Expert answer:Discussion 2
Expert answer:This last question builds on how you responded to the first question in this module. It may appear to be a relatively simple question at first so I encourage you to really think about it before typing. Here is the question: As an organizational leader, what would be the five most important questions you would have to encourage communication from those that look to you for leadership?
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Procedia – Social and Behavioral Sciences 75 (2013) 91 – 101
2nd International Conference on Leadership, Technology and Innovation Management
Courageous Leadership For The Twenty-First Century
a
, Kamil Erkan Kabaka
b*
a
Department of Industrial Engineering, Beykent University, Istanbul, 34396,Turkey
b
Abstract
nd wars,
lack of liberty and justice, unfair globalization, and environmental destruction are threatening the lives of many
people throughout the world and putting future generations under a great risk. These problems have reached such a
level that their solutions require urgent and radical changes. Most people, many academicians and scholars argue that
contemporary leadership practices will not be able to solve these problems. Contemporary leadership practices are
either preserving the status quo or not making the necessary changes to solve them.
This paper argues that the courageous leadership practices could make such changes for solving the current problems
in the twenty-first century. The courageous leaders are brave, and they have heart, spirit and exceptional intellectual
and emotional capacity to make drastic changes. They take risks to face and deal with difficult problems instead of
overtaking them to move organizations and nations forward. They are creative so that they can make objective
analysis, select the most effective strategies, motivate people at their maximum capacities and act under high
uncertainties. Great courageous political leaders of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries such as Ataturk, Mao,
Lenin, Castro, Gandhi, Martin Luther King Jr. and the others made drastic changes. They solved many difficult
problems through utilizing again some of those courage-related characteristics. Also, business leaders like Bill Gates,
Steve Jobs, Jorma Ollila and others used some of those courage-related characteristics for building new and
successful business organizations.
In this study, we analyze the courage characteristics of these leaders including intellectual (knowledge) courage,
moral courage, creativity courage, biological courage, and fo
framework of strategic management process. The insights are gathered from their leadership experiences that may
provide some perspectives for the leaders of the twenty-first century to solve current problem
needs.
© 2012
2013 Published
Ltd.Ltd.
Open
access under
CC BY-NC-ND
license.
PublishedbybyElsevier
Elsevier
Selection
and/or
peer-review
under responsibility of 2nd International
Selection andon
peer-review
under
responsibility
The SecondManagement
International Conference on Leadership, Technology
Conference
Leadership,
Technology
andofInnovation
and Innovation Management
Keywords:Courageous leadership, courage characteristics, radical changes.
* Corresponding author. Tel.: +90-212-867-1887; fax: +90-212-867-5066.
E-mail address: asimsen@beykent.edu.tr
1877-0428 © 2013 Published by Elsevier Ltd. Open access under CC BY-NC-ND license.
Selection and peer-review under responsibility of The Second International Conference on Leadership, Technology and Innovation
Management
doi:10.1016/j.sbspro.2013.04.011
Asim Şen et al. / Procedia – Social and Behavioral Sciences 75 (2013) 91 – 101
92
1. Introduction
wars, lack of liberty, justice, unfair globalization and environmental destruction are generating crises,
distress and anxieties in the societies. Such problems threaten the lives of many people throughout the
world and put next generations under a great risk. The contemporary leadership practices failed to solve
these problems. Most people, many academicians and scholars argue that current political and economic
policies of contemporary leadership practices will not be able to solve the current problems; and they
should be changed (Toffler, 1990; Drucker, 1993; Senge, 1993; Gibson, 1997; Sachs, 2008; Marber,
2009; Collis, 1998; Sharp, 2011; Kellerman, 2012; Ross, 2011; Stiglitz, 2012).
Many leaders around the world mostly protect their own interests, and the interests of the political and
economic groups that brought them into these positions. The leaders elected by the board of trustees of
the stockholders, or the leaders appointed by the owners in many organizations favour the interests of
their supporters (Derber, 1998; Estes, 1996; Galbraith, 1998; Thurow, 1989; Reich, 2010). Also, many
government leaders support their own interests, the interests of the corporations and political groups that
supported them financially and politically for their elections (Batra, 1996; Blair, 1994). Their political and
economic policies focused mainly on the short-term objectives for quick results and neglected to address
difficult problems that may even be more harmful for the society in the long-term (Sacks, 2008; Marber,
2009; Collis, 1998).
