tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-52568536345621917712024-03-13T00:46:54.321-07:00Leadership for DevelopmentLeadership matters for development. It matters even more in societies where institutions are weak (or non-existent). In this blog, Ajay Tejasvi explores leadership and the related concepts of governance, and capacity development.Shravan Bharathulwarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08751043312194222791noreply@blogger.comBlogger20125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5256853634562191771.post-7486139984023022272013-03-24T07:03:00.000-07:002013-03-24T07:03:05.772-07:00Trust is Everybody’s Business<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: #353535;"><span style="line-height: 17px;">Note: This article was published in the March 17-23 </span></span><span style="text-align: -webkit-auto;">Issue of New Europe. You can find it here on page 11 </span><a href="http://de.scribd.com/doc/130902117/New-Europe-Print-Edition-Issue-1022" style="text-align: -webkit-auto;">http://de.scribd.com/doc/130902117/New-Europe-Print-Edition-Issue-1022</a></span></div>
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<span style="color: black;">Trust is everybody’s business – or at least it
<i>should</i> be. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-themecolor: text1;">Trust is the foundation for an effective society.
At a basic level, we trust that we will wake up in the morning. We trust that the
sidewalk we walk on will not give way! We trust that the post will be
delivered, that we’ll get what we order in restaurants, that the airline pilot
will land the plane safely. We trust that others will do their jobs so that we
can continue leading productive, happy lives. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-themecolor: text1;">In a similar act of faith, we trust that
governments will repay their debts, and hence, we are willing to lend them more
money. We believe that our paper currency is worth something. Businesses run on
the conviction that they will be able to procure the raw materials they
require, and through careful planning and data analysis, they expect that
consumers will want their products. </span><span style="color: #262626; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">Trust enables individuals to
do business with each other. Business creates wealth. To reiterate - t</span><span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-themecolor: text1;">he
economy runs on trust. </span><i><span style="color: #262626; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;"><o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-themecolor: text1;">Authoritative research by Douglass North,
Paul Keefer, Stephen Knack, and Paul Zak, among others, demonstrates that the
presence or lack of trust has profound consequences for the development of
public institutions. Where trust is present, it has a stabilizing effect on
expectations, and people are more likely to adhere to their commitments. Norms are accordingly respected at the
societal level, to the extent that when these norms are breached, sanctions are
enforced. Francis Fukayama has noted that trust reduces the cost of
transactions, as individuals need to spend time and effort to investigate the
genuineness of other parties’ stated intentions. As a result, societies that
have </span><span style="color: #262626; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">higher trust levels are more prosperous.<a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=5256853634562191771#_ftn1" name="_ftnref1" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="color: #262626; font-family: Cambria; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS 明朝"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">[1]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a>
<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-themecolor: text1;">Trust can not only help a nation become prosperous,
it can also strengthen individual success and promote happiness. Suppose we trusted
no one, would it be possible for us to continue to live complete, fulfilled lives?
<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-themecolor: text1;">So how do we inculcate trust in ourselves, in
those around us, and in our societies? <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-themecolor: text1;">A good place to begin is within oneself. The
ancient Hindu scriptures state, “<i>Yatha
Drishti, Tatha Srishti</i>”; “as one’s vision, so is the creation.” To create
an atmosphere of trust, one needs to be aware of what is happening in the world
within. As the spiritual Guru, Sri Sri Ravi Shankar says, “When we are able to
perceive, and observe our environment with greater clarity, then we are able to
see how interconnected life on this planet is. We are able to make connections
that we might not have seen earlier. So a first step to creating a beautiful
society on this planet is achieving clarity of mind.” Meditation, Yoga, and
breathing techniques can help calm the mind and bring clarity of thought. Awareness
of our thoughts and emotions can temper our behavior and interaction with
people around us. Self-awareness can also help us grow in terms of our own
abilities and our confidence to be successful in our efforts.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px; text-align: left;">
<span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-themecolor: text1;">The next step is to earn the trust of others
– to encourage them to have faith in us. By committing ourselves to be
trustworthy, we must be able to “walk the talk” and put ourselves in others’
shoes. Consistency in action, and empathy are important. When people see that
we understand their point of view, and are willing to work with them towards a
solution, they are more likely to trust us, and then to collaborate with us to
achieve common goals. Being in a calm and clear state of mind can strengthen
our ability to appreciate and understand others’ points of view.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-themecolor: text1;">In some societies, a lack of trust – among
individuals, or between people and their government – has triggered change, in
some cases fundamental transformations of the relationship between government
and society, toward the achievement of more public trust. All too often, however, change is stymied by turmoil
and bloodshed. Fragile and post-conflict states are plagued by the lack of
trust – in institutions, and between people. </span><span style="color: #262626; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">Douglass North writes,</span><span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-themecolor: text1;">
<i>“</i></span><i><span style="color: #262626; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;">The inability of societies to develop effective,
low-cost enforcement of contracts is the most important source of both
historical stagnation and contemporary underdevelopment in the Third World.”</span></i><a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=5256853634562191771#_ftn2" name="_ftnref2" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="color: #262626; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 12pt;">[2]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a><span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-themecolor: text1;">
The World Bank and the United Nations have highlighted the need for
“confidence-building-measures” in rebuilding conflict-afflicted societies in
recent reports.<a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=5256853634562191771#_ftn3" name="_ftnref3" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="color: black; font-family: Cambria; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS 明朝"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-themecolor: text1;">[3]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a> <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px; text-align: left;">
<span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-themecolor: text1;">The need of the hour is for society to refocus
on building trust and revive the human values of compassion, friendliness, and
love. A practical way of complementing institutional approaches is through
meditation and self-reflection. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px; text-align: left;">
<span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-themecolor: text1;">After all, trust is everybody’s business. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px;"><br /></span></div>
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<div class="MsoFootnoteText" style="text-align: left;">
<a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=5256853634562191771#_ftnref1" name="_ftn1" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS 明朝"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">[1]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a> <span style="font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;">See Francis Fukuyama, <i>Trust: The Social Virtues and the Creation
of Prosperity</i>, Touchstone Books, 1996.</span><o:p></o:p></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn2" style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px;">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText" style="text-align: left;">
<a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=5256853634562191771#_ftnref2" name="_ftn2" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 10.0pt;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS 明朝"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">[2]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a><span style="font-size: 10.0pt;"> See Douglass North, </span><i><span style="font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;">Institutions, Institutional Change and
Economic Performance</span></i><span style="font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;">, Cambridge University Press, 1990, P.54.</span><span style="font-size: 10.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
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<div class="MsoFootnoteText" style="text-align: left;">
<a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=5256853634562191771#_ftnref3" name="_ftn3" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 10.0pt;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS 明朝"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">[3]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a><span style="font-size: 10.0pt;"> See World Bank, World Development Report 2011,
Washington DC, 2011. </span><a href="http://siteresources.worldbank.org/INTWDRS/Resources/WDR2011_Overview.pdf"><span style="font-size: 10.0pt;">http://siteresources.worldbank.org/INTWDRS/Resources/WDR2011_Overview.pdf</span></a><span style="font-size: 10.0pt;"> </span><a href="http://www.un.org/wcm/content/site/chronicle/home/archive/issues2011/7billionpeople1unitednations/dilemmaofdemcratizationinfragilestates"><span style="font-size: 10.0pt;">http://www.un.org/wcm/content/site/chronicle/home/archive/issues2011/7billionpeople1unitednations/dilemmaofdemcratizationinfragilestates</span></a><span style="font-size: 10.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07921474936105540223noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5256853634562191771.post-60152136258746334152012-06-22T09:08:00.001-07:002012-06-22T09:08:37.889-07:00Re-examining Assistance to Fragile and Post Conflict States<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="color: black; line-height: 200%;">Approximately two billion people live in countries
affected by fragility and conflict.<a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=5256853634562191771#_ftn1" name="_ftnref1" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn1;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="color: black; font-size: 12pt;">[1]</span></span></span></a>
Poverty rates in fragile states average 54 percent compared with 22 percent for
low-income countries as a whole.<a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=5256853634562191771#_ftn2" name="_ftnref2" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn2;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="color: black; font-size: 12pt;">[2]</span></span></span></a>
</span><span style="color: black;">These “fragile states” represent a major challenge for
global poverty reduction, achievement of the Millennium Development Goals, for
peace and stability and for global issues such as the war on terror.<a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=5256853634562191771#_ftn3" name="_ftnref3" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn3;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="color: black; font-size: 12pt;">[3]</span></span></span></a> The African continent contains the majority
of fragile states with most Africans living on less than two dollars a day. The
average lifespan in these countries is under 50. Drought and famine persist.<a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=5256853634562191771#_ftn4" name="_ftnref4" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn4;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="color: black; font-size: 12pt;">[4]</span></span></span></a> <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="color: black;">Fragile
states are characterized by violence, a legacy of conflict, weak governance and
limited administrative capacity.
Underlying fragility is a history of divided identity, political
fragmentation, and weak institutions.
