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What is leadership and

can it be taught?

Kindergarten Report Card vs. Performance Appraisal 1.  Rank candidate on a scale of…Very Satisfactory – Satisfactory – Unsatisfactory:

–  Dependability –  Stability –  Imagination –  Originality –  Self-expression –  Health & Vitality –  Ability to plan & control –  Cooperation

2.  Rank candidate on a scale of Satisfactory – Improving – Needs Improvement: –  Can be depended upon –  Contributes to the good work of others –  Accepts and uses criticism –  Thinks critically –  Shows initiative –  Plans work well –  Physical resistance –  Self-expression –  Creative ability Source: Cappelli

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Xerion or Lapis Philosophorum

What is leadership?

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Is it this… Or is this what we mean?…

How about these guys?… Collins says this…

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Maybe this is best… Human Capital Theory

• Education Human Capital (K) Earnings

• Skills and human capital enhance the productivity of the employee.

• Therefore, the more K an employee possess, the more valuable they are to the employer, thereby increasing their compensation.

• More K = More $$$

ln Wi = βo +β1Ci + β2Pi+β3Di + µi

Alternatives to HCT

•  0.66-0.80 of the variance is not captured in the traditional labor market model.

• Employers are rewarding the “non-productive” skills of employees, creating wage differentials between seemingly identical employees.

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Hamermesh and Biddle –  1994 Study

• Characteristics that count:

–  Beauty –  Height –  Obesity –  CLEAN HOUSE!

This guy must be a millionaire!

Looks Matter…

•  “the expected hourly wage difference between men judged to be ‘below basic’ and those with ‘above average’ looks was 14 percent of the expected wage.” (p. 1139)

• The wage premium for attractive women is around 9%

Bowles, Gintis, Osborne (2001)

• Bowles et al. examine which non-productive skills, which they term “behavioral traits” are being rewarded in competitive labor markets.

•  Leadership?

Bowles, Gintis, Osborne (2001)

• What skill shortage exists (according to personnel managers)? –  “lack of technical skills” was 43% –  Leadership traits” was 62%

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Bowles, Gintis, Osborne (2001)

• What, then, is school good for?

• Educational attainment is a signal of other skills and traits that employers seek in employees, such as: –  leadership@!?@?@

Current Poll of most important leadership gurus…

Three most important leadership books…

The best leadership programs…

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Companies used to develop leaders like this…

•  1950s-’60s average Fortune 500 exec had been with their company 24 years

•  The typical career path…12-18mo training •  18-21 month job rotation •  “Hi potential” program –accelerated

promotions •  75% execs had > 5yrs on corporate staff •  40% execs began in marketing/sales •  Detailed workforce and succession plans –

15 years out

Now they do this… •  President/CEO tenure was: •  10 yrs in 1950s;

•  5 years in 1960s;

•  <3 yrs now

•  CEO turnover (and exec team) up 53% since ’95

•  Rising 2x as fast in UK and Europe as in US •  Firing for performance biggest cause, 2x

as retirement •  54% VP vacancies and above have an

outside search •  Taleo reports 2/3rds of vacancies now

filled from outside

More good news…

•  Restructuring is non-stop •  AMA survey –49% have downsizings even

during the “boom” years •  Fortune 500 now employ • as many as 20

years ago •  63 percent cutting in one division and

expanding in another •  Cuts happened faster in this downturn than

any time before •  Employee Tenure: Down with employer/ Up

with occupation

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What we know about leadership

•  Practical interest in leadership is often motivated by desire to improve performance

•  Kaiser, Hogan, & Craig (2008) maintain we know much more about leadership perceptions than how leaders affect performance

•  Such research can help leaders manage their image

•  Not much help guiding them to improve organizational performance

•  (Performance focus of < 20% of studies) Source – Lord 2009

Leadership research

•  Most research is focused on simple heroic views that emphasize effects of a specific person

•  Emphasizes leader behaviors & traits •  Leaders seen as directly causing outcomes •  Indirect effects occurring through others •  Measurement problems Source – Lord 2009

Leadership research

•  Pattern of traits - leadership perception & promotion (Foti & Hauenstein, 2007)

•  Leader character -trust (Dirks & Ferrin, 2002)

•  Leader intelligence -task performance (Judge, Colbert, & Ilies, 2004)

Source – Lord 2009

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Le Mythe de Sisyphe

Camus introduces his philosophy of the absurd: man's futile search for meaning, unity and clarity in the face of an unintelligible world devoid of God and eternity.

He compares the absurdity of man's life with the situation of Sisyphus, and concludes, "The struggle itself...is enough to fill a man's heart. One must imagine Sisyphus happy."

Maybe we upstream?

Then up to teachers…