Book Review: The Leadership
Challenge by Kouzes J.M., Posner B.Z
Emmanuel
A. Turuka
This book talks
about how leaders can mobilize others and get things done in organizations. It
is a challenge because leadership is about how someone is going about
transforming things positively, such as values into actions, visions into
realities, obstacle into innovations, separateness into solidarity and risks
into rewards. It is in this book the authors strongly argued that it is
effective leadership that can create the climate in which people would turn
challenging opportunities into remarkable successes.
The book is
divided into seven parts and each part has two chapters with the exception of
part seven, which has only one chapter.
Part one, In
this part the authors talk in detail about what leaders should do by showing
the five practices of exemplary leadership. Through exemplary leadership,
leaders show ability and make followers feel motivated, empowered and
trusted. In emphasizing this, the
authors have cited the example of Lindsay Levin who has demonstrated this type of
leadership and successfully transformed the Whites Car Dealership and Repair
Group from unprofitable to profitable and teamwork oriented. Lindsay was a
committed model that achieved the highest standards and set the behavior where
everyone was treated with respect, felt involved and valued and saw continuous
improvement as a part of their job and took responsibility without fear of
blame. Leaders’ deeds are far more
important than their words. Leaders are pioneers who are willing to step out into
the unknown. They must be ready to lead and face obstacles, risks and failures.
Also in this
part the authors talk about credibility. According to the authors ‘credibility
is the foundation of the leadership. Leadership is a reciprocal process between
leaders and followers. The followers have confidence that the leaders will be
able to guide the entire organization, large or small, in the directions in
which it needs to go. To strengthen the credibility someone must continuously
assess his/her abilities and learn new ones. A challenge of leadership today is
maintaining a vision, because there are a lot of distractions.
Part 2, In
this part the authors talk about the importance of clarifying values and
expressing oneself. To become a good leader, someone must be able to comprehend
the values, beliefs and assumptions that drive him/her to choose the principles
he/she will use to guide his/her actions. Good leaders must know how to
communicate effectively. Values (perceptions) are one of the important parts of
leadership because they influence every aspect of life: our moral judgments,
our responses to others, our commitment to people and organizations. Values
also serve as a guide to action. They inform people what to do and what not to
do; leaders must pay as much attention to personal values as they do with organizational
values if they want more returns. The authors insisted that someone couldn’t
lead out of someone else’s values, or someone else’s words. He/she cannot lead
out of someone else’s experience. He/she can only lead out of his/her vision
and experience.
Part three: The authors talk about envision the future
leaders must first clarify their own visions before his/her can expect to
enlist others in shared visions. To create a climate of meaningfulness, first
someone must personally believe in something himself/herself; Leaders must
foster conditions under which everyone will do things because they want to, not
because they have forced to do. When leaders effectively communicate visions
whether it’s for one person or a small group, or a large organization that
visions have very important meaning. (P. 149). The authors stressed that
leaders must pay attention in listening in order to gather critical information
about what people care about and how well they understand what’s going on in
the organization.
Part four; In this part
the authors argue that leadership experiences are indeed voyages of discovery
and adventure of a lifetime. Thus the study of leadership is the study
of how men and women guide us through adversity, uncertainty, hardship, disruption,
transformation, transition, recovery new beginning and other significant
challenges.
Leadership is
needed more during times of uncertainty than in times of stability. Leaders
know that action and flexibility are required to bring people through these
times and they seize the imperative to act. Leaders must be the agents of
change. They need to be entrepreneurs. Leaders must know that repetitions work
is tedious. Those routines that help the organization to change such as
customer satisfaction surveys should be promoted. It is by keeping the door
open to the passage of ideas and information that we become knowledgeable about
what goes on around us. Leaders should take risks, to turn challenge,
uncertainty, turmoil, change, and wonder into positive results. When things
seem to be falling apart, leaders show us the exciting new world we can create
from the pieces. Out of the uncertainty and chaos of change, leaders rise up
and articulate a new image of the future that pulls the organization together.
Leaders make it
safe for people to experiment you must also make sure it’s safe for them to
challenge authority.
Part five: In
this part the author insisted on foster collaboration, this means that always
as a leader do not think that someone is the best and that he/she can do
everything by himself/herself, only teamwork brings the best results.