Transitioning out of fragility is a complex and arduous task. The effort
requires a multipronged approach to secure peace, rebuild institutions, and
accelerate growth and poverty reduction.<a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=5256853634562191771#_ftn5" name="_ftnref5" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn5;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="color: black; font-size: 12pt;">[5]</span></span></span></a> <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="color: black;">The
focus of the international community has been on providing financial and
technical assistance and on external intervention, especially since problems of
fragility can, in some instances, be transnational. Nonetheless insufficient emphasis has been
placed on understanding the role that domestic leadership processes play in lifting
countries out of fragility or causing or keeping countries in fragility. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="mso-element: footnote-list;">
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<div style="text-align: left;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=5256853634562191771#_ftnref1" name="_ftn1" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn1;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[1]</span></span></a><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"> Ashraf Ghani & Clare Lockhart, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Fixing Failing States: A Framework for
Rebuilding a Fractured World</i>, (Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press, 2008),
6-9.<br /> <o:p></o:p></span><a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=5256853634562191771#_ftnref2" name="_ftn2" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn2;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[2]</span></span></a><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"> The World Bank, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Global
Monitoring Report 2007: Confronting the Challenges of Gender Equality</i>,
(Washington DC: The World Bank Group, 2007), 10-12.<br /><o:p></o:p></span><a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=5256853634562191771#_ftnref3" name="_ftn3" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn3;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[3]</span></span></a><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"> The Millennium Development Goals are eight </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_development"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="color: windowtext; text-decoration: none;">international development</span></span></a><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"> goals that all 192 United Nations member states and
at least 23 </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_organizations"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="color: windowtext; text-decoration: none;">international organizations</span></span></a><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"> have agreed to achieve by the year 2015. They
include eradicating </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Extreme_poverty"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="color: windowtext; text-decoration: none;">extreme poverty</span></span></a><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">, reducing </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Child_mortality"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="color: windowtext; text-decoration: none;">child mortality</span></span></a><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"> rates, fighting disease </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epidemics"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="color: windowtext; text-decoration: none;">epidemics</span></span></a><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">, such as </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AIDS"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="color: windowtext; text-decoration: none;">AIDS</span></span></a><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">, and developing a global partnership for
development.<br /><o:p></o:p></span><a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=5256853634562191771#_ftnref4" name="_ftn4" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn4;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[4]</span></span></a><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"> See “Africa Rising” in <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Economist</i>, (December 3, 2011).<br /> <o:p></o:p></span><a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=5256853634562191771#_ftnref5" name="_ftn5" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn5;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[5]</span></span></a></span><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"> The World Bank, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">World
Development Report 2011: Conflict, Security, and Development</i>, (Washington,
DC: The World Bank Group, 2011), 145. </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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</div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07921474936105540223noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5256853634562191771.post-48175543716605115562012-04-01T07:23:00.012-07:002012-04-30T14:05:24.664-07:00The Role of Leadership in Fragile States<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: Constantia;">Approximately sixty countries have been designated ‘Fragile States’ by international development agencies. Home to two billion of the world’s poorest people, </span><span style="color: black; font-family: Constantia;">these fragile states are characterized by violence, weak institutions and shattered economies. Not only do they pose a challenge to regional security, they often become the breeding grounds for terrorism. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: Constantia;">Donor agencies pour billions of dollars annually into these countries – through policy advice and conditional loans – to alleviate fragility and promote development. </span><span style="color: black; font-family: Constantia;">Development, however it is defined, involves economic, social and political transformation. Such a transformation is shaped by ideas, engages multiple interests, and proceeds within rules and norms set by political institutions. Since the structure of political institutions is influenced by human agency, leadership becomes important to study.</span><span style="font-family: Constantia;"> Leadership is crucial particularly in fragile states, where institutions are weak or have been destroyed by conflict; however, a systematic effort to examine the role of leaders and coalitions in fragile states is lacking. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Constantia;">My doctoral dissertation sought to create a methodology to improve understanding of the role of different leadership strategies in bringing about transitions <span style="color: black;">in and out of fragility. To make the scope manageable, the study focused on: (i) leadership at the national level; and (ii) fragile states in Africa. It did so by examining: (i) evidence from country level panel data on leadership (regime) change and fragility; and (ii) in-depth analytical case studies of transitions in and out of fragility in four countries: Zimbabwe, Uganda, Rwanda, and South Africa. </span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: Constantia;">The analysis looked at the relationship between the change agent’s leadership strategy (the independent variable: political participation and inclusion, economic growth and inclusion, and security and justice) and fragility outcomes (dependent variable: conflict and security indicators, economic indicators, and the approach to political inclusion). </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Constantia;">The results of the regression analysis exhibit a robust association between leadership change and fragility.</span><span style="font-family: Constantia;"> Furthermore, t</span><span style="color: black; font-family: Constantia;">he country cases show how different types of leadership strategies lead to varying trajectories of fragile states’ post-transition. The case studies reveal different approaches to sequencing of political inclusion and the role of leadership exit in transitions from fragility.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Constantia;">Spurred by the positive results, I am planning further work on this empirical study and will seek to more carefully evaluate the impact of leadership strategies on fragility outcomes over time, and the way these evolve as well. More to come!</span></div>
<br /></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07921474936105540223noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5256853634562191771.post-57594344961293811602012-02-01T19:07:00.000-08:002012-04-30T14:05:38.295-07:00The Environment and Economics: No Compromise? Part 2<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="line-height: 200%;">The historical importance of unintended consequences<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="line-height: 200%;"> Historians encounter the workings of unintended consequences whether they deal with political institutions, ideas or demography. But there is probably no other branch of the discipline in which unintended consequences play such an important part as they do in environmental history. Consider the Aswan Dam. Begun in 1960 and completed in 1971, this archetypal Cold War prestige project was designed to 'build pyramids for the living' (in Nasser's words). It would control the Nile flood, allow its water to be used more systematically for irrigation, and generate electricity. These things the dam achieved. It also had serious unwanted consequences. To replace the silt that no longer came down the Nile, electricity from the dam had to go into manufacturing chemical fertilizer. Salinization, the scourge of irrigation regimes, increased without the flushing provided by the annual flood, while Egypt's irrigation canals became a breeding ground for the snails that carry schistosomiasis, a disease of the liver, intestines and urinary tract that now affects the entire population in many rural areas. Deprived of silt, the Nile Delta shrank, displacing people and depriving the Mediterranean of nutrients, which destroyed the sardine and shrimp fisheries. This was not quite the 'everlasting prosperity' Nasser had promised.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 200%;"> The unintended consequences of the Aswan Dam, like those of other great hydrological schemes from the Punjab to the Central Asian catastrophe of the Aral Sea, were regional in their effects. Other kinds of human impact on the environment have had global consequences. McNeill says that this is true of the unwitting world-historical role played by the American chemical engineer Thomas Midgely. In 1921, Midgely calculated that adding lead to petrol would make it burn better and prevent engine knock - it was a 'gift from God', said the first company to sell the fuel. Not until half a century later, by which time cars had burned 25 trillion liters, did public health concerns overcome industry resistance and usher in the unleaded era. Nor was leaded petrol Midgely's only legacy. In 1930, he invented Freon, the first of the chlorofluorocarbons used as refrigerants, solvents and sprays. In the thirty years following World War Two, intensive use of CFCs created holes in the ozone layer that protects life on earth from ultraviolet radiation. </span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 200%;"> Beginning in the 1970s, scientific research and unusually prompt international action led to sharply reduced use of CFCs, over the protests of chemical manufacturers. On the other hand, some of the CFCs released into the atmosphere before the Montreal Protocol of 1987 will still be destroying ozone in 2087. Enhanced radiation will increase the risk of cataracts, damaged immune systems and skin cancers in humans; it will also continue to kill phytoplankton, the basis of ocean food chains.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 200%;"> The Aswan Dam and Thomas Midgely both have a place in John McNeill's excellent environmental history of the 20th century. McNeill has done a vast amount of research and his range is truly global. He discusses the effects of oil extraction from Tampico to the Niger delta, the problems caused by air pollution from the 'sulphuric triangle' between Dresden, Prague and Cracow to the Hanshin district of Japan; and on the subject of deforestation in the tropics ('one of the central events of our time') he draws on evidence from Indonesia as well as Brazil. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="line-height: 200%;">The growing resource crunch: Blood for Oil?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="line-height: 200%;">Since September 11th and the commencement of the "war on terror," the world's attention has been focused on the relationship between U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East and the seas of crude oil that lie beneath the region's soil. Michael Klare traces oil's impact on international affairs since World War II, revealing its influence on the Truman, Eisenhower, Nixon, and Carter doctrines. He shows how America's own wells are drying up as our demand increases; by 2010, the United States will need to import 60 percent of its oil. And since most of this supply will have to come from chronically unstable, often violently anti-American zones-the Persian Gulf, the Caspian Sea, Latin America, and Africa-our dependency is bound to lead to recurrent military involvement.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 200%;"> Oil in the US is a major source of energy and a key driver of economic growth. The military machine also requires a large supply of oil. Local production is incapable of supporting this large demand and hence the US is now a net importer of oil. Klare traces the beginning of the alliance with the autocratic regime in Saudi Arabia during the WW II years, as the US oil production starting falling behind the demand. Under the agreement forged by President Roosevelt, the US would be obliged to protect the sovereignty of Saudi Arabia and would receive a guarantee of US firms’ dominance in the oil fields of Saudi Arabia. The Truman, Eisenhower, Nixon and Carter administrations continued this policy of protecting and providing the Saudi regime with billions of dollars of advanced arms, in return for the drilling rights. At the same time, there was growing dissidence in the intellectual elite in the Arab world, who were perturbed by what they saw as US meddling in Arab affairs. Saddam Hussein’s attempt to take over the fertile oil fields of Kuwait only worsened the discontent. Though the Kuwaitis were grateful for US protection, radical Islamists’ fury only grew. This culminated in the 9/11 attacks on the US mainland. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 200%;"> The energy strategy adopted by the Bush administration does not break from tradition, and carries on increasing the dependence on petroleum. There is, and Klare documents this beautifully in relation to petroleum, a very pathological cycle that could be easily stopped. The US insists on cheap oil, this leads to bloodshed and high oil prices; this comes back to lower quality of life for the workers, and so on. As he points out, the pipelines cannot be protected. American policy makers are deceiving the public when they suggest they can stabilize the Middle East and protect cheap oil. Not only can the pipelines not be protected, but also on America's current consumption path, according to the author, the Gulf States would have to double production to keep up with American demand. He is also intellectually powerful in painting a future picture when China, Russia, and Europe are in armed competition with the USA for energy from Central Asia, Latin America, under the Spratley Islands, and other regions with proven oil reserves. