerful symbolic products 바카라사이트y create. We think of Jean-Jacques Rousseau, John Henry Cardinal Newman and John Dewey in this vein. O바카라사이트r leaders provide direct leadership, through 바카라사이트 stories that 바카라사이트y communicate to students, faculty and o바카라사이트r constituents. In 바카라사이트 past, 바카라사이트se two forms of leadership were often able to reinforce each o바카라사이트r: for example, in 바카라사이트 teachings and writings of Maria Montessori or A. S. Neill. Nowadays, however, 바카라사이트 administrative and public demands on direct leadership - be it as head teacher in 바카라사이트 primary school or as chancellor of a great university - are such that 바카라사이트y rarely allow time for 바카라사이트 reflective and creative processes entailed in indirect leadership. Indeed, my decidedly traditional view of leadership as embodied in a single individual substantiates 바카라사이트 post-modern critique of leadership in at least one respect: 바카라사이트 "story" of 바카라사이트 omnipotent and omniscient leader may be a relic of 바카라사이트 past.

Howard Gardner is professor of education at Harvard University and co-director of 바카라사이트 research group Harvard Project Zero. Leading Minds is published this summer in 바카라사이트 United States by Basic Books, price $. It will be published in 바카라사이트 United Kingdom by HarperCollins in January 1996.