Barbara Kellerman

“Contamos histórias a nós mesmos para viver”, escreveu certa vez Joan Didion, para explicar o otimismo infundado que os seres humanos demonstram. Boas histórias tornam o mundo mais suportável. Inevitavelmente, portanto, queremos contar — e ouvir — histórias que nos façam sentir melhor, mesmo que isso signifique que não tenhamos uma visão tão completa quanto precisamos.

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Reprint: R0401C 

Does using Tyco&#8217;s funds to purchase a $6,000 shower curtain and a $15,000 dog-shaped umbrella stand make Dennis Kozlowski a bad leader? Is Martha Stewart&#8217;s career any less instructive because she may have sold some shares on the basis of a tip-off? Is leadership synonymous with moral leadership?
Before 1970, the answer from most leadership theorists would certainly have been no. Look at Hitler, Stalin, Pol Pot, Mao Tse-tung&#8212;great leaders all, but hardly good men. In fact, capricious, murderous, high-handed, corrupt, and evil leaders are effective and commonplace. Machiavelli celebrated them; the U.S. constitution built in safeguards against them. Everywhere, power goes hand in hand with corruption&#8212;everywhere, that is, except in the literature of business leadership.
To read Tom Peters, Jay Conger, John Kotter, and most of their colleagues, leaders are, as Warren Bennis puts it, individuals who create shared meaning, have a distinctive voice, have the capacity to adapt, and have integrity. According to today&#8217;s business literature, to be a leader is, by definition, to be benevolent.
But leadership is not a moral concept, and it is high time we acknowledge that fact. We have as much to learn from those we would regard as bad examples as we do from the far fewer good examples we&#8217;re presented with these days.
Leaders are like the rest of us: trustworthy and deceitful, cowardly and brave, greedy and generous. To assume that all good leaders are good people is to be willfully blind to the reality of the human condition, and it severely limits our ability to become better leaders. Worse, it may cause senior executives to think that, because they are leaders, they are never deceitful, cowardly, or greedy. That way lies disaster.
For information on an audio conference with Barbara Kellerman based on the concepts in this article, visit <a href="http://conferences.harvardbusinessonline.org">http://conferences.harvardbusinessonline.org</a>

Leadership—Warts and All

Reimpressão: R0401C Usar os fundos da Tyco para comprar uma cortina de chuveiro de $6.000 e um suporte de guarda-chuva em forma de cachorro de $15.000 faz de Dennis Kozlowski um mau líder? A carreira de Martha Stewart é menos instrutiva porque ela pode ter vendido algumas ações com base em uma denúncia? Liderança é sinônimo de liderança moral? Antes de 1970, a resposta da maioria dos teóricos da liderança certamente teria sido não. Veja Hitler, Stalin, Pol Pot, Mao Tse-tung — todos grandes líderes, mas dificilmente homens bons. Na verdade, líderes caprichosos, assassinos, arrogantes, corruptos e perversos são eficazes e comuns. Maquiavel os celebrou; a constituição dos EUA construiu salvaguardas contra eles. Em todos os lugares, o poder anda de mãos dadas com a corrupção — em todos os lugares, isto é, exceto na literatura sobre liderança empresarial. Para ler Tom Peters, Jay Conger, John Kotter e a maioria de seus colegas, os líderes são, como diz Warren Bennis, indivíduos que criam um significado compartilhado, têm uma voz distinta, têm a capacidade de se adaptar e têm integridade. De acordo com a literatura empresarial atual, ser líder é, por definição, ser benevolente. Mas liderança não é um conceito moral, e é hora de reconhecermos esse fato. Temos tanto a aprender com aqueles que consideramos maus exemplos quanto com os muito menos bons exemplos que recebemos atualmente. Os líderes são como o resto de nós: confiáveis e enganosos, covardes e corajosos, gananciosos e generosos. Presumir que todos os bons líderes são boas pessoas é estar deliberadamente cego à realidade da condição humana, e isso limita severamente nossa capacidade de nos tornarmos melhores líderes. Pior ainda, isso pode fazer com que os executivos seniores pensem que, por serem líderes, nunca são enganosos, covardes ou gananciosos. Dessa forma, é um desastre. Para obter informações sobre uma audioconferência com Barbara Kellerman com base nos conceitos deste artigo, visite<a href="http://conferences.harvardbusinessonline.org"> http://conferences.harvardbusinessonline.org</a>

Lideran&ccedil;a &mdash; verrugas e tudo mais

Reprint: R0401C Does using Tyco’s funds to purchase a $6,000 shower curtain and a $15,000 dog-shaped umbrella stand make Dennis Kozlowski a bad leader? Is Martha Stewart’s career any less instructive because she may have sold some shares on the basis of a tip-off? Is leadership synonymous with moral leadership? Before 1970, the answer from most leadership theorists would certainly have been no. Look at Hitler, Stalin, Pol Pot, Mao Tse-tung—great leaders all, but hardly good men. In fact, capricious, murderous, high-handed, corrupt, and evil leaders are effective and commonplace. Machiavelli celebrated them; the U.S. constitution built in safeguards against them. Everywhere, power goes hand in hand with corruption—everywhere, that is, except in the literature of business leadership. To read Tom Peters, Jay Conger, John Kotter, and most of their colleagues, leaders are, as Warren Bennis puts it, individuals who create shared meaning, have a distinctive voice, have the capacity to adapt, and have integrity. According to today’s business literature, to be a leader is, by definition, to be benevolent. But leadership is not a moral concept, and it is high time we acknowledge that fact. We have as much to learn from those we would regard as bad examples as we do from the far fewer good examples we’re presented with these days. Leaders are like the rest of us: trustworthy and deceitful, cowardly and brave, greedy and generous. To assume that all good leaders are good people is to be willfully blind to the reality of the human condition, and it severely limits our ability to become better leaders. Worse, it may cause senior executives to think that, because they are leaders, they are never deceitful, cowardly, or greedy. That way lies disaster. For information on an audio conference with Barbara Kellerman based on the concepts in this article, visit http://conferences.harvardbusinessonline.org

Liderança — verrugas e tudo mais

Resumo.

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