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 200%;"> Cheap oil has become a mantra, and military power has become the unquestioned means of achieving that. However, the US doesn't have enough guns or blood to stabilize a world that it antagonizes every time it deploys into an "occupation" mode, and cheap oil is going to be extremely expensive in terms of American blood on the floor. Cheap oil for the US is a major contributor to unemployment and destabilization within Arabia. Klare insists that buying oil from Saudi Arabia subsidizes terrorism. Buying cheap oil from Saudi Arabia increases the number of unemployed who might be inspired to become terrorism. Klare is also very effective in objectively criticizing the manner in which the US Administrations have integrated anti-terrorism initiatives with energy-protection initiatives. Bin Laden is still at large, but we have an occupation army sitting on top of the Iraqi oil fields.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 200%;"> The book ends as intelligently as it begins, with emphasis on getting to a post-petroleum economy. We could start with neighborhood level solar power, efficient wind power, energy conservation (which must also apply to water), a gradual elimination of chlorine-based and petroleum-based industries, a move toward self-sustenance across the board, and what Klare cites as his big three steps:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 200%;">1) Divorce energy purchases from security commitments---stop tolerating dictators and arming terrorist nations for the sake of cheap oil.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 200%;">2) Reduce our reliance on imported oil, drastically. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 200%;">3) Prepare the way for a transition to a post-petroleum economy that includes conservation, hybrid vehicles, enhanced public transportation, and usage of renewable sources of energy like solar energy, wind power and so on. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="line-height: 200%;">Conclusion<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="line-height: 200%;"> In <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Something New Under the Sun, </i>McNeill infuses a substrate of ecology with a lively historical sensibility to the significance of politics, international relations, technological change, and great events. He charts and explores the breathtaking ways in which we have changed the natural world with a keen eye for character and a refreshing respect for the unforeseen in history. He introduces us to little-known figures like Thomas Midgely, the chemical engineer, who, McNeill claims, had more impact on the atmosphere than any other organism in earth history. From Midgely's work with General Motors came the inventions of leaded gasoline and of Freon, the first of the chlorofluorocarbons that drift into the stratosphere and rupture ozone molecules. McNeill recounts episodes of environmental disaster -- the mercury poisoning of Japan's Mina Mata Bay, the death of the Aral Sea in Soviet Central Asia -- but shows too the successes of environmental policy in reversing pollution of the air and water. He fashions his story without pronouncements of doom or sermons on the ethical lapses of humankind. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 200%;"> McNeill assesses the ecological course we have taken in the twentieth century as an interesting evolutionary gamble. We have become exquisitely adapted to particular circumstances -- a stable climate, cheap energy, rapid economic growth. But our fossil fuel-based civilization is so ecologically disruptive that it undermines the stability of these conditions. McNeill does not speculate on the consequences, but his insights illuminate the new path we have made in this global century. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 200%;"> In his path breaking <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Resource Wars</i>, world security expert Michael T. Klare alerted us to the role of resources in conflicts in the post-Cold War world. Now, in <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Blood and Oil,</i> he concentrates on a single precious commodity, petroleum, while issuing a warning to the United States-its most powerful, and most dependent, global consumer. With clarity and urgency, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Blood and Oil</i> delineates the United States' predicament and cautions that it is time to change the country's energy policies, before it spends the next decades paying for oil with blood. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 200%;"> Klare insists that the US needs to work on three key areas in order to achieve energy autonomy and integrity. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 200%;">i.<span style="font: normal normal normal 7pt/normal 'Times New Roman';"> </span></span><span style="line-height: 200%;">A “paradigm shift” with regards the way the US thinks about its energy needs.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 200%;">ii.<span style="font: normal normal normal 7pt/normal 'Times New Roman';"> </span></span><span style="line-height: 200%;">No more oil for protection policy for undemocratic and terrorist breeding nations.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 200%;">iii.</span><span style="line-height: 200%;">Reduction in US dependence on imported oil by decreasing consumption by:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 200%;">a.<span style="font: normal normal normal 7pt/normal 'Times New Roman';"> </span></span><span style="line-height: 200%;">Improved fuel efficiency of light vehicles.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 200%;">b.<span style="font: normal normal normal 7pt/normal 'Times New Roman';"> </span></span><span style="line-height: 200%;">Development of new types of vehicles – especially hybrids, and hydrogen fueled vehicles.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 200%;">c.<span style="font: normal normal normal 7pt/normal 'Times New Roman';"> </span></span><span style="line-height: 200%;">Enhance the appeal of mass transit. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 200%;">Klare makes it clear that if the US does not heal itself from the inside out, that no amount of guns, blood, or destruction will save it from the inevitable implosion of the unstable places where oil is to be found.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black;">The two books have different geographic focus and starkly different styles, within some commonality in themes. In particular, both are environmental histories with a common underlying theme of unintended consequences: McNeill records mankind's unintended impact on the ecology, while Klare documents the unintended consequences of US oil policy. At the same time, the two authors have dramatically different styles: McNeill provides a dispassionate and painstaking analysis, while Klare's style is passionate and at times indignant. Interestingly, both appear to have an underlying moral commitment: McNeill's commitment to the natural environment which mankind disrupts and affects, and Klare's outrage at destructive and self serving pursuit of US oil interests. This makes for compelling reading.</span><span style="line-height: 200%;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07921474936105540223noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5256853634562191771.post-56764871721405738792012-01-10T13:38:00.000-08:002012-04-30T14:05:49.458-07:00The Environment and Economics: No Compromise? -- Part 1<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 19px; line-height: 38px;"><b> </b></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 32px;">This essay reviews two important treatises on environmental history: <i>Something New Under the Sun</i> and <i>Blood and Oil</i>. J.R. McNeill's <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Something New Under the Sun</i> documents the broad sweep of environmental evolution over the last century, and Michael Klare's <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Blood and Oil</i> documents the troubled history of the US foreign policy conquests in pursuit of oil.</span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 200%;">The developments of the last century were unprecedented. Total population quadrupled, while urban population increased thirteen times, world output increased fourteen times, energy use increased sixteen times, and industrial production increased forty times. All this human activity generated a tremendous amount of waste, including agricultural residue, mine tailings, and emissions into the atmosphere, rivers, lakes, and seas. Wetlands have been drained or filled and highways and cities built. For the first time, humankind is influencing ecology on a global scale. McNeill catalogues the impact of all this activity, from America to Zimbabwe, and finds the results are not all bad. For instance, the automobile replaced the horse, which required more land to feed and whose waste products and carcasses were sources of urban stench and disease. </span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 200%;">Public attitudes changed in the 1950s and 1960s because cities such as London, Pittsburgh, and Osaka grew so polluted that they became almost unlivable. Major selective cleanups have proceeded even as global waste has grown in volume and cities and rivers have deteriorated. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Something new under the Sun</i> is an informative, dispassionate treatment that recounts the last century's environmental history with admirable impartiality.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 200%;">The world's growing economy is dependent on oil: the supply is running out. The US, China, India, and other powers are engaged in an escalating game of brinkmanship to secure its continued flow. This is the premise of Michael Klare's <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Blood and Oil</i>. The US, with less than 5% of the world's total population, consumes about 25% of the world's total supply of oil. With no meaningful conservation being attempted, Klare sees the United States' energy behavior dominated by four key trends: "<i>an increasing need for imported oil; a pronounced shift toward unstable and unfriendly suppliers in dangerous parts of the world; a greater risk of anti-American or civil violence; and increased competition for what will likely be a diminishing supply pool."</i></span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="line-height: 200%;">Growing pain? Man and the environment<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="line-height: 200%;">During the twentieth century, the human race, without intending anything of the sort, has undertaken a giant, uncontrolled experiment on the earth. In time, according to J. R. McNeill in his new book, the environmental dimension of twentieth-century history will overshadow the importance of events like the world wars, the rise and fall of communism, and the spread of mass literacy. </span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 200%;">Contrary to the wisdom of Ecclesiastes that <i>"there is nothing new under the sun,"</i> McNeill sets out to show that the massive change we have wrought in our physical world has indeed created something new. McNeill contends that we have refashioned the earth's air, water, and soil, and the biosphere to an extent not seen before.</span><span style="line-height: 200%;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="line-height: 200%;">Something New under the Sun</span></i><span style="line-height: 200%;"> begins with chapters on the lithosphere and pedosphere (the rocky crust of the earth and its soil cover), the atmosphere and the hydrosphere, showing how each was modified by human intervention. Human intervention often meant that soil, air and water were degraded, eroded, polluted or exhausted. He then deals with the biosphere: the space occupied by all living things. They serve as the fulcrum of the book and contain some of its strongest arguments. McNeill tells a story of increasing human mastery. He shows how the co-evolution of species gave way to a process of 'unnatural' selection that made the chances for survival of other species heavily dependent on their compatibility with humans. Some prospered, either through domestication (livestock, rice) or because they found niches in a human-dominated biosphere (rats, crabgrass, the tuberculosis bacillus). Others proved incapable of domestication (bison, the blue whale) or unable to adjust (the gorilla, the smallpox virus) and faced extinction. </span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 200%;">Reviewing the quickening pace of extinction rates in the 20th century, McNeill suggests that we may be in the early stages of a mass extinction on a par with the disappearance of dinosaurs 65 million years ago. But this mass extinction, if it is one, will have a known cause: the activities of a rogue mammal species. </span><span style="line-height: 200%;">Those activities are surveyed in the second part of the book. </span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 200%;">McNeill identifies three major 'engines of change': a steep increase in population prompting migration, urbanization and the search for more resources; a new, fossil-fuel based energy regime; and a belief in economic growth that transcends the lines of political conflict - although the commitment to growth was reinforced by the 'security anxiety' of 20th-century regimes. McNeill criticizes both </span>Capitalism and Communism for their role in the exploitation of nature. He quotes Soviet leaders as saying, <i>'Let the fragile green breast of Siberia be dressed in the cement armor of cities, armed with the stone muzzle of factory chimneys, and girded with iron belts of railways. Let the Taiga be burned and felled, let the steppes be trampled.'</i> </div>
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It was the Soviet determination to 'correct nature's mistakes' that turned most of the Aral Sea into a life-threatening saltpan. The high environmental costs of imperialism are repeatedly noted. McNeill also shows that decolonization has done little to change the process of rapid deforestation. He contends that whoever governed, shortsighted developmentalism ruled.</div>