Collaboration sustains high performance and determines success. To foster
collaboration, leaders must create a climate of trust, and facilitate positive
interdependence and support face-to-face interactions. For example “Carolyn
Borne director of the women’s health initiatives, (WHI) in the department of
obstetrics and gynecology, in the school of medicine (UCLA). When she was first
joined as a program director during the recruitment phase of the study, the WHI
group lacked collaboration respect and trust for each other person did not
socialize, there was a lack of trust and support. The emphasis seemed to be
competition rather than cooperation, productivity and morale were low.
Carolyn took
immediate steps to create a different kind of climate, a climate of trust and
respect; she found that the group was enthusiastic about the study but
frustrated because of lack of systems, organization and teamwork. Having
identified the source of frustration Carolyn’s goal then became increasing
group cohesion through improved communication among each other. Tasks must be
structured so that each person’s job makes contributions to the end result.
Tasks must be designed so that everyone contributes something unique and
independent to the final outcome. People are more likely to cooperate in the
corporation if their joined efforts are rewarded. In fact people don’t quit
companies they quit the leadership.
Part six:
This part talks about recognition of contributions, leaders must come to
understand that recognition is about acknowledgement of good results and
reinforcing positive performance. It is about shaping an environment in which
everyone’s contributions are noticed and appreciated. (P. 328) Praise and
coaching are significant forms of recognition. Personal congratulations rank at
the top of the most powerful nonfinancial motivators identified by employees.
When recognition is public, the individual’s self esteem is upgraded and this
behavior being recognized serves as a model to others, and people see that
doing the right things will be noticed and rewarded. People produce best when
they are given feedback about how they are progressing without feedback;
production will be less efficient and will exact a significant toll in the form
of increased levels of stress and anxiety.
It is a part of
the leader’s job to show appreciation for people’s contributions and create a
culture of celebration. Performance improves when leaders bring people together
to rejoice in their achievements and to reinforce their shared principles.
Part seven:
This part the authors talk about leadership is for everyone and they pose a
question whether leaders are born or made? Leadership is learnable. Leadership
development is self-development. It is about leading out of what is already in
your soul.
(Pp.391). Leadership is an observable set of
skills and abilities that are a useful whether one is in the executive suite or
on the front line. And any skill can be strengthened, honed and enhanced, given
the motivation and desire the practice and feedback and the role models and
coaching. By assuming that leadership is learnable we can discover how many
good leaders there really are. By believing in yourself and your capacity to learn
to lead you to make sure you will be prepared when that call comes. Effective
leaders are constantly learners. They are constantly looking for ways to
improve themselves and their organizations. The instrument of leadership is
self and mastery of the art of leadership comes from mastery of the
self-development.
The
Leadership Challenge is one of the best books that talk about
leadership. It is the best because it explains strategies in all types of
leadership in the organization and provides a guide to any person who is
currently in a leadership role and those who inspire to become leaders in the
future. The book is full of enduring wisdom and practical insights essential
for success in the challenging times.
The format of
the book is very good. The way the authors divided the book makes it easy to
understand. The language used in this book is very clear, and arguments are
supported by real examples of how leaders helped their organizations to
overcome various crises. For example, the authors present the case of Lindsay
Levis; Whites Limited; Ashraf Seddeek; Oracle Corporation; and, Stephen
Denning, the director of knowledge management for the World Bank, to mention a
few.
The main theme
of the book is how to become a good leader in a challenging world. It provides
a forum for each person to, assess his/her own strength and weakness in
leadership and how to recognize these areas in others and help them succeed.
The authors have tried to talk in Longum et Latum about the role of
leadership. The book has extensive information on leadership when you compare
with other books or articles that talk about leadership. The authors have done
very intensive research about the book and have come up with a book that is a
master read if you want to be a successful leader in your organization.
The authors
defined the term leadership challenge indirectly in a very practical way, by
providing leadership models that are not based on power. There are based on
tools that leaders use to make people get involved in accomplishing
institutional goals or make extraordinary things happen. According to the
authors the power of leadership is associated with modeling the way, inspiring
a shared vision, challenging the process, and encouraging the heart. In many
books the definition of a leader is connected with power. Mosley, Megginson,
Pietri, (2005) defines “leadership as a process of influencing individual and
group activities toward goal setting and goal achievement” (p. 220). The
question is why does leadership involve the use of power? This can be traced
back to the management philosophy of Douglas McGregor’s concept of Theory X and
Theory Y which talks about the nature of people, in his finding argues “The
average human being has an inherent dislike of work and will avoid it if
possible, because of this human nature people must be coerced, controlled,
directed or threatened with punishment to get them to put forth adequate effort
toward the achievement of organizational objectives.” (P. 221).
