- Email: [email protected]
Scuttle your ships before advancing
entitled Spirited Leadership, and we can safely assume that her book is the same book Bolman and Deal have just written. Interestingly, too, Maria dies at the very end of Leading With Soul, suggesting that her spiritual guidance and teaching are coterminous with the book itself, even though Steven, her pupil, has by this time become a spiritual guide in his own right, a leader with soul who will give further life to her efforts. In between the dialogues of Steven and Maria are several “interludes” in which Bolman and Deal temporarily step back from the story to offer commentary on Steven and Maria, on the book itself and its attempt to use “an ancient literary form” (p. 3), on the malaise of modern management, and on the “need to relearn how to lead with soul” (p. 6). The notion of “interlude”-literally, a “playing between”-is itself significant to the form of the book, particularly if, as Bolman and Deal claim through a quote from theologian Harvey Cox, “Man in his very essence is hotzo .festivl4s and homo~jiantasia” (p. 144). The interludes, we could say, provide the authors the opportunity to p1a.y with the story and its several messages. to let their imaginations pZa_v across the frolicsome fable they have created, and to reveal the depth of the “gift of significance” woven into that fable. They also suggest, perhaps, that thd range of readers interested in leadership may not be entirely ready for pure stoly, or that Bolmdn and Deal are not quite willing to completely abandon the analytical bent of social scientists. Leadership scholars and practitioners seem to concur that rational, scientific endeavors have not provided explanations for leadership, a phenomenon that is, most now agree, fraught with complexity, ambiguity, paradox, and irony. Literature and story, perhaps, may tell us more about leadership than anything else. Leading With Sm4l, “experimenting with a new way to connect with readers on an uncommon journey“ (p. 9), seems to express and embody that premise. For those who can see, as the poet Milton said. “with inward eyes illuminated,” it will almost surely deepen what they already know. For those whose souls
and imaginations have shrunk into rational selfhood, Maria-and Bohndn and Deal along with her-may show them how to connect with their own hearts and souls. Like Virgil to Dante after leading Dante out of the inferno, or like Maria herself to Steven after leading Steven out of his defensive approach to living and leadership, she can then say to such readers, “I give you yourself / crowned and mitered, you are yours” (The Divine Comedj). Open this book and you may well open yourself. That possibility alone makes it an extraordinary buy-especially if, as Bohndn and Deal suggest, leadership is a personal, internal journey that results in the openness, confidence, and peace “to inspirit and inspire others” (p. 57). At the very least, readers will surely begin to experience, as Bolman and Deal surely did when they wrote the book, “the sheer joy of creating something of lasting value” (p. 69). Leading With So241 is a joy to read and, because of the special kind of reading it requires, a joy for readers to create. No doubt it will exist as “something of lasting value” within the hearts and souls of most of its readers-a “gift” that should be passed on to others and a sto?y that sl~ould be re-woven again and again. “Time now,” says Steven-as-Everyman, “to help someone else on their journey” (p. 172). Not surprisingly, in the “Afterword” to the book, Bolman and Deal invite their readers to continue the dialogue by writing to them with questions. reactions, or stories. Everyman, it seems, can teach the teachers, spiritual guides whose wisdom is reflected in their openness to an ongoing understanding of spirituality. I certainly intend to write to them, and I encourage you to read the book and do the same. In a review of another recent book entitled Spirit at Work: Discover-
irtg the Spiritz4ulit_y iw Leudershp
(by
Jay Conger and Associates), Joseph Rost argues that “the authors did not even scratch the surface as to how, why, when, and what might be the connection between spirituality and leadership.” By contrast, Bolman and Deal compel the reader to scratch that surface and snake a journey into a web of connections between spiritual-
ity and leadership, and between their own souls and the spirit of a community. Few journeys, I suspect, could be more significant than that. References
L.G. Bohnan and T.E. Deal, Modern Approuches to &&en-tanding and Managing Organizatiwzs (San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. 1985). L.G. Bolman and T.E. Deal, Reframing Organizations (San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 1991).
Co?porate Ct4ltures: The Rites and Rittrals qf Corporate Ltfe (Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley,
T.E. Deal and A.A. Kennedy,
1983). W.H. Drath and C.J.