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(Part 2 to follow...)</div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 200%;">Books Reviewed:<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="line-height: 200%;">1.</span><span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 200%;">McNeil, John R., Something New Under the Sun: An Environmental History of the Twentieth-Century World, W.W. Norton & Company, New York and London, 2000.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 200%;">2.</span><span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 200%;">Klare, Michael T., Blood and Oil: The dangers and consequences of America’s growing petroleum dependency, Henry Holt and Company, New York, 2004.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07921474936105540223noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5256853634562191771.post-21184974196914573762011-10-07T08:20:00.000-07:002012-04-30T14:06:00.484-07:00Learning from Washington<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">Effective leadership solutions emerge around problems - change comes from a shared sense of urgency. George Washington’s visionary leadership emerged during the time of America’s birth. He was a great uniter and was crucial in bringing together diverse groups of people and establishing a new nation, where none stood before. Washington’s role became synonymous with the cause of America. He drew on his popularity and symbolic importance to bring unity to a disparate collection of interests and political outlooks. Drawing on lessons learned during the war, when Washington forged the Continental Army into what he called “one patriotic band of brothers,” Washington promoted political unity during the war by mediating the disputes among the army, the states, and the Continental Congress. He continued this work of unifying even after the war as President. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">Some of the main lessons that I drew from my research on Washington include:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">a. The need and importance to take responsibility for one's own life by controlling one's emotions; Washington had a volcanic temper which, with rare exceptions, he kept under control. Washington was able to control so much externally because he first learned to control himself from within.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">b. The importance of constant learning by observing, listening, reading and reflecting; Washington spent much time reflecting or pondering.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">c. The importance of civility – essentially basic respect for everyone.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">d. The role that morality and emotional maturity can play in enhancing one's natural intelligence and understanding of situations. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">e. The inextricable relationship in a democracy between public and personal virtue; the absence of one will always cause a diminution in the other and vice versa.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">f. The need in a democracy for all citizens to be good citizens and for the government to be administered in such a manner as to merit the trust of the citizens.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; line-height: 200%;">Of all the Founding Fathers of the United States, George Washington alone demonstrated fully the characteristics of a visionary leader and the intellectual and moral capacity, over a long period of time and in the course of manifold difficulties, to maintain coherency between long range ideas and goals and short term actions.</span><span style="font-family: Arial;"> The future of society, to a large extent, depends upon citizens and leaders both personally and publicly developing the kind of character so fully and brilliantly seen in George Washington's personal and public lives.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07921474936105540223noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5256853634562191771.post-6218578591391482402011-09-05T13:39:00.000-07:002012-04-30T14:06:08.609-07:00Leadership Lessons from Washington: The Indispensable Man<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;">The following is a review of The Indispensable Man by James T. Flexner.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;"><i>The Indispensable Man</i></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;"> James Thomas Flexner originally wrote this biography in four volumes. The book is organized chronologically and proceeds from Washington’s birth in 1732 to his death in 1799. I found the book enriching, and it raised my interest in developing a more sophisticated political understanding of early American history. Above all I valued this book for its humanization of a legend.The Washington that emerges from these pages is a man of dazzling personal qualities, many failures, passion, strong affections and loyalties, and tremendous character.</span></div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;"> George Washington, in this book, truly comes across as the indispensable man. Without him the revolution would not have been successful, and that if it had been successful, the Nation formed as a result of that American Revolution would have soon come apart and resolved itself into thirteen or more individual competing countries. Washington first holds the Continental Army together against all odds and at the expense of his own health and financial interests. Then after spending eight years in retirement at Mount Vernon, Washington is called back into public life and given the responsibility of first moderating the Constitutional Convention, and then of presiding over a new, fledgling nation with deep sectional and philosophical rifts in opinion, culture and practice. If he could not bring Jefferson and Hamilton and their followers together in the end, he at least managed to keep them from tearing the nation apart while they attacked each other and each other’s ideas and policies. </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;"></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;">In the portrayal in this book, Washington stands head-and-shoulders above all the other men of his time. Even late in his second term, when the author says several times that Washington is “losing his mental powers” and becoming weak and vacillating, he remains an admirable figure, one who is trying to do his best to serve the nation that has called upon him to give his best years to its service.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;"></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;"> In the book, Flexner takes us through Washington's life from his youth as an obscure younger son from the backwoods of Virginia through his days as a soldier, a general, a planter, and a statesman, to his death in December of 1799. As for character, the Washington of this biography is a self-controlled man, fond of company and friends, but also temperate, quiet, a peacemaker, nevertheless at infrequent times giving way to an enormous temper.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;"> Disillusionment is good when it is able to get us behind the myths - not in order to tear them down, but — as in the case of learning about Washington — to more fully appreciate the impact of the very human figures made remarkable by history. At every turn America as a young country was in peril; every decision was layered with implications, competing passions, political pettiness, danger. Though this country was established by flawed men, it has not only survived, but risen to meet its ideals – and this was made possible by the pioneering leadership of George Washington. The Washington that emerges from these pages is a man of:</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;"><b>Impressive personal qualities</b> –”The most significant aspect of Washington’s early career was that it took place at all. Every responsibility he assumed required public selection and support. When he was hardly beyond his teens, many of his associates were already convinced that his destiny was importantly linked to the destiny of America.”</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;"><b>Many failures</b> — “Writers have contended that he was so incompetent that he would have been defeated by any other human beings except the dullards the British sent against him… The debate has overlooked the fact that Washington was never really a soldier. He was a civilian in arms.”</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;"><b>Passion and Commitment</b> — In Manhattan in 1776, Washington rides toward the musket fire to find his men in full retreat. “Washington galloped after them, shouted, struck at them with his riding whip, but to no avail. He threw his hat on the ground, crying out, ‘Are these the men with whom I am to defend America?’ And again, ‘Good God! Have I got such troops as these?’ Unwilling to follow the retreat, Washington soon loomed on horseback, alone. Some fifty of the enemy dashed towards him. He watched them without moving. Had not aides galloped up and pulled him away, he would have been killed or captured.”</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;"><b>Strong affections and loyalties</b> — Often betrayed by those close to him, envied, plotted against, and lied about, he was never defeated in his essential optimism and liking for people.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;"><b>Tremendous character</b> — He does the difficult but right thing without fail. One example: he was the only Virginia founding father to free all of his slaves.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;"><b>A self-educator</b> — This is evident throughout Washington’s long career as a precedent-setting political figure, but to me the most striking examples are his remaking of his Virginia farm as an entity independent of England, and his ability to learn the value of the ragtag Continental army and develop an ability to use it strategically.</span></div>
</div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07921474936105540223noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5256853634562191771.post-67357529405688869482011-08-06T13:38:00.000-07:002012-04-30T14:06:22.297-07:00A study in Leadership: His Excellency George Washington<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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The following is a book review of His Excellency George Washington by Joseph Ellis.<br />
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<i>His Excellency</i><br />
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In this book, Joseph Ellis contends that among America’s founding fathers, Franklin was the wisest, Hamilton the most brilliant, Jefferson the most intellectual, Adams the greatest scholar and Madison the most sophisticated politician. Yet they all acknowledged Washington as their superior (although it’s not certain they believed this at all times). Explaining his greatness is a minor historical industry because, unlike his great contemporaries, George Washington rarely explained himself. Joseph Ellis attempts to do just this in His Excellency George Washington.<br />
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Great Britain would have avoided plenty of trouble by granting Washington a commission. In leading Virginia troops during the French and Indian War he showed talent, but he was refused commission — a crushing disappointment. Although the war was not over, he gave up his dream of a military career and resigned in 1758. Washington belonged to minor Virginia gentry, so marrying the extremely wealthy Martha Custis in 1758 was a step up in a sense for his social standing. He quickly, settled into the life of a Virginia planter: fox hunting, horse racing, gambling and ordering clothes and luxury goods from England. But he also kept a watchful eye on his properties. He was quick to accuse merchants of cheating or to sue over contract disputes, and he grew increasingly angry at mounting bills from his English agent. During this time, his correspondence and diary consist primarily of business matters, lists, weather reports and daily chores. As a consequence, many bored historians have concluded that he lacked depth. Ellis merely concludes that he was sensible. After all, Washington died wealthy, unlike Thomas Jefferson, James Madison and most Virginia aristocrats. More significant, Ellis adds, is that his resentment of England had less to do with unfair taxes than simply with being economically dependent on a nation that refused to treat him as an equal. Dressed in his old uniform, Washington attended every 1775 meeting of the Continental Congress during debate over choosing a commander in chief, quietly letting it be known that he was available. Since he was already chairman of four committees on military affairs and universally respected, he was the obvious — and unanimous — choice.<br />
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Most historians agree that Washington made a mess of the defense of New York in 1776, but he then recovered brilliantly with victories in minor engagements at Trenton and Princeton. After two more defeats, he lost Philadelphia in 1777. Then followed the miserable winter at Valley Forge, caused, Ellis emphasizes, more by the inability of colonial governments to supply the army than by the severe weather. Leaving Valley Forge, Washington fought the inconclusive Battle of Monmouth in June 1778. Until Yorktown three years later, other battles occurred but none with Washington in charge. General John Burgoyne’s surrender at Saratoga, followed by the French alliance in early 1778, made victory inevitable but only in hindsight. Achieving it required a massive infusion of French troops and money, amazing luck and persistent British incompetence. Even more unlikely, it required Washington’s half-starved army to seem threatening to British forces who outnumbered them even after Yorktown.<br />
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Throughout the war, Washington appears to be the only founding father who mattered. All European governments assumed that he represented America. After French forces arrived in 1780, their leading officers debated whether or not Washington was a great general. They concluded that it was impossible to tell until he led a proper army. But that didn’t matter as the French loved Washington as a person anyway. Ellis claims that out of Washington’s wartime service came many of his major contributions to the nation. Although he yearned to fight, he had the genius to realize that sometimes, fighting was a bad idea. Waiting and threatening could sometimes be very effective. Ellis adds that Washington’s posture during the Revolution contributed to a general understanding of the importance of civilian government. For eight years he deferred to the Continental Congress and 13 colonial governments, all of which failed him repeatedly. Then he retired — a rare example of a revolutionary general not making himself dictator. That experience, Ellis points out, also led Washington to understand and fight for the ratification of our Constitution. Those years of trying to extract support for his tattered army convinced the general that America desperately needed a central government with power to levy taxes to defend the nation. Revolutionaries disagreed, pointing out that it was taxes levied by a remote central government that provoked America’s revolt. Correctly viewing the Constitution as counterrevolutionary, many vehemently opposed it. Its passage would have been inconceivable without Washington’s support and the expectation by a respectful country that he would be the first president.<br />
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Some historians portray Washington as founder of the "Virginia dynasty" that produced four of the first five US presidents. Ellis insists he was not. A Virginia party existed, but Washington did not support it. As the dominant state in the union, Virginia took for granted that its interests came first; its party’s leader, Jefferson, agreed. This meant, for example, that agriculture was all-important, and commerce a bad thing. Washington never took this position, and he never stopped trying to convince Americans that they belonged to a single united nation. He was the country’s first and greatest nationalist — another major contribution to the nation’s sense of self.<br />