The economic policies of contemporary leadership practices generated unequal groups of 1% and 99%
in many countries based on income and wealth figures (Stiglitz, 2012). In addition, the political policies
provided disproportionate voice to those at the top. As a result of these policies, the vision of democracy
of many people became the democracy of 1%, by 1%, for the 1% of the people at the expense of the
remaining 99 % (Stiglitz, 2012).
Many people express dissatisfactions with their leaders throughout the world due to unfair and
inappropriate contemporary leadership practices. They march and chant on the streets of New York,
Madrid, Athens, London, Moscow, and in many other cities of the world. The protesters in Spain were
ates
were even louder in expressing their anger and dismayed with the economic and political policies of the
current leaders. People in Tunisia, Libya, Egypt, Syria, Iran, Jordan, Bahrain and some other countries
resisted and even risked their lives for opposing the policies of dictatorial leaders. In some other
countries, many writers, academicians, soldiers, students, and others were suppressed, terrorized and even
jailed for their criticisms of the current leadership practices and demands for the change of those policies.
Some scientists argue that contemporary leadership practices were changed and they came to an end as
the leadership shifted from individual leaders to followers (Ross, 2011; Rifkin, 2011; Kellerman, 2012;
Stiglitz, 2012). It seems that the process of contemporary leadership practices becomes ineffective and
starts a new paradigm shift which requires radical changes of political, economic and social policies of an
organization and a nation (Adzies, 1988; Barker, 1992). Although strong demand of followers and the
scale of problems were developed enough for radical changes, courageous leadership is necessary to
accomplish such transformations.
The aim of this study is to analyze the courageous leadership practices of great leaders that took place
in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries and focus on major courage characteristics that play an
important role for successful leadership practices. Also, it aims to investigate the nature and the sources
of the courage characteristics and determine how, where, and when they were used in their leadership
Asim Şen et al. / Procedia – Social and Behavioral Sciences 75 (2013) 91 – 101
courage in leadership practices exclusively and systematically within the strategic management
framework (Thompson, Strickland and Gamble, 2010). Within this framework, this study determines how
experiences.
The paper is organized as follows. The concept of courage, courage characteristics and strategic
leadership practices are introduced in Section 2. Method of analysis which is made within the framework
of strategic leadership process is given in Section 3. Utilization of courage characteristics is presented
with the examples from experiences of great courageous leaders in Section 4. Finally, the paper is ended
with conclusions and discussions.
2. Literature Review: The Concept of Courage, Courage Characteristics and Strategic Leadership
Practices
Courage appears in every aspect of leadership practices through a wide variety of physical and
nonphysical courage characteristics (aspects). Courage is the crucial quality of leaders for determining the
impressive vision and achieving the exceptional outcomes. Typically, the courage characteristics are
rooted in science and the liberal arts domain. There are a variety of courage characteristics that play an
important role in effective leadership practices. This study focuses on courage-related characteristics
2.1. Structure the concept of courage and courage characteristics
In most leadership studies, leadership is defined as a process of influencing relationship among leaders
and followers (Rost, 1993). In this study, strategic leadership is defined as a process of developing shared
vision, analyzing the internal and external environment, designing and implementing strategies for
solving problems and satisfy
elements of this process (Thompson Jr., Strickland, and Gamble, 2010; Daft, 2005). However, most of the
leadership studies indicate that successful leadership outcomes mainly depend on the styles and qualities
of leaders, and followers, and the environmental conditions of the organization and the nation (Daft,
2005; Robbins, 1997; Chemers, 1997; Hersey, Blanchard, and Johnson, 1997).
The leadership styles play a crucial role in making drastic changes and solving difficult problems for
(Burns, 1972; Tichy and Devenna, 1986), charismatic leadership (Conger and Kanungo, 1988),
participative leadership including stewardship (Block, 1993; Fallet, 1918), servant leadership (Greenleaf,
1977; Sendjaya and Sarros, 2002), visionary leadership (Nanus, 1992), and democratic leadership (Halal,
986; Ackoff, 1994; Sen, 2003).