Palus, Mc&i?zg
Cr,m-
man &JKS~:Lea&-ship as Meaning-iI4aking in a Commw~i~y of Pructice (Greensboro, NC: Center for Creative Leadership.
1995).
J.C. Rost, “Review of Spirit at Work: IXcovering the Spirituality in Leadership,” ./o14mal qf Leadership Studies, L, 2 (1995): 158-160. L. Smircich and G. Morgan. “Leadership: The Management of Meaning,” Jot4mal qf Applied b’ehavioral Science, 18 (1982): Li7-273.
Lee G. Bolman
and Terrence E. Deal,
Leading With So& An Uncommon Journey of Spirit. San Francisco: ./os.sq~-Bass, 1995. 1% pp.
Scuttle Your Ships Before Advancing By Richard A. Luecke i%e reviewer, Ma Guoping, is a graduate student at the Centerfor Information Media at St. Clo44d Stute liniversit_~~.Minnesota The study of history has seldom been a concern in the business community. However. this may no longer remain the case in the years to come. Richard A. Luecke’s Scwle Yolcr Ships Before Advancing is an intriguing and appealing attempt to marry the study of
history with contemporary business management practice. The underlying philosophy of Luecke’s book is that experience is an impo~ant approach to human Iearning. There are only two ways to gain experience. The first is by direct personal involvement-by trying things out and observing the results, as in the cases of old apprenticeship and modern internship practices. The other is vicarious, that is, through perceptively observing and drawing lessons from the experience of others. Direct experience involves risks and mistakes and depends largely on trial and error for performance improvement. Vicarious learning, on the other hand, carries much less risk and is largely errorfree; it provides opportunities to step back and observe people in similar circumstances, weigh the faCtS and options involved, grasp the lessons of their successes and failures, and use them to the best of one’s advantage. Though by every measure history is the richest source of human experience and a wonderful instrument for vicarious learning, its study rernains s~lrprisingly untackled and unexploited by the business community. In this book, a number of historical episodes involving conflict, planning, leadership, and change are carefully documented and examined. Parallels are drawn between historical circumstances and those faced by contemporary leaders and managers. The intention is to enrich and stimulate readers’ perceptions of analogous situations found in the very pressing problems of today: management of change. the power of new ideas, and new technological innovations. Chapters 2, 3, and 7 are devoted to discussions of entrepreneurship and leadership skills at times of change and conflict. The amazingly unbalanced contest between Cortes and Moctezuma, which led to the former’s
Focus nn Books
concluest of Mexico and the latter’s loss of the great Aztec empire, is carefully documented to show the importance of such leadership qualities as decisiveness, determination, commitment, risk-taking, and personal drive for success. The Spider King Louis Xl’s final triumph over his archrival Charles of Burgundy and his gradual unification of France away from the hands of power barons attest to the truth that subtlety and patience are the most powerful weapons of the weak and the underdog in an unbalanced corporate power struggle. And the tragic ending of Governor Thomas Hutchinson’s career proves once more that dynamism, or the abitity to transform oneself in the face of new thinking, is one of the most crucial qualities a leader can have in times of change and turbulence. Chapter 4 deals with the power of ideas and the timing of change. The stories of two successful reformers, Martin Luther and W. Edwards Deming, serve to prove that ideas are power catalysts in the process of change and that ideas and reform take root only among an audience with an open heart and mind. Thus, new ideas and the right timing are the two crucial factors in the introduction and implementation of change. Chapter 5 examines the issue of strategic planning, another hot area of contemporary business ~nagement, Admiral Yamamoto’s elaborate plan and dramatic defeat at Midway ring as an all-time warning that complex strategic planning that fails to consider the haphazard nature of reality is doomed to failure and destruction. Chapter 6 discusses the increasing challenges of globalization. A study of Hadrian and the administration of the Roman Empire provides valuable insights and illuminations to facilitate ~ontell~po~~ leaders and managers in meeting the challenge of globaliza-
tion. The f3ct that Hadrian’s commonwealth drew upon the human and innovative resources of a terrarium of different people and succeeded in holding it together for hundreds of years is well worth looking into. Chapter 8 focuses on the issue of technological innovations. The repeated defeat of the French at the hands of English archers in the fifteenth century is carefully documented and examined. The reluctance and resistance of the French nobility to adopt successful English military innovations were the fundamental reasons behind the defeats. The French example proves beyond any doubt the crucial impact of innovations on institutional vitality and decline. Effective use and misuse of historical analogy are also discussed in the book. Luecke believes that historical analogy, when carefully applied and used, will yieid keen insights into the issues of today and will undoubtedly lend solid grounds for valid and wise decision-making. However, Luecke also cautions against the use of historical analogy. He points out that in~iis~r~tion in its use can be equally if not more disastrous than lack of historical vision. A famous example of this is the French/American relationship with Vietnam, which resulted in America’s total military commitment to the Vietnamese %rar. Taken as a whole, Luecke’s &z&e Your Sh@s B&we Aduunciq is highly worthwhile reading, not only in the business management community, toward which the book is geared, but also among the general reading puhlit. Vicarious learning through cornmon legacies of the human race is something that modern learning organizations cannot do without.