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It is said that competent historians get their facts right, good historians draw conclusions - but the best historians have insights. Ellis' insights are very helpful in understanding Washington as a leader. Ellis declares: He was "that rarest of men: a supremely realistic visionary….His genius was his judgment." As a general he made mistakes but not one that put the war at risk. As president, he made all the right decisions. In closing, Ellis contends that His Excellency George Washington was the only great American who was recognized as great as soon as he stepped on the stage and whose reputation has never declined.<br />
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</div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07921474936105540223noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5256853634562191771.post-79508031965936567622011-05-11T09:27:00.000-07:002012-04-30T14:06:35.886-07:00George Washington: Founding Father<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">This post is a review of the book Founding Father by Richard Brookhiser. </span><span style="font-family: Times;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;"><b><span style="font-family: Arial;">Founding Father</span></b><span style="font-family: Times;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">For much of America's history, George Washington was treated as something of a demigod. Early biographers like Parson Weems and Chief Justice John Marshall, however different their styles and scholarly standards, wrote in a spirit of patriotic reverence and described a man seemingly without any flaws. In contrast, few Americans today would consider Washington a demigod. Revisionist historians have tended to paint us a figure of an individual who is all too human—a greedy land speculator, a mediocre general, a suggestible politician. But flagging respect for the first President of the United States has a deeper cause than revisionist literature. As Richard Brookhiser, a senior editor at National Review, argues in Founding Father, the issue is that people now tend to take American nationhood for granted. Many see American nationhood as an inevitable step in the march of a historical trend which determined democracy or imperialism, enlightenment or patriarchy. Along the way, many seem to have lost sight of the fact that “ideas require men to bring them to earth.”</span><span style="font-family: Times;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Richard Brookhiser does not try to revive the Washington cult of the 19th century. Nor does he try to reconstruct and defend every important decision of Washington's career. Brookhiser presents a “moral biography” of the first President - an analysis of the extraordinary but altogether human traits that made him so indispensable to the early republic. Aiming to write “in the tradition of Plutarch,” whose accounts of noble Greeks and Romans were a formative influence on the American Founders themselves, Brookhiser tries to give us a portrait that will continue to instruct us today—a task at which he succeeds, but not completely.</span><span style="font-family: Times;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">The first part of Founding Father assumes the form of a historical narrative. Brookhiser reminds us that Washington personally dominated American public life for nearly a quarter-century, a longer period than any other figure in our history. As Commander of the Continental Army from 1775 until peace with Britain was concluded in 1783, as president of the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia in 1787, and as chief executive from 1789 to 1797, he oversaw the long struggle from independence to nationhood. Entering the political realm as a celebrated soldier, he left as the most admired of civilians—no mean feat in an age equally capable of producing an autocrat like Napolean Bonaparte.</span><span style="font-family: Times;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Washington's awareness of his own problematic role in establishing a republican political order provides the central theme of Brookhiser's biographical sketch. Time and again, Washington turned away from opportunities for personal aggrandizement to demonstrate his devotion to popular, civilian rule. The episodes are familiar: his resignation of command immediately after the signing of the Treaty of Paris; his rebukes to those who whispered to him suggestively of monarchy; his reluctance to reenter public life after his military career; and, finally, his insistence on leaving the presidency after his second term. “Washington's last service to his country,” Brookhiser rightly observes, “was to stop serving.” This is something that many contemporary leaders would do well to emulate - especially the leaders in the Middle-East, who continue to cling on desperately to power, at tremendous cost to their population. </span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">What, then, was the character of the man behind these deeds? This question lies at the heart of Founding Father, and Brookhiser begins to answer it in an unusual but illuminating way: he describes the raw elements with which nature endowed Washington—most particularly, great physical stature and an irascible temper. Washington displayed the former to striking effect in such activities as riding and dancing; the latter he directed into the channels of courage and spirited determination. By means of both, he learned how to make the impact necessary to lead.</span><span style="font-family: Times;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">As for Washington's “second” nature—the habits and precepts that guided his conduct—Brookhiser properly rejects the notion, favored by many students of the founding era, that he was some kind of self-styled Roman throwback, a Cato in cocked hat and breeches. Washington no doubt did draw inspiration from the public-spiritedness and self-control of the ancients, but their virtues were too “inhumane” to be his standard. A liberal republic required an ethic of a different sort.</span><span style="font-family: Times;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Washington found this ethic, Brookhiser plausibly claims, in the “Rules of Civility,” a long set of principles that for years instructed English schoolboys. Some of these rules, which Washington copied out in his own hand as a young man, have not aged well: “Kill no vermin, or fleas, lice, ticks, etc., in the sight of others”; “Spit not in the fire.” But many more reflect the timeless demands of social intercourse in a regime based on the idea of political equality: “Every action done in company ought to be done with some sign of respect to those who are present”; “Artificers and persons of low degree” should be treated “with affability and courtesy, without arrogance.” For Washington, Brookhiser notes, politeness was “the first form of politics.” </span><span style="font-family: Times;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Brookhiser does not shy away from examining some of the more troubling aspects of Washington's character and principles. He finds nothing objectionable, for example, in Washington's seeming obsession with reputation and role-playing. If we today “worry about our authenticity—about whether our presentation reflects who we ‘really’ are”—18th-century Americans attended more to the outside story and were less avid to drive putty knives between the outer and inner man. . . . Every man had a character to maintain; every man was a character actor.”</span><span style="font-family: Times;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Yet is concentration on the “outside story,” on the opinions of others, always so admirable a quality in a leader, even a democratic one? One senses a forerunner of today's political spin control in Washington's query to an adviser shortly before the Constitutional Convention: “Inform me confidentially what the public expectation is on this head, that is, whether I will, or ought to be there.” A similar concern for popular standing can be seen at other key points in Washington's career, from his earliest days of command in the French and Indian War to his acceptance of the presidency. In the end, of course, Washington usually did what he considered right rather than what was sure to win applause. Though a firm advocate of freedom of conscience, Washington had difficulty describing an affirmative role for religion in American life. He neither inspired personal religious devotion in others nor successfully attached the national cause to some transcendent purpose, as Lincoln would later do. Instead, one often detects in him the cold instrumentalism of the Enlightenment, as in the following passage from the Farewell Address:</span><span style="font-family: Times;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;"><i><span style="font-family: Arial;">"Of all the dispositions and habits which lead to political prosperity, religion and morality are indispensable supports. In vain would that man claim the tribute of patriotism, who should labor to subvert these great pillars of human happiness, these firmest props of the duties of men and citizens. The mere politician, equally with the pious man, ought to respect and cherish them."</span></i><span style="font-family: Times;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">The book closes with Brookhiser's reflection on Washington's status as “the father” of the country. Brookhiser urges us to emulate America's first President—to curb and direct our passions, to treat our fellow citizens with civility and respect, and, above all, to perform the duties of free government no less energetically than we claim its rights. While many have engaged themselves critiquing and deconstructing Washington, and ascribing every conceivable injustice to him and his contemporaries, it is truly refreshing to be reminded what the life of George Washington still has to teach us.</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;"> </span></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07921474936105540223noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5256853634562191771.post-45698752543586288262011-03-30T14:20:00.000-07:002012-04-30T14:06:48.100-07:00Ethically Motivated Connective Leadership - Case 4<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';">South Africa – Nelson Mandela<o:p></o:p></span></i></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';">Nelson Mandela is a statesman of real stature. His story is one of outstanding moral courage against seemingly impossible odds, of determination to destroy apartheid, and above all – tireless efforts to bring about reconciliation in his homeland. Mandela reveals many of the qualities of a connective leader. Prof. Jean Lipman-Blumen notes that a connective leadership approach utilizes three different achieving styles – direct, relational, and instrumental. The direct achieving style has been the approach that has been traditionally adopted by leaders. In this style, the leader masters his/her own tasks while achieving progress towards the goal. In the relational style, the leader achieves progress by contributing to team-members tasks. In the instrumental style, the leader maximizes interactions between individual team members and empowers them to work collectively towards success. Lipman-Blumen points that in today’s interconnected world, leaders need to utilize not just one, but rather all of the achieving styles – resulting in a connective style of leadership. For a detailed illustration of the connective leadership model, see figure in my previous posting on <a href="http://ajaytejasvi.blogspot.com/2010/12/defining-leadership.html">connective leaders</a> (Lipman-Blumen, 1996).</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';">Nelson Mandela’s inner strength, magnanimity, confidence in humanity, optimism, patience and tolerance, a strong sense of justice, and an unswerving loyalty to his colleagues are attributes that enhance his connective leadership approach. He was born in 1918, as the eldest son of a Xhosa chief (the Xhosas are the second biggest tribe in South Africa after the Zulus). After training as a lawyer, he joined the African National Congress in 1944 and was a leader of the ANC’s non-violent campaigns against apartheid during the 1950s. After police killed 69 unarmed black protesters at Sharpeville in 1960, Mandela and other Congress leaders abandoned increasingly their hopes for peaceful change. In 1961, they formed the Congress’ military wing, Umkhonto we Sizwe (The Spear of the Nation). Mandela was subsequently arrested for incitement, and jailed for life for sabotage, which he openly admitted. At his trial, Mandela spoke of ‘the ideal of a democratic and free society in which all persons live together in harmony and with equal opportunities. It is an ideal which I hope to live for and to achieve, but if need be an ideal for which I am prepared to die.’ <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';"> As Mandela began his long sojourn in Robben Island, the harsh outpost of the South African prison system, he resolved that he would not allow this cruel experience to remove his dignity as a person from him. His jailor, James Gregory notes how Mandela stood tall among all other prisoners, as a leader with a spirit that would not be intimidated. After his release from prison, Mandela showed the rare quality of magnanimity, rising above pettiness and resentment. He did not once express bitterness towards the white community for his grim ordeal in the prisons, only against the system that they imposed. Upon his release from prison, he called for the black community to exhibit generosity of spirit and on the day of his election (27<sup>th</sup> April 1994), he spoke of the need to give the white minority ‘confidence and security.’ It is such generosity of spirit that makes Nelson Mandela one of the world’s most significant moral leaders since Mahatma Gandhi. One of his greatest achievements has been to work to connect and unite the diverse communities that make up South Africa. With his immense moral authority gained by the patient and magnanimous bearing of adversity, Mandela demonstrates it is possible to be a servant-leader, one who serves by leading and leads to serve. He has shown the world that a lofty and courageous spirit enables a leader to confront difficult situations calmly, rise above pettiness and revenge, and make sacrifices for worthy ends. This can also alter the mood of an entire nation. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';"> Vision, humility, and courage are the hallmarks of the leadership seen in Nelson Mandela. The characteristics, along with professional competence or ability, are much sought after by free and equal people around the world. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07921474936105540223noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5256853634562191771.post-87838221383253726562011-03-07T08:20:00.000-08:002012-04-30T14:07:00.484-07:00A Model of Successful Development of Leadership from Within - The Art of Living Foundation<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">One organization that is working to help leaders and future leaders develop themselves from the “inside out” is the <a href="http://www.artofliving.org/">Art of Living Foundation</a>. The Foundation teaches stress-reducing breathing techniques to people from all factions of life including leaders and employees in organizations, aspiring leaders, school children, and communities. These techniques are coupled with meditations and psychological maxims that help people gain the willingness and capability to reframe their approach to life. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Established by <a href="http://www.srisri.org/">Sri Sri Ravi Shankar</a> as a non-profit, educational, and humanitarian organization in 1981, the Foundation has chapters in more than 140 countries. The sustainable development projects, trauma-relief, and self-development programs conducted by the organization are reported to have benefited more than 25 million people around the world. By nurturing the spirit of service and compassion in every individual, the Foundation seeks to build a global society that is free of stress and violence.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The breathing techniques taught in the Art of Living program have been <a href="http://www.aolresearch.org/">researched</a> medically, and are shown to have multiple beneficial impacts such as the reduction of Serum Cortisol (the stress hormone), an increase in the beta wave activity in the brain (showing better integration of the right and left brain), reduction in bad cholesterol (with a simultaneous increase in good cholesterol) among other benefits. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The maxims taught in the program encourage acceptance of diversity, demonstrate and show the complementary nature of opposites such as happiness and sadness, encourage independent thinking and collective action, promote a culture of responsible behavior, and encourage considered responses rather than impulsive reactions to situations.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Through this mixture of breathing techniques, meditation, and maxims that aid day-to-day leadership decisions, the Art of Living program has helped to cultivate a more conscious “inner” core of people encouraging them to be ethical and connective leaders.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Among the most interesting benefits of the program is an acknowledgment of a “heightened sense of belongingness” among the participants, who often report they feel more connected to the people around them, and are ready to take responsibility for the well-being of their communities, their nations, and the world. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In an interview dated August 3, 2003, Sri Sri Ravi Shankar indicated that </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">“the big C of corruption can be countered by 5Cs – Connectedness, Courage, Cosmology (understanding life events in a larger context), Care, and Commitment. </span><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A lack of connectedness or sense of belongingness breeds corruption in society. That is why, often, you see people looking for connections, in order to avoid corruption! A sense of belongingness among people, among the community, can root out corruption.</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">”</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The Art of Living's programs in essence appear to be designed to promote the above cited 5Cs, and as such offers a promising model to develop the “inner” leader who is both ethical and connective, and determined to act in the best interest of society.</span><o:p></o:p></div>
</div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07921474936105540223noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5256853634562191771.post-89565058867746678782011-02-17T11:41:00.000-08:002012-04-30T14:07:49.058-07:00Ethically Motivated Connective Leadership - Case 3<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Philippines - Secretary Benjamin Diokno</span></b></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In the fall of 1998, Benjamin Diokno was appointed Secretary of the Department of Budget and Management (DBM). Diokno, a U.S. trained economist with a background in public administration, had a strong interest in pushing reforms of the country’s budgeting system. Diokno is an example of a connective leader who used his direct, instrumental, and relational skills to bring about procurement reform in the Philippines. He had already served as an Undersecretary for the department (1987-91) under then President Corazon Aquino, and from that experience recognized the need for reforms in the budget process. Reforms in budget formulation had been initiated during the succeeding administration of President Fidel Ramos (1993-98) under the guidance of Emilia Boncodin, an Undersecretary who retired at the end of Ramos’ term. Diokno urged his staff to carry on the reforms that had been initiated previously, and shepherded the young and energetic group that Boncodin had nurtured during her stewardship. Diokno also reached out and connected with collaborators from other arms of the government, the judiciary, and retired civil servants – and created a tightly knit group of reform-minded government officials. He conducted in-depth studies of the procurement process and proposed the implementation of a well-thought out communication strategy that would garner support for the reform initiative. By launching the Procurement Watch Institute (PWI), Diokno and his peers ensured the establishment of checks-and-balances through the involvement of civil society. By obtaining the support of progressive legislators who knew how to traverse the complex legislative maze, Diokno was able to get the procurement reforms passed in Parliament. </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The quest to reform the legal underpinnings of public procurement in the Philippines took more than three years to achieve, punctuated with many bouts of frustration. Getting from the “bad” equilibrium to a “good” equilibrium did not occur instantaneously with the derivation of a fancy mathematical formula or the signing of a loan or grant agreement with specific conditionalities. It involved considerable painstaking efforts of many dedicated individuals who together anticipated what events might turn up each day, and handled those events that did occur in order to keep the momentum going.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">If there is an overarching lesson from the Philippine experience with public procurement reform, it is the necessity of creating a “well-oiled machine” that is capable of responding to unanticipated events as the reform process unfolds. The path from the status quo to the desired state is littered with uncertainty. What is needed then is a mechanism that enables reformers to deal with this uncertainty on a day-to-day basis. This goes beyond the basic adage of forming a coalition to support a reform effort. It means that members of that coalition must be knit tightly into a well-coordinated team that can develop and implement strategy as events unfold. How this is done will differ from case to case and country to country. It will likely include a few core elements.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">First, it will be necessary to form a cadre of reformers within the Executive. In this world of stage three leadership, having a so-called champion is not sufficient, for he or she will necessarily need a core group to depend on to move things along within the government. Moreover, as is typically the case, a champion becomes a clear target of affected vested interests and so will often be the focus of their counteractions. Having a core group of dedicated individuals limits the impact of these actions: Even if the champion is forced to go, there still will be others left to step up to the plate. Second, this cadre needs to be armed with sufficient technical knowledge and tools pertinent to the reform in question. The reformers must be able to respond objectively, definitively, and confidently to these attempts to “keep people’s eyes on the ball.” Third, the core group within government will need support from well-organized allies in civil society and the business community. Outside pressure will almost always be needed to counter the inherent advantage of vested interests. The latter are generally few in number but highly motivated and often tightly knit. Well-organized allies create another battlefront that helps dilute the attention and efforts of these interests. Finally, an aspect that is often underappreciated, a strategic and sustained media campaign must be developed to support the reformers and their allies. In the end, the attention and support of the greater public is what will likely make the difference. There is no real substitute to an effective media campaign in harnessing this good will and support.</span><br />
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07921474936105540223noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5256853634562191771.post-91852635857455582002011-02-01T07:27:00.000-08:002011-02-01T07:27:36.926-08:00Ethically Motivated Connective Leadership - Case 2<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><!--StartFragment--> <br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: center;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Bhutan - King Jigme Singye Wangchuck</b><o:p></o:p></span></i></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: 42.0pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Connective leaders commit themselves to long-term goals, and through their authenticity, encourage their constituents to participate in the execution of these goals. King Jigme Singye Wangchuck shared a vision with his constituents advocating that<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gross_National_Happiness"> Gross National Happiness</a> (GNH), instead of GNP, would measure the country’s development progress. He insisted that happiness and well-being of all people is the ultimate goal. The leadership of the king of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bhutan">Bhutan</a> became a model for developing countries.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: 42.0pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jigme_Singye_Wangchuck">King Jigme Singye Wangchuck</a>, who succeeded to the throne in 1972, surprised people by announcing that he wanted to give up much of his power as a monarch. Unlike stage two leaders, the king did not cling to his authority. He did not try to control citizens but entrusted them with responsibility and power, with the conviction that they must play an integral role in molding an ideal nation. He began to decentralize the power of the government so that people could participate more in decision-making. The king himself was closely involved in leading a change in Bhutan. When he drafted a constitution, the king studied more than 50 constitutions from other countries, and promoted the discussion of a new constitution in every district. Furthermore, he sent out a copy of the draft constitution to every household in Bhutan, a document that even described steps for the king’s own impeachment. Thus, Wangchuck mobilized citizens and engaged them in implementing a shared vision. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: 42.0pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">During the process of modernizing Bhutan, Wangchuck acted as an ethical leader with a long-term vision. Despite the fact that Bhutan could attract much foreign interest by logging and selling teakwood, he maintained a policy that the proportion of the tree cover must be kept above 60%. He perceived the vast forest of Bhutan as an important resource and the key to Bhutan becoming an independent and sustainable economy.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: 42.0pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Indeed, the king’s actions often seemed unorthodox for his constituents. However, because of his authenticity and ethical actions, the king successfully built trust with the people, and together they achieved a great change in the government, economy, and society of Bhutan.</span><o:p></o:p></div><!--EndFragment--> </div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07921474936105540223noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5256853634562191771.post-40058041602498125932011-01-19T07:47:00.000-08:002012-04-30T14:07:12.003-07:00Ethically-Motivated Connective Leadership (Case 1)<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ronald_MacLean_Abaroa">La Paz, Bolivia - Mayor Ronald MacLean-Abaroa</a></span></i></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Connective leaders understand their skill sets and complement them through collaboration with others. </span><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">MacLean-Abaroa was the first democratically elected mayor of </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/La_Paz"><span style="color: windowtext; text-decoration: none;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">La Paz</span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">, </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bolivia"><span style="color: windowtext; text-decoration: none;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Bolivia</span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">, and was reelected four times between 1985 and 1991 to this office. </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">As mayor of La Paz, MacLean-Abaroa successfully brought together various stakeholders like government officials, civil society organizations, and users of public service, and implemented a reform in La Paz municipality. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">When MacLean-Abaroa was first elected as mayor of La Paz in 1985, the government of Bolivia was encountering a hyperinflation crisis. At the same time, La Paz, the administrative capital city of Bolivia, was struggling with finance deficits, poor infrastructure, and service delivery. Promising a drastic change at the municipal level, MacLean-Abaroa won 52% of the votes from La Paz citizens.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Realizing that he needed knowledge to define problems and explore possible solutions, MacLean-Abaroa invited Prof. <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Klitgaard">Robert Klitgaard</a>, a public policy expert with whom he had studied at Harvard, to La Paz. Working closely together, they exposed existing corruption within the municipal organization and devised a restructuring plan. Lipman-Blumen (1996) noted that connective leaders perceive others as “collaborators” and “supporters” rather than “superiors” or “followers,” and value their advice.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">As a connective leader in the globalized world, MacLean-Abaroa also recognized the importance of diversity. During the process of the reform, he formed a diverse consulting team to improve service delivery. A team including four consultants from the city of Curitiba took the initiative for the project, while two other groups supported the team; one consisted of summer interns from MIT and Harvard, and another made up the </span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Bolivia Joven Group</span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> - skilled, enthusiastic graduates under 30 years old. These key staff not only helped improve public service in La Paz, but also became role models within the organization, thus reinforcing efficiency and eliminating a culture of pervasive corruption in municipality. Through his strategic efforts, MacLean-Abaroa ultimately brought much needed reform to La Paz. The city successfully financed $6.2 million for public services which were effectively delivered, and corruption was controlled.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 200%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Ronald MacLean-Abaroa</span></span><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> has since become a prominent Bolivian politician, been one of the founding members of Transparency International, and is now a leading international expert in anti-corruption and leadership programs at the World Bank. He has held five national cabinet positions under three different Bolivian presidents including planning, foreign affairs, information and communications, finance, and development.