Qualities of a leader include a broad and deep intellectual intelligence, skills and values such as
honesty, integrity, drive, equality, liberty, collectivity, justice, courage, fairness and these play the key
role for a successful leadership (Stogdill, 1948 and 1974; Locke, 1991). Recent studies pointed out that
such as anger, fear, and love in self and followers are important for leadership success (Goleman, 1995).
The other studies argued that the qualities of followers such as intelligence, knowledge, skills as well as
values including dedication, perception, participation, awareness, courage, independence, dependability,
responsibility and cooperativeness are important for effective leadership (DeVader and Alliger, 1986;
Chaleff, 1995; Hegarty, 1985, Kauzes and Posner, 1993). Most recently, some leadership experts argue
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Asim Şen et al. / Procedia – Social and Behavioral Sciences 75 (2013) 91 – 101
that quality followers are not only essential for an effective leadership but also they become the main
power to take over the leadership practices for the outcomes of effective leadership (Kellerman, 2012;
Ross, 2011).
2.2. Courage and successful (effective) strategic leadership practices
mental or moral
strength to venture, persevere, and withstand danger, fear, or difficulty. Courage is the ability to act in
spite of doubt or fear. Courage means accepting responsibility, being able to go against the grain,
breaking traditions, reducing boundaries, and initiating change. In addition, it means pushing beyond the
comfort zone, asking for what you want and saying what you think, and fighting what you believe (Daft,
2005).
Effective leaders must have courage to see difficult situations and accept responsibility for the
outcomes of decisions and actions. It is not hopefulness and not stubbornness. Leaders will work with
others, but if they do not have courage to express their own ideas and feelings they would do injustice to
themselves and their followers. Courage is not a value like a love or loyalty for others, but it is the
foundation of all the values (May, 2012).
Courage is the foundation of physical and nonphysical values which increase capacity of humans for
reaching their maximum limits to do things under risky and difficult conditions. Courage is often
considered as the foundation of human values which influence all other values positively to increase their
effectiveness. Courage is the core of leadership (see Fig. 1).
Fig. 1. Core courage characteristics.
That is, it is a critical component of the major activities of effective strategic leadership. Courage
enables all the values to work up to their maximum capacity like a heart in human body that pumps blood
to all other parts and enable the whole body to function effectively (May, 2012). Courage characteristics
provide the maximum strength for leaders to use every part of the strategic leadership process effectively.
The courage characteristics are like a motor force at the centre of the values as presented in Fig. 2.
Asim Şen et al. / Procedia – Social and Behavioral Sciences 75 (2013) 91 – 101
Fig. 2. The impact of courage on effective leadership process.
They provide strength for leaders to take risks under uncertain and difficult conditions; think wisely,
and see future better for difficult and big visions, and decide optimally, analyze objectively, select and
create appropriate strategies accurately, and motivate followers fully to achieve extra ordinary results.
The amount of the courage characteristics and their depth determine the degree of courage of a leader.
Leaders who have more of the courage characteristics are relatively more courageous than the others that
have less of these characteristics.
Apart from the impact on the leadership process, courage characteristics affect values such as honesty,
integrity, equality, liberty, collectivity, justice, fairness and others. However, leaders like Hitler,
Mussolini, Stalin and others who have negative values such as selfishness, arrogance, dishonesty,
environments (Lutwig, 2002).
In this study, only the impact of courage characteristics are considered on the positive values utilized
for successful leadership practices for making positive changes and solving the current difficult problems.
Among these leaders Mustafa Kemal Ataturk of Turkey, Vladimir Lenin of Russia, Mao Zedong of
China, Fidel Castro of Cuba, Mahatma Gandhi of India, and Martin Luther King Junior of America. They
were the founders, liberators, and builders of a nation. Arnold M. Ludwig (2005) listed them the most
successful visionary and innovative leaders among 1941 leaders of 199 countries. Business leaders like
Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, Jorma Ollila, Howard Schultz and others also demonstrated great courage
).
