Transcript Leadership and Values

Q
Chapter
6
Leadership and Values
“Leadership cannot just go along to get
along… Leadership must meet the moral
challenge of the day.”
~Jesse Jackson
Introduction
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Leaders can use power for good or ill, and the leader’s
personal values may be one of the most important
determinants of how power is exercised or constrained.
The mere possession of power, of any kind, leads
inevitably to ethical questions about how that power
should and should not be used.
The challenge of leadership becomes complex when we
consider how individuals of different backgrounds,
cultures, and nationalities may hold quite different
values yet be thrown into increasingly closer interaction.
McGraw-Hill/Irwin
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© 2006 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
Leadership and “Doing the Right Things”
Leaders face dilemmas that require choices
between competing sets of values and priorities.
 Leaders set a moral example to others that
becomes the model for an entire group or
organization, for good or bad.
 Leaders should internalize a strong set of ethics,
principles of right conduct, or a system of moral
values.
 Good leaders tend to align the values of their
followers with those of the organization or
movement.
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McGraw-Hill/Irwin
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Leadership and “Doing the Right Things”
(continued)
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Four qualities of leadership:
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Vision
Empathy
Consistency
Integrity
Two contrasting sets of assumptions people make about
human nature:
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Theory X
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Pessimistic view of others
Theory Y
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McGraw-Hill/Irwin
Optimistic view of others
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© 2006 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
What Are Values?
Values are “constructs representing generalized
behaviors or states of affairs that are considered by
the individual to be important.”
 Values play a fairly central role in one’s overall
psychological makeup and can affect behavior
in a variety of situations.
 Individuals in the same work unit can have
considerably different values.
 We can only make inferences about people’s
values based on their behavior.
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McGraw-Hill/Irwin
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The Relative Importance People Place on
Values
Terminal Values
Instrumental Values
An exciting life
Being courageous
A sense of accomplishment
Being helpful
Family security
Being honest
Inner harmony
Being imaginative
Social recognition
Being logical
Friendship
Being responsible
McGraw-Hill/Irwin
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© 2006 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
How Do Values Develop?
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A person’s values reflect the contributions of:
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Family
Peers
Educational system
Religion
Media
Science and technology
Geography
Current events
Value programming is the extent to which forces outside
the individual shape and mold personal values.
McGraw-Hill/Irwin
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Four Generations of Workers
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The pervasive influence of broad forces tend to create
common value systems among people growing up at a
particular time that distinguish them from people who
grow up at different times.
Each generation is molded by distinctive experiences
during their critical developmental periods:
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The Veterans (1922-1943)
The Baby Boomers (1942-1960)
The Xers (1960-1980)
The Nexters (1980+)
McGraw-Hill/Irwin
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Generational Values
 The
results of a scientific sampling of over
1,000 people living in the U.S. found little
evidence of a generation gap in basic
values.
 Values are the result of education and
experience.
 Once established, it is relatively difficult to
change a leader’s values.
McGraw-Hill/Irwin
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How Values Impact Leadership
Values are a primary determinant in what data are
reviewed by leaders and how they define
problems.
 Values often influence leader’s perceptions of
individual and organizational successes as well as
the manner in which these successes are achieved.
 Values help leaders choose right from wrong, and
between ethical and unethical behavior.
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McGraw-Hill/Irwin
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How Values Impact Leadership
(continued)
Leaders tend to like followers with similar values
and dislike those with dissimilar values.
 It is important for leaders to surround themselves
with followers who possess divergent values.
 Leaders are motivated to act in ways consistent
with their values, and they typically spend most of
their time engaged in activities that are
consistent with their values.
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McGraw-Hill/Irwin
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Key Work Values
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Recognition
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Tradition
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Power
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Security
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Hedonism
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Commerce
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Altruistic
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Aesthetics
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Affiliation
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Science
McGraw-Hill/Irwin
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Leadership and Organizational Values
Organizational values represent the principals by
which employees are to get work done and treat
other employees, customers, and vendors.
 The top leadership’s collective values play a
significant role in determining organizational
culture.
 Research has shown that employees with values
similar to the organization or team are more
satisfied and likely to stay; those with dissimilar
values are more likely to leave.
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McGraw-Hill/Irwin
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Leadership and Organizational Values
(continued)
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It is vital for a leader to set a
personal example of values-based
leadership to make sure that clear
values guide everyone’s behavior in
the organization.
If there is indifference or hypocrisy
toward values at the highest levels,
then it is fairly unlikely that
principled behavior will be
considered important by others
throughout the organization.
McGraw-Hill/Irwin
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“It’s important that
people know what you
stand for. It’s equally
important that they
know what you won’t
stand for.”
~Mary
Waldrop
© 2006 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
Principle-Centered Leadership
 The
principle-centered approach postulates a
fundamental interdependence between the
unique roles of each level:
 Personal
 Interpersonal
 Managerial
 Organizational
McGraw-Hill/Irwin
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© 2006 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
When Good People Do Bad Things
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Several ways people with firm moral principles may
behave badly without feeling guilt or remorse:
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Moral justification
Euphemistic labeling
Advantageous comparison
Displacement of responsibility
Diffusion of responsibility
Disregard or distortion of consequences
Dehumanization
Attribution of blame
Darley’s Law
McGraw-Hill/Irwin
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© 2006 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
What is Culture?
Culture refers to those learned behaviors
characterizing the total way of life of members
within any given society.
 The most salient aspect of any culture typically
involves behavior.
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Behavior is the distinctive actions, mannerisms, and
gestures characteristic of a culture.
Business leaders must become aware and
respectful of cultural differences and cultural
perspectives.
McGraw-Hill/Irwin
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A Framework for Understanding Cultural
Differences
 Seven
fundamental dilemmas that people of
all cultures face:
Source of Identity: Individual – Collective
 Goals and Means of Achievement: Tough – Tender
 Orientation to Authority: Equal – Unequal
 Response to Ambiguity: Dynamic – Stable
 Means of Knowledge Acquisition: Active – Reflective
 Perspective on Time: Scarce – Plentiful
 Outlook on Life: Doing - Being
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McGraw-Hill/Irwin
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Leader Attributes and Behaviors Universally
Viewed as Positive
Trustworthy
Positive
Intelligent
Just
Dynamic
Decisive
Honest
Motive arouser
Effective bargainer
Foresighted
Confidence builder
Win-win problem
solver
Plans ahead
Motivational
Administratively
skilled
Encouraging
Dependable
Communicative
Informed
Coordinator
Team builder
Excellence oriented
McGraw-Hill/Irwin
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Leader Attributes and Behaviors Universally
Viewed as Negative
Loner
Nonexplicit
Asocial
Egocentric
Noncooperative
Ruthless
Irritable
Dictatorial
McGraw-Hill/Irwin
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Implications of Leadership Practitioners
Leadership practitioners should expect to face a
variety of challenges to their own system of ethics,
values, or attitudes during their careers.
 Interacting with individuals and groups holding
divergent and conflicting values is inevitable.
 Leaders in particular have a responsibility not to let
their own personal values interfere with
professional leader-subordinate relationships.
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McGraw-Hill/Irwin
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Summary
 Values
are constructs that represent general
sets of behavior or states of affairs that
individuals consider to be important, and they
are a central part of a leader’s psychological
makeup.
 Values impact leadership through a cultural
context within which various attributes and
behaviors are regarded differentially - positively
or negatively.
McGraw-Hill/Irwin
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© 2006 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.