81
and imaginations have shrunk into rational selfhood, Maria-and Bohndn and Deal along with her-may show them how to connect with their own hearts and souls. Like Virgil to Dante after leading Dante out of the inferno, or like Maria herself to Steven after leading Steven out of his defensive approach to living and leadership, she can then say to such readers, “I give you yourself / crowned and mitered, you are yours” (The Divine Comedj). Open this book and you may well open yourself. That possibility alone makes it an extraordinary buy-especially if, as Bohndn and Deal suggest, leadership is a personal, internal journey that results in the openness, confidence, and peace “to inspirit and inspire others” (p. 57). At the very least, readers will surely begin to experience, as Bolman and Deal surely did when they wrote the book, “the sheer joy of creating something of lasting value” (p. 69). Leading With So241 is a joy to read and, because of the special kind of reading it requires, a joy for readers to create. No doubt it will exist as “something of lasting value” within the hearts and souls of most of its readers-a “gift” that should be passed on to others and a sto?y that sl~ould be re-woven again and again. “Time now,” says Steven-as-Everyman, “to help someone else on their journey” (p. 172). Not surprisingly, in the “Afterword” to the book, Bolman and Deal invite their readers to continue the dialogue by writing to them with questions. reactions, or stories. Everyman, it seems, can teach the teachers, spiritual guides whose wisdom is reflected in their openness to an ongoing understanding of spirituality. I certainly intend to write to them, and I encourage you to read the book and do the same. In a review of another recent book entitled Spirit at Work: Discover-
irtg the Spiritz4ulit_y iw Leudershp
(by
Jay Conger and Associates), Joseph Rost argues that “the authors did not even scratch the surface as to how, why, when, and what might be the connection between spirituality and leadership.” By contrast, Bolman and Deal compel the reader to scratch that surface and snake a journey into a web of connections between spiritual-
ity and leadership, and between their own souls and the spirit of a community. Few journeys, I suspect, could be more significant than that. References
L.G. Bohnan and T.E. Deal, Modern Approuches to &&en-tanding and Managing Organizatiwzs (San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. 1985). L.G. Bolman and T.E. Deal, Reframing Organizations (San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 1991).
Co?porate Ct4ltures: The Rites and Rittrals qf Corporate Ltfe (Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley,
T.E. Deal and A.A. Kennedy,
1983). W.H. Drath and C.J.
Palus, Mc&i?zg
Cr,m-
man &JKS~:Lea&-ship as Meaning-iI4aking in a Commw~i~y of Pructice (Greensboro, NC: Center for Creative Leadership.
1995).
J.C. Rost, “Review of Spirit at Work: IXcovering the Spirituality in Leadership,” ./o14mal qf Leadership Studies, L, 2 (1995): 158-160. L. Smircich and G. Morgan. “Leadership: The Management of Meaning,” Jot4mal qf Applied b’ehavioral Science, 18 (1982): Li7-273.
Lee G. Bolman
and Terrence E. Deal,
Leading With So& An Uncommon Journey of Spirit. San Francisco: ./os.sq~-Bass, 1995. 1% pp.
