SHU-A7-TC
October 29, 2000
Assignment #7: Examine Gardner's book as a whole, and choose the one chapterwhich identifies a point which you consider the most importantcontribution to your learning about the essentials of leadership."
"On Leadership":
As a whole, Gardner's book was extremely informative, and takes the reader through an in-depth tour of successful leadership. Conversely, to Heifetz, Gardner uses the technique of short compacted chapters, which extensively detail major themes and aspects of the practice of leadership. Throughout the remainder of this executive summary, this book will be presented with the focus lying within the most important aspect of Gardner's assessment of leadership.
Text Content:
Gardner wastes no time, and immediately begins his task to explain successful leadership in the first chapter. Through his definition of leadership, he sets the tone for the entire book. Simply, he states that leadership is utilized in everyday actions; therefore, he is then able to state the many task associated with leadership in society. These 9 tasks basically take the reader to the heart of the study of leadership, which is how a leader gains and holds his position of power. There exists a unique relationship between the leader and his constituents, and the only successful leaders are those who can bring together the many voices in support of a common goal. To achieve this togetherness, leaders often use many different tools. Some of these characteristics are hereditary, such as physical appearance, tone of voice, and intelligence. Likewise, others are gained through hard work or practice, such as presentation/communication skills, work ethic, and good judgment. Interestingly, Gardner states that leadership and power are different, since power is the capacity that one uses to achieve those desirable actions, limiting the undesirable. Leaders do have power, since it is the means to achieve their ends, but all leaders use power to a different extent due to different environments and cultural considerations. Moral considerations therefore affect all leaders, since the level of power enforced on the led is determined by cultural history. For example, immoral activities from leaders are usually due to a desire for total control, as indicated by the example of Adolf Hitler. Sometimes, leaders are involved in large-scale organizations, making those aforementioned qualities imperative in all leaders, since communication is a necessity to survive. Therefore, leaders are necessary to create order and increase productivity in a given organization, to bring together all common interests toward a common goal. In the latter half, Gardner proposes an interesting point: since population has increased tremendously over the last 200 years in American society, why has there not been an proportional increase in great leaders? Perhaps the great challenges of a leader's responsibility to motivate, regenerate, and create confidence scares away many of our greatest leaders.
Gravamen:
Despite, the abundance amount of important information presented to the reader, the ideas presented in Chapter Four stands above all the rest, since it addresses the essence of leadership. Gardner states that leadership has context: time and space play an important role in determining the type of leader that assumes a particular role. A leader may be great in one particular moment in time, but a failure in another. It can be argued that FDR would be a terrible leader in modern America, since the type of leadership exhibited in the 1930's and 1940's was rather controlling. Now, Americans enjoy great success, and basically do not desire any sort of controlling/large government. Furthermore, a leader may be popular in one area, and hated in another. Adolf Hitler was loved by his people during his reign in Germany, but hated in other areas of Europe due to his radical and threatening political, military, and economic policies. Additionally, the nature of problems that a leader encounters determines the style of leader that will lead. Known as the situational theory, this address the issue that a leader serves different functions to the led, according to what 'his people' need. During his presidency, FDR gave Americans what they needed. They were confused, desperate, and in dire need of a strong leader; therefore, he became a powerful president who served more terms than any other president. Gardner progresses to add that low-level leadership is as important as high level leadership, since often times, high level leadership is informed by the members of low-low level management. Additionally, the policies of high leaders are implemented/carried out by those lower on the leadership hierarchy. Therefore, to maintain and regulate a functioning and superior low-level leadership spectrum is imperative to a strong organization. This point is especially important since lower-level leaders sometimes grow into positions of leadership. The example of Harry Truman is especially relevant, since he assumed the presidency through the death of his superior. Therefore, a lower-level leader must be competent, since it is never known when the expectancy to exclusively lead will arise. This chapter shines above the rest, since it encompasses many aspects of leadership, tying those with actual aspects of life lessons/events. In order to shine in the present, one must understand the past, so that the same mistakes will no occur in the future, while regenerating those advantageous aspects. Gardner does exactly this in this chapter as he points out who, what, why, when, and how certain leaders were needed in certain environments in the past.
Summary:
Upon completion of this book, one understands the composition of a great leader. Furthermore, the reader knows what aspects of leadership must be controlled, manipulated, changed, or enhanced in order to best serve the led. Ultimately, all leaders knew the entirety of this book, and adopted these policies to their own leadership spectrum; the world would be filled with superiority. Hopefully, this summary provided enough information regarding "On Leadership", and showed the most important aspect of this Gardner's discourse on leadership.