On the other
hand the basic assumptions of theory Y are as follows:
q “Work
is a natural activity
q People
committed to the objectives are capable of self-direction
q The
rewards help people become committed to organizational objectives
q Employees
can learn to seek responsibility
q Employees
typically have imagination, ingenuity, and creativity.” (Dr. C. Stamper.
Lecture Notes 2005)
The
Leadership Challenge has built the definition of leadership in
these assumptions by believing that external control and the threat or
punishment are not the only means of bringing about efforts towards
organizational objectives; once a leader has modeled the way, inspired a shared
vision, etc., people will accomplish the goal and bring more profits in
organizations. Also Gin. (1995), definition
falls in the same line as he argues; “All forms of leadership must make use of
power, however, power need not to be coercive, dictatorial, or punitive. Power,
can also be used in a non-coercive manner to orchestrate persuade, mobilize,
direct and guide members of an institution or organization in pursuit of a
goal”.
The authors have demonstrated clearly in order
to make organizational benefits training must be emphasized in the
organizations as they point out “Strengthening others requires in initiatives
that develop people’s competencies and foster their confidence. The investment
in training and development produce profits: companies that spend more than the
average amount on training have higher return on investment (ROI) than
companies that are below average spenders” (Kouzen and Posner, p.292). It is
through training empowerment is easy because people would be very flexible than
those who lack the necessary knowledge and training for their jobs.
In this book
authors have shown clearly that, leadership is a process and is an interrelated
activity, because one side cannot be carried successfully without the support
of the other side. Weiss tend to agree with this concept when he argues “To be an
effective leader, you must know to foster trust with your subordinates. An
excellent way to establish trusting relationships is through, consistent
delegation. Inexperienced leaders may avoid delegating because they are
unwilling to give up what they consider as control over jobs and projects.”
Weiss W.H. (2004).
According to
Weiss credibility is very important in leadership and for organizational
success, organizations characterized by poor leadership means an absence of
hope and employees expect nothing positive.
The authors discuss
the concept of credibility very deep beyond Weiss observations by looking at a
leader as someone “who establish credibility and a track record of effective
decision-making so that there is trust in your ability to figure out what is
necessary to bring the organization through. Credibility goes beyond employee
attitudes. It influences customers and investor loyalty as well as employee
loyalty” (Kouzes and Posner p.34)
What is missing
in this book is that in chapter about challenge the process, the essence of
this practice is constantly making questions and possibly making improvement in
every activity within the organization, which is a one role of an effective
leader. The authors argue, “Leaders always search for opportunities for ways to
do what has never been done” (p.177). They have not shown how different types
of organization can benefit from this process. They have discussed this process
so general without going deep in showing how a process can fit in every
organization and leadership style? The authors have not answered this question.
Second the
authors suggest ‘treating every assignment as a start over’, “Even if you’ve
been in jobs for years, treat today as if it was your first day even if isn’t.”
(Pp. 195) I am not sure if this will work in production environment where
profitability is always determined by a series of continuous interrelated
activities like in production industries, which are well established. Starting
over again is in such situation would disrupt these efficiencies; the authors
have not clarified this point very well if it can be applied in every type of
organization. The lack of clarifications can mislead leaders who might try to
apply the principle and ending up disrupting the profit margin, which the
company has enjoyed.
Third the
authors encourage the leaders to make mistakes in the name of innovation and
learn from past failures, as they argued, “people in our study tell us how
important mistakes and failure have been to their success. Without those
experiences, they would have been unable to achieve their aspirations. Success
does not breed success. It breeds failure. It is a failure which breeds
success.” (P. 214). The problem is this they have never clarified to the
leaders in which environment is safe to make mistakes in the name of
innovation. Is this principle safe for commander in chief to apply during war? I
believe that they must clarify and distinguish when an organization is in innovation
and potentially risk behavior and in which environment it is not advisable to
apply this principle due to circumstances and high risk of losing without
getting back.
