Global Network Workshop
SDCF Summer Programme
Edmond Eh (University of Saint Joseph, Macau)
8 Aug 2023
Definition of ‘leadership’
“Leadership is a process of social influence, which maximises the efforts of others, towards the achievement of a goal”.
Three elements of this definition:
(1) Leadership stems from social influence.
It does not depend on authority or power.
Leadership requires others.
But they do not need to be subordinates or followers.
The definition does not mention personality traits, attributes, or even titles.
There are many styles and many paths to effective leadership.
(2) The definition is different from many academic definitions.
It includes the maximisation of others’ efforts.
It is possible to define a leader who is able to use social influence to organise the efforts of others,
But leadership seems to be about maximising the efforts of others.
The element of motivation is present.
In human resource management, employee engagement is crucial.
Engaged employees give discretionary effort.
(3) The definition includes a goal.
Leadership is not simply influencing others without an intended outcome.
(Kruse, 2013.)
Peter Drucker has been called “the father of modern management”.
He never expounded a theory or wrote a book about leadership.
Drucker seemed to have little use for the concept of ‘leadership’.
His concern was management.
He was sceptical of the notion that there were specific qualities that defined leadership.
Drucker concluded in his later years that leadership was a capability distinct from management and that it could be learned.
It can be argued that Drucker wrote incessantly on the subject and had a coherent concept of leadership.
Four major themes form the basis for Drucker’s philosophy of leadership:
(1) The leader’s role in shaping the organisation’s future
The leader’s main work is strategy.
Drucker: “The difference between a manager and a leader is that a manager focuses on doing things right, while a leader focuses on doing the right things”.
Figuring out the right things is the goal of strategy.
Devising strategy is a full-time job that should never be delegated to committees.
(2) Ethics and personal integrity
Abiding by business ethics and maintaining personal integrity are prerequisites for leadership.
Drucker believed that leadership was established through character.
Personal values should not be fenced off from business practices.
Employees may forgive a leader for many things.
One quickly loses one’s claim to leadership with a lapse of integrity.
(3) Motivation and leadership
Effective leadership depends upon knowing what motivates people.
The motivational levers of leadership.
Drucker felt that allowing employees to be self-directed and giving them responsibility had merit.
But it needs the imposition of some authority and the provision of guidance.
He thought that making employee satisfaction a primary objective was a recipe for mediocrity.
He believed that what motivated employees are the desires:
- to gain experience and competency,
- to feel effective,
- to achieve balance,
- to be part of a social network and
- to give something back.
(4) The marketing model of leadership
Leadership is really marketing.
Drucker explored the notion that workers, especially knowledge workers, are like customers or partners.
It is the organisation’s job to figure out what they want (and need) and then satisfy those requirements.
According to this notion, leadership becomes a marketing job.
When leaders are doing their job, motivation is organic.
(Cohen, 2010.)
Sangang wuchang 三纲五常
The Three Fundamental Bonds and the Five Constant Virtues are separate Confucian terms for the most important human relations and social virtues.
In early Confucianism, one who perfectly fulfilled these relationships and manifested these virtues was the highest form of human—a sage.
The neo-Confucians combined these two terms into a single cosmological principle that stood for human social order.
The expression sums up a Confucian doctrine that was designed to guide people’s behaviour and aspirations in traditional China.
The Three Fundamental Bonds deal with traditional society’s most fundamental social relationships: father and son, lord and retainer, and husband and wife.
As essential relationships, these three serve as shorthand for all human relationships.
The Five Constant Virtues mean the Confucian virtues of benevolence (ren), righteousness (yi), propriety (li), wisdom (zhi), and trustworthiness (xin).
These five virtues are the most significant ones and thus serve as shorthand for all the Confucian virtues.
The Three Fundamental Bonds designate the social relationships that are essential for structuring human social life.
The Five Constant Virtues are the values needed to live a moral life.
Zhu Xi believed that humans could become sages by perfecting these three relationships and realizing these five virtues.
But in terms of China’s long history, these concepts did not have an ancient pedigree.
They were creations and expressions of the unified Han empire (206 BCE–220 CE).
The full four-character term sangang wuchang was not commonly used until the tenth century CE.
(Knapp, 2009.)
Three fundamental bonds
- father and son,
- superior and subordinate,
- husband and wife.
Five constant virtues
- Ren: behaving kindly
- Yi: behaving fairly
- Li: behaving civilly (civilised: having taste, refinement, or restraint)
- Zhi: behaving wisely
- Xin: behaving faithfully
Profiles
Task Leadership Style – productivity
People Leadership Style – morale
Essential Elements of Group Work
Task
Mission: Meaning
Goals: Structure
Plan: Action
People
Maintenance: Caring
(Pfeiffer and Jones, 1974.)
Define the Mission or purpose of an organisation, the Meaning element.
Identify Goals (long-term) or objectives (short-term) that provide directions for the organisation to accomplish its mission, the Structure element.
Prepare Plans or procedures that indicate the steps for achieving each objective, the Action element.
Maintaining the harmonious relationships within the group and showing concern for each individual member, the Caring element.
Each of us needs two of the four elements.
We are particularly drawn to one of the two.
Leaders and group members have to be aware of these elements and consider them when planning group activities.