</span></span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07921474936105540223noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5256853634562191771.post-56799657169398927992011-01-01T01:12:00.000-08:002011-01-01T01:13:15.876-08:00Leadership from Within<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 9pt; text-align: left;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The challenges we face today means that leadership today must be chiefly concerned with serving society - rather than merely advancing their own ideas, ambitions or sense of privilege. One way of helping leaders understand the true purpose of leadership is to help them connect to their inner-self – look within for inspiration to serve in the outside world.</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 9pt; text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b></b>To speak of "ethical leadership" in today's world seems a contradiction in terms. Almost every day, headlines tell of the disgrace, downfall, imprisonment or forced resignation of a political, corporate, religious, or community leader somewhere around the world.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 9pt; text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The long arm of corruption reaches every faction of humanity, from the individual to the societal level, with devastating consequences. Corruption not only affects growth and investment, but also influences the norms and moral standards of societies. It is well recognized as a pervasive phenomenon that can seriously jeopardize the best-intentioned reform efforts and impair the long-term prospects of a country. Combating corruption requires strong institutions characterized by clear and transparent rules, fully functioning checks and balances - including strong enforcement mechanisms and a robust competitive environment - and most importantly, the grooming of ethical leaders who ensure the strengthening and sustainability of libertarian institutions.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 9pt; text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Of these corruption-combating methods, the most crucial and perhaps the least understood is ethical leadership. Without the example of ethical leadership enacted with integrity, there is no model for society to follow or to which to be held accountable. But one ethical leader standing alone does not have much leverage unless he/she is also “a connective leader”. Because a connective leader is skilled at building a network of ennobled, entrusted, and empowered constituents and is motivated by an ethical core, the connective leader can be a very powerful conduit of change.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 9pt; text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But ethically-motivated connective leadership is rare. Conventional leadership development programs focus on the external aspects of leadership – e.g., how to run effective meetings, how to gather a following, how to motivate people to do what the leader wants. Instructing leaders on how to be a connective leader requires a high level of self-knowledge, or even spiritual inputs (different from religious or moral inputs; rather a focus on enabling the participant to have a better look at one’s own self, free of stress and anxieties) and interpersonal skills on the leader’s part – none of which are easy to teach. But training leaders to act from an ethical core is that much more challenging, if not impossible some might say, because of the deeply personal nature of ethics. However, there is anecdotal evidence to show that the returns of such training can have a lasting beneficial impact on the society in general, and against corruption in particular.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 9pt; text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Ultimately, the fight against corruption comes down to the conviction to do so, born out of the ethical essence of the individual leader. It is the convictions, personal motivations, and underlying beliefs that drive the actions of leaders. “Leadership is intensely individual and personal” (Burns, 1978, p. 33). If the values of a leader are developed in childhood (Burns, 1978), then can any leadership development program have an effect on the ethical definitions and actions of both current and future leaders?</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 9pt; text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It leads us to the question of whether leadership can be developed or is an innate trait that cannot be developed. However, if we operate from the hypothesis that given the choice, many “responsible” leaders would choose to act from their highest values, then helping leaders connect back into their ethical core is perhaps the key. In other words, leadership development from the “inside out” rather than the “outside in,” or the development of the “inner” leader. More on this soon...</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left; text-indent: 0.5in;"><o:p></o:p></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07921474936105540223noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5256853634562191771.post-44552889678488599602010-12-18T14:43:00.000-08:002010-12-18T14:44:12.350-08:00Leadership and Power<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So, this past week, I have been thinking about the relationship between leadership and power. What is it that accords legitimacy to leadership? The answer seems pretty straightforward right? Its not just about power...</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Leadership needs to earn the trust of the constituents and stakeholders - in order for its power to be seen as legitimate. I wanted to see what the literature had to say about this topic and so </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I got to reading this book on Leadership by Peter Northouse. Here's what the book says on the relationship between leadership and power. </span><br />
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</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Leadership is a process whereby an individual influences a group of individuals to achieve a common goal. Power is the capacity or potential to influence. People have power when they have the ability to affect others’ beliefs, attitudes, and courses of action.</span><br />
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</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">French and Raven (1959) have written about Five Bases of Power that different types of leaders depend on. According to them, the five bases of power are: </span><br />
<ul><li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Referent power – This is based on followers’ identification and liking for the leader. A professor who is adored by students. (personal)</span></li>
<li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Expert power – This is based on followers’ perceptions of the leader’s competence. A tour guide who is knowledgeable about a foreign country. (personal)</span></li>
<li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Legitimate power – This is associated with having status or formal job authority. A judge who administers sentences in the courtroom (position)</span></li>
<li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Reward power – This is derived from the capacity to provide rewards to others. A supervisor who gives rewards to employees to work hard is using reward power. (position)</span></li>
<li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Coercive power – This is derived from the capacity to penalize or punish others. A coach who sits players on the bench for being late to practice is using coercive power. (position)</span></li>
</ul><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">For more on this topic read: French, J. R. P., Raven, B. The bases of social power. In D. Cartwright and A. Zander. Group dynamics. New York: Harper & Row, 1959.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></div><o:p></o:p><br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><o:p></o:p></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07921474936105540223noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5256853634562191771.post-63843879647666990842010-12-08T09:50:00.000-08:002010-12-08T09:50:23.782-08:00Defining Leadership<!--StartFragment--> <br />
<div class="MsoNormal">Increasingly, leadership is being viewed as a process whereby a change agent intentionally mobilizes people, ideas, meaning and resources towards achieving a purpose. This process is looked upon as beneficial when the objective relates to the common good of society. Leadership is key in helping a state or organization transition from a bad equilibrium (status quo) to a good equilibrium (desired state). </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">The following components can be identified as being central to the phenomenon (in the literature over the past 65 years) –</div><div class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"></div><ul><li><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-bidi-font-family: Cambria; mso-fareast-font-family: Cambria; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"><span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span>Leadership is a process - It is not merely a trait or a characteristic based inside a leader, but it is a series of interactions that occur between the leader and the followers. </li>
<li>leadership involves influence - How does a leader affect the decisions of the followers? </li>
<li>leadership occurs in groups - These can be small focus groups, management teams, or large political organizations. </li>
<li>leadership involves common goals - This notion brings with it a certain amount of ethical responsibility. Research shows that the condition of mutuality and common goals reduces the possibility that the leader will act in unethical ways. This also improves that chances of leaders and followers working together towards a common good. </li>
</ul><o:p></o:p><br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal">The Connective Leadership Model is one such framework within which to understand leadership behaviors.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><!--StartFragment--> </div><div class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Verdana;">The Connective Leadership Model<o:p></o:p></span></b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj72EI66tVKJCfIbmKxAPlBsHEI6gp2ewTEGWHwj0SakenbZgEbp-sGzc1o85-kIIl0gY9BrmsDpNgosBerOgvLyfUlUmb2PabX1TrGW_sFwfcbeJqOfLiU6N4Sh5FBgz1i_ZVq-x5RyPg/s1600/CLModel.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj72EI66tVKJCfIbmKxAPlBsHEI6gp2ewTEGWHwj0SakenbZgEbp-sGzc1o85-kIIl0gY9BrmsDpNgosBerOgvLyfUlUmb2PabX1TrGW_sFwfcbeJqOfLiU6N4Sh5FBgz1i_ZVq-x5RyPg/s1600/CLModel.jpg" /></a></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center; text-indent: .5in;"><b><br />
</b></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">Figure 1: The Connective Model of Leadership by Jean Lipman-Blumen<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Verdana;">The Connective Leadership Model describes three general categories or sets of behaviors used by individuals for achieving their objectives. The model consists of three major sets of behavioral styles: direct, relational, and instrumental. Leaders who prefer the direct set prefer to handle their own tasks individually and directly – emphasizing mastery, competition, and power. People who prefer to work on group tasks or help others to attain their goals emphasize the relational set. The relational set addresses the issues inherent in the many forms of interdependence – collaboration, contribution, and vicariousness (supporting or facilitating other’s accomplishments) characterize this style. People who emphasize the instrumental set tend to use themselves and others as instruments towards community goals. The instrumental set involves three styles – personal, social, and entrusting. People who use the instrumental achieving style treat everything; themselves, their relationships, situations, and resources as instruments towards their goals. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In summation, the direct achieving style has been the approach that has been traditionally adopted by leaders. In this style, the leader masters his/her own tasks while achieving progress towards the goal. In the relational style, the leader achieves progress by contributing to team-members tasks. In the instrumental style, the leader maximizes interactions between individual team members and empowers them to work collectively towards success. <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><o:p></o:p></i></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Verdana;">Connective leaders understand that today’s issues require one to be able to utilize all the different behavioral styles in order to succeed. Lipman-Blumen notes that their conception of leadership reaches beyond the direct styles favored by traditional leaders, and also goes beyond competition and collaboration. It involves the ability and willingness of these leaders to call upon ethical instrumental action.</span><a href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=5256853634562191771#_ftn1" name="_ftnref1" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn1;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Cambria; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">[1]</span></span></span></span></a><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Verdana;"> In many post-conflict and post-authoritarian situations, the economic condition of citizens is often so fragile that they do not have the time or inclination for civic activism. In this situation, where there is absence of a strong civil society, connective leaders can play a positive role in establishing the basic rules and tools of democracy, as well as strengthening the society and the economy. The leaders studied in this paper are connective leaders to various degrees and have utilized the different achieving styles to meet their goals. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div style="mso-element: footnote-list;"><br clear="all" /> <hr align="left" size="1" width="33%" /> <div id="ftn1" style="mso-element: footnote;"> <div class="MsoFootnoteText"><a href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=5256853634562191771#_ftnref1" name="_ftn1" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn1;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Cambria; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">[1]</span></span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"> See Jean Lipman-Blumen, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Connective leadership: Managing in a changing world</i>, Oxford University Press, New York, 1996, pp 226-231.<o:p></o:p></span></div></div></div><!--EndFragment--> <br />
<!--EndFragment-->Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07921474936105540223noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5256853634562191771.post-1816367902902282112010-11-30T08:40:00.000-08:002012-04-30T14:08:11.700-07:00Complex Challenges Demand New Approaches to Leadership<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">As we cross the threshold of the 21<sup>st</sup> century, leaders confront serious challenges many of their predecessors did not have to face. What are the most important and distinctive challenges of this historical moment, and which, if any, leadership paradigms are most likely to help leaders address them and why? <o:p></o:p></b></div>