Fourth the book
lacks the clarification of different leadership styles, when to use autocratic;
democratic; heroic, etc; Also there is no deep explanations how to apply the
five practices of leadership as put forward by the authors, i.e. model the way,
inspire a shared vision, challenge the process, enable others to act and
encourage the heart” (p.13), and how to relate these in operation with
different leadership styles. The question is how a commander in the midst of
war apply the same mix of five practices as other leaders who are in a not such
risk situation? The book does not answer this question. It is important for
leaders to know what behavior to engage in, when and how.
Firth the book
has not shown in which circumstances, the leadership role is a substitute, and
in which circumstances leadership role is a neutralizer. According to Dr. C
Stamper Leadership substitute takes place when high-motivated employees by
rewards can make leadership function unnecessary. This is more applicable on
task oriented or people oriented leadership when performance based reward
systems keep employees focused on organizational goals, therefore reducing the
need of leadership or when employees are skilled and experienced leadership is
unnecessary. Leadership neutralizer takes place in unexpected disaster when
leaders have no control of events in like terrorism (September 11), hurricanes,
and earthquakes. (Lecture Notes Fall 2005)
The book says
nothing about these as precaution to someone who is going to be a leader when
he/she sees such situations what should he/she do.
Sixth the authors have just highlighted about
how leader should approach a global view (p.392). They never discussed in
detail in my understanding this is a very important issue at this particular
time when we are dealing with diversity workforce and International
organizations. Globalization creates many business opportunities, but also
creates complex challenges. Managing people and organizations from other parts
of the world is more complex than managing domestic operations due to different
cultural values.
Specifically
cultural traditions and norms are bound to differentiate leadership styles. A
power distance is one of the important aspect of leadership style. According to
Dr. C Stamper “Power distance is the degree to which a country accepts that
differences in its citizens’ physical and intellectual capacities rise to
inequalities in their well-being. How easily do people accept difference in
economic and social differences in wealth and status?” (Lecture Notes Fall
2005) the book has not talked about this, which is very important because as a
leader you must fit in such situation and be able to act without seen as an
obstacle to people lives the cultures. The concept of power distance is very
important because it describes how power is used across the world. It is true
that countries with a high power distance prefer autocratic leadership while
countries with a low power distance prefer a more participative leadership
style. Leaders working in different cultures face complex issues caused by
cultural difference and need to learn new skills and behaviors. This is missing
in this book.
The last thing
which is missing in this book, the authors have never talked about the
succession program as a very important tool of an effective leadership;
According to Buhler P.M (2004) argued that “The firm identifies those
management positions that will be open over the next few years. With this
knowledge, the firm can then take steps to determine which individual can be
groomed for these openings… the critical nature of succession planning and
talent identification can be supported by incentives. Those firms that make
this process part of performance appraisal system will be more successful in
their efforts.” This issue is a very
important indicator of determining the success or failure of an organization.
Through succession it is very easy to prepare staff to fill different positions
in organization for the smooth continuation of day-to-day operation and for the
continued profitability.
Conclusion
Successful leaders then, are
those skilled in technical, human, and conceptual skills. Leaders have the
ability to perform the task required by their positions to work well with other
people, including peers and conceptualize their roles in the organization.
Leadership is very much about performance. It
is about doing the right things
Despite the
shortcomings, ‘The Leadership Challenge’ is one of the best books,
about leadership. It is a leadership tutorial handbook and if someone wants to
be an effective leader he/she must read this book. I would call it a must
read book.
I recommend the
book to those who are in leadership and those who inspire to be leaders in the
future, even in academic fields that teaches Leadership to use this book. It is
an excellent work, which deserves congratulations.
References:
Buhler P.M
(2004). The new challenge for management in the 21st century:
Leadership. Supervision, 65 (2)
Gini A. (1995).
Too much to say about something. Business Ethics Quarterly. 5(1) 43-55.
Kouzes J.M.,
Posner B.Z (2002) The leadership challenge. Jossey-Bass
Mosley,D.C., Megginson,L.C., Pietri, P.H.
(2005). Supervisory management: The art of empowering and developing people (6th
ed.). Cincinnati :
South Western.
Rothschild W.E.
(2002). Where are the leaders? Financial Executive. 18 (5) 26-28
Weiss, W.H. (2003). Effective
leadership: What are the requisites? Supervision, 65(1) 14-17.