Task behaviours:
- Initiating
- Seeking information
- Giving information
- Clarifying
- Elaborating
- Summarising
- Consensus testing
Virtues: behaving wisely, behaving faithfully.
Maintenance behaviours:
- Harmonising
- Facilitating participation
- Encouraging
- Compromising
- Setting standards
- Setting norms
Virtues: behaving kindly, behaving fairly, behaving civilly.
Selected passages of Analects Book XIII for discussion:
Mission
13.11: The Master said, “‘If good men governed for a hundred years, cruelty could indeed be overcome and killing dispensed with.’ How very true that saying is!”
13.12: The Master said, If there were one who reigned as a true king, after a generation, all would be ren.
Goals
13.10: The Master said, If there were someone who would employ me, things would be in hand within a year. In three years, they would have come to success.
13.16: The Lord of She asked about governance. The Master said, “Those nearby are pleased, those far distant come.”
13.29 The Master said, If a good man were to instruct the people for seven years, they would indeed be ready to go into battle.
Plan
13.3 Zilu said, “If the ruler of Wei were to entrust you with governance of his state, what would be your first priority?”
The Master said, “Most certainly, it would be to rectify names.”
Zilu said, “Is that so? How strange of you! How would this set things right?”
The Master said, “What a boor you are, Yóu! A junzi keeps silent about things he doesn’t understand”.
“If names are not right then speech does not accord with things; if speech is not in accord with things, then affairs cannot be successful; when affairs are not successful, li and music do not flourish; when li and music do not flourish, then sanctions and punishments miss their mark; when sanctions and punishments miss their mark, the people have no place to set their hands and feet”.
“Therefore, when a junzi gives things names, they may be properly spoken of, and what is said may be properly enacted. With regard to speech, the junzi permits no carelessness.”
13.9 The Master traveled to the state of Wei. Ran Yǒu drove his chariot. The Master said, “How populous it is!”
Ran Yǒu said, “As Wei is already populous, what would you add?”
“Enrich them.”
“Once the people were enriched, what would you add?”
“Teach them.”
13.17 Zixia served as steward of Jufu and asked about governance. The Master said, “Don’t seek quick results; don’t attend to matters of minor profit. If you seek quick results, you will not attain success; if you attend to matters of minor profit, you will not succeed in great affairs.”
Maintenance
13.1: Zilu asked about governance. The Master said, “Be first to the task and comfort others at their labors.”
When asked for more, he said, “Be tireless.”
13.2: Zhonggong was serving as steward for the Ji family. He asked about governance. The Master said, “Provide a leading example to your officers. Pardon minor offences. Raise up the worthy.”
“How can I recognize who has worthy abilities so I can raise them up?”
“Raise up those you recognize. As for those you don’t recognize, will the others let you do without them?”
13.19: Fan Chi asked about ren. The Master said, “Let your bearing be reverent when you are at leisure, be respectfully attentive in managing affairs, and be loyal towards others. Though you be among barbarians, these may never be cast aside.”
13.28: Zilu asked, “How must one be in order to deserve being called a gentleman?”
The Master said, “Supportive, encouraging, congenial – such a man may be called a gentleman. Supportive and encouraging with his friends, congenial with his brothers.”
Exemplary person (junzi)
13.23: The Master said, The junzi acts in harmony with others but does not seek to be like them; the small man seeks to be like others and does not act in harmony.
13.25 The Master said, The junzi is easy to serve and hard to please. If you do not accord with the dao in pleasing him, he is not pleased; when it comes to employing others, he only puts them to tasks they are fit to manage.
The small man is hard to serve but easy to please. If you do not accord with the dao in pleasing him, he is still pleased; when it comes to employing others, he demands they be able in everything.
13.26 The Master said, The junzi is at ease without being arrogant; the small man is arrogant without being at ease.
See Analects Books II, XII, XVI and XX for other passages.
Bibliography
The Analects of Confucius: A Teaching Translation. 2015. Translated by Robert Eno. https://scholarworks.iu.edu/dspace/handle/2022/23420.
Chan, Wing-Tsit. 1963. “The Humanism of Confucius”. In A Source Book in Chinese Philosophy, edited by Wing-Tsit Chan, 14-48. Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press.
Cohen, William A. 2010. Drucker on Leadership: New Lessons from the Father of Modern Management. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Drucker, Peter F. 2001. The Essential Drucker: The Best of Sixty Years of Peter Drucker’s Essential Writings on Management. New York: HarperBusiness.
Knapp, Keith N. 2009. “Three Fundamental Bonds and Five Constant Virtues”. In Berkshire Encyclopedia of China, edited by Linsun Cheng, 2252–2255. Great Barrington, MA: Berkshire Publishing.
Kruse, Kevin. 2013. “What is Leadership?” Forbes. Last modified 9 April 2013. https://www.forbes.com/sites/kevinkruse/2013/04/09/what-is-leadership/?sh=5ff5d95a5b90.
Kruse, Kevin. 2019. Great Leaders Have No Rules: Contrarian Leadership Principles to Transform Your Team and Business. New York: Rodale.
Pfeiffer, J. William, and John E. Jones, eds. 1974. A Handbook of Structured Experiences for Human Relations Training. Volume I, Revised. San Diego, California: University Associates.