Centred Leadership

Another McKinsey article - this one about what drives and sustains successful female leaders, laying out five dimensions of leadership. Read it here.

Question for everyone: Are there gender dimensions to leadership?

Yeling

Leadership in Government

The McKinsey Quarterly interviews former US Chief of Staff Leon Panetta. "Emphasizing the importance of honest conversation and dialogue in government, Panetta suggests that the most important way to inspire leadership is to give people the chance to say what they believe—and then to listen to what they have to say. "

Read the full article here (registration to the Quarterly is free).

What is Good? What is Right?

A few weeks ago we played the 'tapping game' which sparked off an intense discussion on the meaning and purpose of rules, how power can be wielded, ceded, or possibly usurped, and why game players reacted in different ways when they had been 'tapped three times' (i.e. free to do whatever they want). We then discussed the meaning of The Good Society and the linkages between Power, Rules, What is Good and What is Right.

Subsequent discussions over email led to mentions of The Stanford Prison Experiment and the Milgram Experiment.

This month, Singapore artists explore similar themes through a production of Mario Diordano's novel/film Das Experiment: Black Box.

The rule of law is also a concept that has been heavily debated in economics and governance literature. This article in The Economist gives a fantastic overview of the different ways in which the rule of law is defined and interpreted. One group argues that the rule of law exists to protect fundamental liberties (and if so liberties according to whose definition?). Another group argues that the rule of law exists to ensure societal stability, promote economic growth through guaranteeing property rights, and allow the efficient administration of justice.

Yeling

Ursula Le Guin and Omelas

During our session on 8 Nov 2008, we briefly discussed the superb short story "The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas" by Ursula K. Le Guin. For those interested in reading the entire story and exploring its relevance to ethics and leadership, this link should be useful:

http://harelbarzilai.org/words/omelas.txt

Aaron

"If" by Rudyard Kipling

Last week we played a short game where groups used credits to 'bid' on different leadership qualities (compassion, integrity, self-sacrifice, confidence, etc.) Here's another lens through which to view this elusive quality we call Leadership. Kipling's famous poem was written in 1895. More than a hundred years later, the challenge he issues remains as daunting as ever

IF you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you,
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
But make allowance for their doubting too;
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or being lied about, don't deal in lies,
Or being hated, don't give way to hating,
And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise:

If you can dream - and not make dreams your master;
If you can think - and not make thoughts your aim;
If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster
And treat those two impostors just the same;
If you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,
And stoop and build 'em up with worn-out tools:

If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings
And never breathe a word about your loss;
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: 'Hold on!'

If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
' Or walk with Kings - nor lose the common touch,
if neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you,
If all men count with you, but none too much;
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds' worth of distance run,
Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it,
And - which is more - you'll be a Man, my son!

Yeling