3. Method Of Analysis
There is a continuous change and development in leadership practices (Rost, 1993). The main thesis of
this study is grounded on what happened in the past which provides guidance for the present and the
future. During the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, some successful leadership practices affected
political and economic practices of many people. Within this period, there were some drastic changes that
played an important role in solving huge problems and achieving great developments for human life.
Analyzing the successful leadership practices of the past may provide some useful lessons for the current
and future leaders in solving similar problems.
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Asim Şen et al. / Procedia – Social and Behavioral Sciences 75 (2013) 91 – 101
The successful leadership studies were analyzed within the strategic management process as shown in
Fig. 3. In this process, the main tasks of courageous leaders include the activities of developing
extraordinary visions, missions, and objectives; making the environmental analysis objectively and wisely
within their limits; selecting the superior strategies; motivating followers fully and taking high risks to
execute strategies for achieving exceptional results (Thompson, Strickland and Gamble, 2010).
Fig. 3. Courage and leadership activities.
This study includes many leadership practices covering the most successful leaders selected from
wider geographic areas. The studies including the books, articles, biographies and other related materials
about the successful leadership practices are given in the text and listed in the references (see References).
Particularly, this study takes the book by Arnold Ludwig (2002) – King of the Mountain – as a basis for
the most successful political leaders of nineteenth and twentieth centuries. The leaders listed in this book
include Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, Lenin, Castro, Gandhi, and Martin Luther King Jr. The successful
lives drastically. Some of these changes ended up with the establishment of new nations (e.g. The
Republic of Turkey and India). In the business area, the most successful business leaders listed according
utilized courage characteristics for their successful leadership practices for building the best business
corporations of the twenty first-century (see Section 4).
4. Utilization of Courage Leadership Practices For Solving the Current Problems
Courageous leaders use courage characteristics to generate comparative advantages relative to others.
This section analyzes the core courage characteristics such as knowledge courage, moral courage,
rage (see Fig. 1) at length with examples from
the great courageous leaders.
4.1. The intellectual (moral) courage
Intellectual knowledge (IK) provides leaders with the capability of understanding the physical aspects
of what to do, how to do it, and why. The capability of understanding what to do provides confidence for
leaders to select and develop things like products and services. The capability of understanding how to do
it includes all kinds of technologies, capital equipment, process, rules and principles, and activities
(Cooper and Sawaf, 1996). Emotional knowledge (EK) provides the understanding why aspect of the
reasons and means for doing things (Cooper and Sawaf, 1996; Goleman, 1995). It influences every aspect
Asim Şen et al. / Procedia – Social and Behavioral Sciences 75 (2013) 91 – 101
of decisions, actions of leaders for selecting, producing and distributing goods and services. EK includes
social values, ideas, intuition, imagination and beliefs.
Both IK and EK determine the whole body of knowledge which constitutes the knowledge of
courageous leaders. Knowledge courage is at the centre of every decision and action of a leader. The
visions, missions, and objectives of leaders are rooted from this knowledge (see Fig. 2). The actions of
leaders start and end with this knowledge. Courage knowledge is the source of the highest quality of
power, and it influences all other parts of strategic leadership. Knowledge courage generates the most
very aspect of his leadership activities (Sen, 2009).
4.2. Moral Courage
Moral values such as honesty, integrity, care, humility, beliefs, liberty, equality, quality and others are
the main sources of human decisions, behaviours and actions in an organization or a government. The
quantity of moral values and its effective use for the welfare of people depend mainly on the moral
courage of leaders. Leaders who have these values and use them for the welfare of the people in
organizations and nations are called moral leaders (Gini, 1997). Moral leaders distinguish right from
wrong, do right things, have honesty and integrity, seek justice, take responsibility, fulfil commitments,
possess humility, show respect and serve, show courage to stand up for what is right, encourage and
develop others (Zauderer, 1992).
Gandhi and Martin Luther King Junior demonstrated moral courage for gaining independence, liberty
and equality for their followers. All courageous leaders including Ataturk, Lenin, Mao, Castro
demonstrated moral courage for solving difficult problems and satisfying the needs of followers (Ludwig,
2002). Business leaders such as Henry Ford (Ford Co.), Arthur Blank and Bernie Marcus (Home Depot
Co.) made their corporations very successful through utilizing moral courage for putting the customer
On the other hand, immoral leaders are a …
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