Book Review on 'Leadership That Matters '
The book I am presenting is called ‘Leadership That Matters’ and was written in 2003 by Marshall Sashkin & Molly G. Sashkin. As the title already suggests, it brings leadership closer to the reader, bringing one special kind of leadership to the fore: Transformational Leadership. As the authors emphasize, in the 21st century there is more to being a leader than just improving productivity and performance – leaders who matter have the ability to transform their organizational members from dutiful followers into self-directed leaders – they facilitate change rather than exercising it themselves. Same as we Imagineers do…
Sashkin & Sashkin conducted a lot of research on leadership approaches. In total they took out seven approaches that had common elements and synthesized those into their own approach: Leadership That Matters. The three most important parts of this approach are:
1. the leader’s personality (characteristics),
2. his/her behavior and
3. the situational context of leadership (organizational context or culture).
The book is divided into thirteen chapters which logically build upon each other. Though, it is not always as easy to read because of constant repetitions which cause confusion from time to time. Anyway, the following lines will hopefully give you an insight into the book’s main thoughts.
What is it, leadership?
The first two chapters build the introduction which depicts the ‘puzzle’ of leadership which is put together by several approaches. According to the Sashkins, many of those definitions contain essential elements, but after all they miss the combination of the most important ones in order to describe leadership correctly. That’s what the Sashkins thus did and called it Leadership That Matters.
Already in the beginning they make an important differentiation between ‘leaders’ and ‘managers’: leadership (in contrast to management) does not only imply the usual job definition, it also explains WHY the job is being done – it goes beyond the obvious. Transformational leaders (in addition to managers) ‘develop a compact between themselves and their followers’ (p.37). They create meaning for both parties, their leadership thus matters. Translating this idea into Imagineering terms, transformational leadership facilitates symbolic value co-creation which results in individual transformation.
A term that is introduced here is also already known from Imagineering: the ‘paradigm’ of Thomas Kuhn. Though, in the area of leadership, James McGregor Burns was the introducing person of the new leadership paradigm. In order to understand the new things, the old have to be set into perspective. Sashkin and Sashkin hereby make the difference between transactional (trading) and transformational (bonding) leadership. The authors also refer to examples out of history, like Gandhi as best example of transformational leader.
Leadership Skills and Behaviors
After having conducted some research about the behaviors and skills used by transformational leaders, Sashkin and Sashkin came up with their own definition of the most important behaviors:
• skilled communication
• trust-building
• expression of care and respect for others and
• creating empowerment opportunities.
These behaviors are merely the result of transformational leadership, not its cause or source. Additionally, they can only be applied effectively when a leaders possesses the personal characteristics summarized as ABC (affect/emotions, behavioral intent/confidence to act and cognitive capability/basis for shared vision) that are discussed in the following chapters.
What else does it take to call someone a leader?
The authors argue that just focusing on behaviors does not lead to effective conclusions about leadership, there has to be more. So they go over to their second element, characteristics.
In this context they mention the research from Robert House, who brought in a new important aspect of transformational leadership when stating that leadership had something to do with the character of the leader (‘charismatic leadership’). However, the authors argument that charisma and behavioral skills alone do not define effective leadership. They even argue that charismatic leadership has to be separated from transformational leadership because it can be dangerous when being used in a manipulative way. What is important here is that both forms have the same basic source: the leader’s need for power and control. So the need for power is an essential part of the leader’s character, but is also important for the follower as a guideline.
