The Leadership Styles of Gore, Gates, Buffet, and Bono
Juana Bordas final chapter of SALSA, SOUL, AND SPIRIT challenged me with her four examples of leaders who “have broken free of their cultural conditioning and are forgoing individualism and materialism to follow a magnanimous desire to serve humanity”. The leaders she is referring to are former US Vice President Al Gore , Microsoft chairman Bill Gates, recent wealthiest man in the world Warren Buffet, and rock star Bono .
Although there is no denying that these men have used their power and wealth to do good things, my concern comes about from the implication that effective leadership comes about by assuming your power at the hands of others. I worry that holders of extreme wealth and power tend to decide for others what they need, rather then working with folks to empower them to meet their own needs. Could it be that the baggage these gentlemen carry with them prejudices me from appreciating their leadership examples?
With the conclusion of SALSA, SOUL, AND SPIRIT, I started reading Peter Block’s book STEWARDSHIP – CHOOSING SERVICE OVER SELF-INTEREST. His opening chapter titled “Replacing Leadership With Stewardship” provided another challenge to this student of servant leadership – how can we survive without leadership?
Reading through Block’s first chapter however makes me a believer in his goal of replacing leadership with stewardship. Block writes that stewardship “is concerned with creating a strong sense of ownership and responsibility for outcomes at the bottom of the organization. It means giving control to customers and creating self-reliance on the part of all who are touched by the institution. The answer to economic problems is not more money; it is to focus on quality, service, and participation first.”
He goes on to point out that leadership “carries the baggage, however, of being inevitably associated with behaviors of control, direction, and knowing what is best for others. The act of leading cultural or organizational change by determining the desired future, defining the path to get their, and knowing what is best for others is incompatible with widely distributing ownership and responsibility in an organization.”
Blocks warning, “Focusing power and purpose at one point in an organization, usually the top, has over time the impact of destroying the culture and very outcomes we sincerely intend create.” gets at the heart of my concern about the leadership styles of Gore, Gates, Buffet, and Bono. These are leaders that come from the top of their organizations and the focus is definitely on them – can our organizations survive with leadership like theirs?
Although there is no denying that these men have used their power and wealth to do good things, my concern comes about from the implication that effective leadership comes about by assuming your power at the hands of others. I worry that holders of extreme wealth and power tend to decide for others what they need, rather then working with folks to empower them to meet their own needs. Could it be that the baggage these gentlemen carry with them prejudices me from appreciating their leadership examples?
With the conclusion of SALSA, SOUL, AND SPIRIT, I started reading Peter Block’s book STEWARDSHIP – CHOOSING SERVICE OVER SELF-INTEREST. His opening chapter titled “Replacing Leadership With Stewardship” provided another challenge to this student of servant leadership – how can we survive without leadership?
Reading through Block’s first chapter however makes me a believer in his goal of replacing leadership with stewardship. Block writes that stewardship “is concerned with creating a strong sense of ownership and responsibility for outcomes at the bottom of the organization. It means giving control to customers and creating self-reliance on the part of all who are touched by the institution. The answer to economic problems is not more money; it is to focus on quality, service, and participation first.”
He goes on to point out that leadership “carries the baggage, however, of being inevitably associated with behaviors of control, direction, and knowing what is best for others. The act of leading cultural or organizational change by determining the desired future, defining the path to get their, and knowing what is best for others is incompatible with widely distributing ownership and responsibility in an organization.”
Blocks warning, “Focusing power and purpose at one point in an organization, usually the top, has over time the impact of destroying the culture and very outcomes we sincerely intend create.” gets at the heart of my concern about the leadership styles of Gore, Gates, Buffet, and Bono. These are leaders that come from the top of their organizations and the focus is definitely on them – can our organizations survive with leadership like theirs?
posted by Tom Jablonski at 8:24 PM
<< Home