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The world is at an interesting juncture in history. The rapid technological advances in the last 50 years have rendered our world more interconnected and interdependent than before. In such a globalized world, where information and ideas travel to the farthest reaches in a matter of minutes through the internet, societies find themselves facing problems whose scale and complexity demand that a new approach be taken to resolve them. The challenges of global food shortages, climate change, terrorism, energy security – are not issues that individual countries can address alone. <o:p></o:p></div>
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As a society, human beings are in the period of transition where the world is increasingly being characterized by unprecedented interdependence. Eminent scholars like Jean Lipman-Blumen have noted that this time is marked by two contradictory forces - interdependence and diversity - pulling in opposite directions. This new situation has rendered the old paradigm of leadership obsolete and calls for leaders to draw upon a broader range of leadership styles to integrate the new challenges facing them.</div>
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Leadership has evolved over the past millennia along with human society and Lipman-Blumen classifies this evolution over three contiguous and overlapping stages. She explains how stage 1 or the Physical Era was characterized by strong physical boundaries that were both protective and obstructive. Leaders in this stage required to act independently and portray strength to defend their followers against threats. In stage 2 or the Geopolitical Era, leaders formed alliances with others to protect clearly marked boundaries and ideologies. Stage 2 often produced a very competitive environment, where authoritarian leaders could create a cohort of obedient, fearful, passive followers, who carried out their instructions. The remnants of this stage are visible till today in some developing nations like Afghanistan and Pakistan, where regime changes are common between democratically elected governments and the military, with both groups competing for power and control. <o:p></o:p></div>
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The advent of new technologies and the march of globalization have brought us to the cusp of a new era – what Lipman-Blumen calls stage 3 or the Connective Era. The nature of today’s problems requires solutions that rely on the politics of commonalities, and not on the politics of differences. Today’s problems require the art of the long view, and leaders who recognize that no single leader can claim to be able to surmount challenges like climate change, health epidemics, and food shortages. Today human interdependence is visible in all spheres of life. Global coalitions and networks help solve problems by bringing leaders and experts from different fields to develop innovative solutions. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Connective leadership, as explained by Prof. Lipman-Blumen, is an approach to leadership that is politically savvy and instrumental, and yet more ethical, authentic, accountable, and ennobling. This approach stands in stark contrast to traditional approaches to leadership, which are either power driven or manipulative. Connective leaders use political strategies and skills, and the interconnections among people, institutions, and processes in an ethical manner. Some other important characteristics of connective leaders include<a href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=5256853634562191771#_ftn1" name="_ftnref1" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn1;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 12pt;">[1]</span></span></span></a>:<o:p></o:p></div>
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<li class="MsoNormal" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1;">Connecting their vision with the dreams of others – combining and bringing together rather than dividing and conquering<o:p></o:p></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1;">Striving to overcome mutual differences and problems, instead of merely uniting followers against a common enemy<o:p></o:p></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1;">Creating a sense of community between diverse groups of stakeholders<o:p></o:p></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1;">Bringing together committed leaders and stakeholders for common purposes and inspiring active constituents to assume ownership and responsibility, rather than manipulating passive followers<o:p></o:p></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1;">Joining with other leaders, even former adversaries, not as competitors but as colleagues<o:p></o:p></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1;">Renewing and building broad-based democratic institutions instead of creating authoritarian regimes<o:p></o:p></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1;">Nurturing potential leaders, including possible successors<o:p></o:p></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1;">Demonstrating integrity and commitment to the cause, and holding themselves to the high standards that they expect from their peers and followers <o:p></o:p></li>
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<a href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=5256853634562191771#_ftnref1" name="_ftn1" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn1;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 10pt;">[1]</span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-size: 10pt;"> For a detailed discussion of the characteristics of connective leaders, please see Jean Lipman-Blumen, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Connective leadership: Managing in a changing world</i>, Oxford University Press, New York, 1996, pp. 16-20.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07921474936105540223noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5256853634562191771.post-5246294086218975002010-11-18T10:18:00.000-08:002012-04-30T14:08:00.331-07:00Why does Leadership Matter?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
It takes strong leadership to bring about positive change, chart new strategies, sustain economic growth, reduce poverty, and improve lives. Political leaders must be able to envision the road ahead and inspire others to mobilize consensus and capital, engage and motivate their governments and other stakeholders to embrace change and deliver results that persistently prioritize the public good.[1]<br />
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Leadership matters most at critical stages of political and economic transitions – in fragile or conflict-affected states, in new governments where ambitions and expectations run high and visible results are key to maintaining momentum for change, and when major reforms require changes in leadership roles at all levels, as well as changes in attitudes, behaviors, practices, and priorities.<br />
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Good leadership is vital for securing progress and development. Research and experiences show that some of the aspects of good leadership include accountability for a common vision, commitment to serving the public good over private gain, broad participation in the political process, and the ability to inspire others to take responsibility and engage as leaders in their own right. Leaders determine vision and the nature of public institutions, which in turn determine the direction a nation takes, especially during transitions. Not only is leadership important for good governance and economic progress, but it also plays a crucial role in ushering in democratic consolidation during times of transition.<br />
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History is testament to the role that leadership has played in establishing political regimes and economic systems. Ultimately, it is leadership that accounts for the stability of the state and good governance.[2] Political leaders play the central role in institutional and state formation. And they are the principal forces that drive the institutional change process – a process that must engage diverse stakeholders with competing and often conflicting interests. Many scholars like Ronald Francisco, Brian Levy, Adam Przeworski, and Douglass North point out that one of the most important groups of factors in regime transitions is the design of institutions, and their performance.[3] Adam Przeworksi et al. emphasize the importance of institutional design and performance in sustaining democracy.[4] According to Crawford and Lijphart the most important factor in shaping the outcomes of government reform in Eastern Europe was the context for norms, institutions and international pressures.[5]<br />
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Experience from the past decade suggests that high-quality political leadership is crucial for reform and the process of building good governance and shifting patterns of corruption.[6] According to research conducted at the World Bank by leading economists and political scientists like Brian Levy, J. Edgardo Campos, Adrian Leftwich and Sanjay Pradhan, leaders are instrumental in achieving greater accountability and transparency in a country and are directly responsible for promoting these issues at all levels, including at the individual level. These scholars also contend that leadership needs to develop an incentive system in which accountability and integrity are rewarded and corruption is swiftly sanctioned.<br />
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Leadership is thus critical for good governance, a fundamental precondition for sustainable growth, poverty reduction, aid effectiveness, and conflict prevention.<br />
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<a href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=5256853634562191771#_ftnref1" name="_ftn1" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn1;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Garamond; font-size: 10pt;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Garamond; font-size: 10pt;">[1]</span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-size: 10pt;"> See findings of the World Bank Commission on Growth and Development in <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Growth Report: Strategies for Sustained Growth and Inclusive Development.</i><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=5256853634562191771#_ftnref2" name="_ftn2" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn2;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Garamond; font-size: 10pt;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Garamond; font-size: 10pt;">[2]</span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-size: 10pt;"> See Adrian Leftwich and Steve Hogg, “Leadership for Development: The Role of Leaders, Elites, and Coalitions,” Research and Analytical Program 2008-2009, Global Integrity Alliance.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=5256853634562191771#_ftnref3" name="_ftn3" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn3;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Garamond; font-size: 10pt;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Garamond; font-size: 10pt;">[3]</span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-size: 10pt;"> See Ronald A. Francisco, </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">The Politics of Regime Transitions</span></i><span style="font-size: 10pt;">,</span><span style="font-size: 10pt;"> Westview Press, 2000, pp 149-160.</span><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=5256853634562191771#_ftnref4" name="_ftn4" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn4;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Garamond; font-size: 10pt;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Garamond; font-size: 10pt;">[4]</span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-size: 10pt;"> See Adam Przeworski et al, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Sustainable Democracy, </i>Cambridge University Press, 1995.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=5256853634562191771#_ftnref5" name="_ftn5" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn5;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Garamond; font-size: 10pt;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Garamond; font-size: 10pt;">[5]</span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-size: 10pt;"> See Beverly Crawford and Arend Lijphart, </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">Liberalization and Leninist Legacies: Comparative Perspectives on Democratic Transitions, </span></i><span style="font-size: 10pt;">International and Area Studies, 1997.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=5256853634562191771#_ftnref6" name="_ftn6" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn6;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Garamond; font-size: 10pt;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Garamond; font-size: 10pt;">[6]</span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-size: 10pt;"> See <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Leadership Matters: Background Notes on Leadership, </i>Report of the World Bank Institute, World Bank, Washington, DC, 2007.</span><o:p></o:p></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07921474936105540223noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5256853634562191771.post-78858666787115261842010-11-14T17:37:00.001-08:002012-04-30T14:04:56.713-07:00Leadership for What?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This was the question posed to the class by Prof. Jean Lipman-Blumen. I was in the class on Connective Leadership for the 21st Century, offered at Claremont Graduate University. I had just begun my second semester back in school (Jan 2009) working towards my PhD in Political Science. Having worked on Governance and Capacity Development at the World Bank for about 4 years, I had come to believe that leadership had a very important role in determining development outcomes. Jean's question got me thinking about what leadership really means - and got me started on my journey studying leadership and its effects. </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In the political science and economics literature, most academics and researchers tend to downplay the role of leadership and instead choose to focus on institutional factors, history, economic conditions, and international pressures as drivers of change and development.In my own research, I have found that leadership matters most at critical stages of political and economic transitions – in fragile or conflict-affected states, in new governments where ambitions and expectations run high and visible results are key to maintaining momentum for change, and when major reforms require changes in leadership roles at all levels, as well as changes in attitudes, behaviors, practices, and priorities.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Over the past two years, my understanding has evolved to see leadership as the process by which change agents mobilize people, ideas and resources to achieve collective goals. </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In this blog, I will explore ideas about the role of leadership in public life and its impact on development trajectories of nations. I will also look at the related concepts of good governance and capacity development -- and the importance of an engaged society.</span></div>
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