Another important aspect for influencing followers is the leader’s self-confidence. The authors use an example of actor Will Smith, who was building a wall in order to extend the father’s shop space. Will thought he and his brother would not make it, it took them ages to finish. When it was done, their father told them “Never believe that there’s anything you can’t do!” (p.85). Here they also mention the principle of self-fulfilling principle, referring to the belief that you can do something is often enough to encourage you to try. Transformational leaders encourage their followers, as will be stated later. Empowering people is set into perspective with taking risks and control from the leader’s side, and relates to the degree of self-confidence. The more control the leader wants to keep, the less self-confidence he has and the higher the risk he runs to be a bad leader because the resources and the trust that are necessary for the follower are not provided. Control and self-confidence are thus two of the three important characteristics a transformational leader should have. In addition, the way of empowering people is summarized in the ‘vision’ which is the cognitive capability of leadership approaches. Sashkin and Sashkin do not agree with usual definitions of vision, such as ‘an image of an ideal future condition’ – they state that the future is a place that is created. The activity of making the paths to it changes both the maker and the destination.
Here we find back the co-creational part of making meaning, as it is done in Imagineering.
The personal characteristics are not necessarily inborn traits but can be developed. “If you do not have the skills, learn and practice them.” (p.108)
Culture is the key
The third and last element they discuss is the situational context, or as they call it as well, the culture. Culture is the key to organizational functioning. As the authors state, there are four key functions that create organizational context:
• Change (dealing with things outside the organization to attain goals)
• Goals (produce outcomes/achieve goals)
• Culture (define and support values and beliefs)
• Teamwork (coordinating the ongoing work of individuals and groups).
The Leadership Profile (TLP) as Measuring Instrument
The entire book is set up in a way that one can understand this kind of leadership better, but also practice it for own use by means of self-assessment materials spread over the chapters. The very key element of this book is the TLP which is an instrument that measures transactional and transformational leadership. It is a complete leadership model including 10 dimensions that are differentiated again in 50 specific behaviors. Taking the survey takes approximately 15 minutes – not only leaders assess themselves, but some of the ‘observers’ (usually 5) do the same test in order to compare results. The TLP is a 360-degree-measuring instrument and contains the 5-point Likert-type scale, answers are given in a range from 1-5.
The ten dimensions are listed below:
TRANSACTIONAL LEADERSHIP
1. Capable Management: This person makes sure people can have the resources they need to do a good job.
2. Reward Equity: This person recognizes good performance with rewards people value.
TRANSFORMATIONAL LEADERSHIP BEHAVIORS
3. Communication Leadership: This person grabs people’s attention, focusing on the important issue in a discussion.
4. Credible Leadership: This person acts in ways consistent with his/her work.
5. Caring Leadership: This person respects people’s differences.
6. Creative Leadership: This person designs situations that permit people to achieve their goals.
TRANSFORMATIONAL LEADERSHIP CHARACTERISTICS
7. Confident Leadership: This person makes a difference.
8. Follower-centered Leadership: This person seeks power and influence to attain goals people agree on.
9. Visionary Leadership: This person has plans that extend over a period of several years or longer.
10. Principled Leadership: This person encourages others to act according to the values ad beliefs we share.
Conclusion
As Sashkin and Sashkin already said at the end of their book, leadership is a management game. It is about communicating the right things to the right people and make the game work together. Several factors have influence and I think that the authors did a great job in synthesizng all academic information and made it their own. Though, sometimes it is hard to stay on track because they repeat a lot, which is exhausting when they summarize it differently all the time. Loss of information or lack of understanding follow easily.
Transformational Leadership vs Imagineering?
There is definitely no ‘vs’, for me both go hand in hand. I came across some elements that are related to Imagineering, or rather say that match the mindset of an Imagineer. I thought about Hostmanship as a connected approach to leadership that matters because it also rather invites people to co-create instead of delegating. A certain set of characteristics and behaviors are important here, as we also learned with identity marketing. Another statement that reminded me of our last block of Imagineering is ‘Leadership is about knowing how to follow.’ Shari Duron told a lot about leaders and followers, and that the best thing to do was being a follower once yourself in order to understand the expectations that are connected to the role of a follower. Appreciative thinking plays a big part here as well.
In general I liked the book and I think I can use it for my BTR because it comes along with new and refreshing insights about managing, leading and being inspirational in a way that matters.
Enjoy reading. Cheers,
Jenny