Scuttle Your Ships Before Advancing By Richard A. Luecke i%e reviewer, Ma Guoping, is a graduate student at the Centerfor Information Media at St. Clo44d Stute liniversit_~~.Minnesota The study of history has seldom been a concern in the business community. However. this may no longer remain the case in the years to come. Richard A. Luecke’s Scwle Yolcr Ships Before Advancing is an intriguing and appealing attempt to marry the study of
history with contemporary business management practice. The underlying philosophy of Luecke’s book is that experience is an impo~ant approach to human Iearning. There are only two ways to gain experience. The first is by direct personal involvement-by trying things out and observing the results, as in the cases of old apprenticeship and modern internship practices. The other is vicarious, that is, through perceptively observing and drawing lessons from the experience of others. Direct experience involves risks and mistakes and depends largely on trial and error for performance improvement. Vicarious learning, on the other hand, carries much less risk and is largely errorfree; it provides opportunities to step back and observe people in similar circumstances, weigh the faCtS and options involved, grasp the lessons of their successes and failures, and use them to the best of one’s advantage. Though by every measure history is the richest source of human experience and a wonderful instrument for vicarious learning, its study rernains s~lrprisingly untackled and unexploited by the business community. In this book, a number of historical episodes involving conflict, planning, leadership, and change are carefully documented and examined. Parallels are drawn between historical circumstances and those faced by contemporary leaders and managers. The intention is to enrich and stimulate readers’ perceptions of analogous situations found in the very pressing problems of today: management of change. the power of new ideas, and new technological innovations. Chapters 2, 3, and 7 are devoted to discussions of entrepreneurship and leadership skills at times of change and conflict. The amazingly unbalanced contest between Cortes and Moctezuma, which led to the former’s
Focus nn Books
concluest of Mexico and the latter’s loss of the great Aztec empire, is carefully documented to show the importance of such leadership qualities as decisiveness, determination, commitment, risk-taking, and personal drive for success. The Spider King Louis Xl’s final triumph over his archrival Charles of Burgundy and his gradual unification of France away from the hands of power barons attest to the truth that subtlety and patience are the most powerful weapons of the weak and the underdog in an unbalanced corporate power struggle. And the tragic ending of Governor Thomas Hutchinson’s career proves once more that dynamism, or the abitity to transform oneself in the face of new thinking, is one of the most crucial qualities a leader can have in times of change and turbulence. Chapter 4 deals with the power of ideas and the timing of change. The stories of two successful reformers, Martin Luther and W. Edwards Deming, serve to prove that ideas are power catalysts in the process of change and that ideas and reform take root only among an audience with an open heart and mind. Thus, new ideas and the right timing are the two crucial factors in the introduction and implementation of change. Chapter 5 examines the issue of strategic planning, another hot area of contemporary business ~nagement, Admiral Yamamoto’s elaborate plan and dramatic defeat at Midway ring as an all-time warning that complex strategic planning that fails to consider the haphazard nature of reality is doomed to failure and destruction. Chapter 6 discusses the increasing challenges of globalization. A study of Hadrian and the administration of the Roman Empire provides valuable insights and illuminations to facilitate ~ontell~po~~ leaders and managers in meeting the challenge of globaliza-
tion. The f3ct that Hadrian’s commonwealth drew upon the human and innovative resources of a terrarium of different people and succeeded in holding it together for hundreds of years is well worth looking into. Chapter 8 focuses on the issue of technological innovations. The repeated defeat of the French at the hands of English archers in the fifteenth century is carefully documented and examined. The reluctance and resistance of the French nobility to adopt successful English military innovations were the fundamental reasons behind the defeats. The French example proves beyond any doubt the crucial impact of innovations on institutional vitality and decline. Effective use and misuse of historical analogy are also discussed in the book. Luecke believes that historical analogy, when carefully applied and used, will yieid keen insights into the issues of today and will undoubtedly lend solid grounds for valid and wise decision-making. However, Luecke also cautions against the use of historical analogy. He points out that in~iis~r~tion in its use can be equally if not more disastrous than lack of historical vision. A famous example of this is the French/American relationship with Vietnam, which resulted in America’s total military commitment to the Vietnamese %rar. Taken as a whole, Luecke’s &z&e Your Sh@s B&we Aduunciq is highly worthwhile reading, not only in the business management community, toward which the book is geared, but also among the general reading puhlit. Vicarious learning through cornmon legacies of the human race is something that modern learning organizations cannot do without.
81