1. Beyond the Cult of the Leader
The Tasks of the Executive in the
21st Century
Stephen Bungay, Director
Ashridge Strategic Management Centre

2. The executive 1908 - 1977: a manager
• Management = administration
– Harvard Graduate School of Business Administration
founded 1908
• Administration is rational: Weber, 1947
‒ Not traditional (religious)
‒ Not charismatic (heroic)
• Managers make organisations efficient
– Organise work and people
– Allocate resources
– Control
© Stephen Bungay 2010
2

3. The executive 1977-2001: a leader
• Leadership = inspiration
– Harvard Business School ‘educates leaders who make a
difference in the world’ (from ca 1990)
• Leadership is emotional: Zaleznick 1977
‒ Not team players, but individuals
‒ Not acceptance, but love or hate
• Leaders are change agents
– Tolerate chaos
– Shape goals
– Seek risk and danger
© Stephen Bungay 2010
3

4. Leaders: great or toxic?
Visionary
Ambitious
Charismatic
Self belief
Risk taker
© Stephen Bungay 2010
Fantasist
Megalomaniac
Conman
Narcissist
Gambler
4

5. Collins, 2001: the ‘level 5’ leader
• Level 5 leaders have willpower
– Run every ‘good’ company transitioning to ‘greatness’
between 1965 and 1995
• Level 5 leaders are humble
‒ Not charismatic, but self-effacing
‒ Not egocentric, but modest
• Level 5 leaders build institutions
– Ambitious for the organisation
– Diligent tortoises not racing hares
– Thoughtful, sure-footed
© Stephen Bungay 2010
5

6. ‘MORE COLLINS MORE CLAPTRAP’?
‘In Jim Collins’ latest book, Good to Great, the
author celebrates ‘self-effacing, quiet, reserved,
even shy’ leaders who bring about the big
transformations.
Fine Jim…
Michael Maccoby recently wrote of ‘larger than life
leaders…e.g. egoists, charmers, risktakers with big
visions. Exemplars he cites: Carnegie, Rockefeller,
Edison, Ford, Welch, Jobs, Gates.
He, of course could have added Messier and
Middlehoff and Ebbers and Lay. Nonetheless, I’ll
still take Michael’s list over Jim’s’
Tom Peters, Re-imagine!, p. 44
© Stephen Bungay 2010
6

7. What are we talking about?
• Personality?
• Skills?
• Behaviour?
© Stephen Bungay 2010
7

8. The officer: 500 BC - present
Authority, responsibility and duty of direction
Command
Leadership
Management
Getting people to achieve
objectives
© Stephen Bungay 2010
Organising and controlling
resources to achieve objectives
8

9. Different mental attitudes
Probing:
‘What should we do?’
Command:
intellectual
Leading:
emotional
Managing:
physical
Positive:
‘We can do it!’
© Stephen Bungay 2010
Pragmatic:
‘Let’s get organised!’
9

10. Requiring self awareness
Detached
Calculating
Flexible
Command:
intellectual
Leading:
emotional
Managing:
physical
Engaged
Pragmatic
Realistic
Committed
Passionate
Determined
© Stephen Bungay 2010
10

11. Different skills
Command: Intellectual (conceptual)
Developing
strategy
Giving
direction
Leadership:
Human
(moral)
Building the
organisation
Resourcing
Achieving
the task
Building
the team
© Stephen Bungay 2010
Organising
Developing
individuals
11
Controlling
Management:
Technical
(physical)

12. Directing as ‘command in business’
READY: I understand what I have to do and why
Directing:
intellectual
Leading:
emotional
Managing:
physical
WILLING: I am committed to
making it a success
© Stephen Bungay 2010
ABLE: I have the skills and
resources to carry it through
12

13. Great commanders
© Stephen Bungay 2010
13

14. Masters of the trinity
© Stephen Bungay 2010
14

15. Distinctive qualities of the commander
INTELLECTUAL
Conceptual
Absorb information
Identify essential point
PSYCHOLOGICAL
MORAL
Self-confident
Willpower
Realistic
Resilience
Flexible
Openness
COMMUNICATION
Writing
Listening/questioning
Speaking/directing
© Stephen Bungay 2010
15

16. The executive’s trinity: propositions
• Managing, leading and directing are different
• Confusing them creates confusion
• Organisations need all three
• Mastering all three is very rare
• Top teams need the combination
© Stephen Bungay 2010
16

17. The commander’s ethos: ‘Viel leisten, wenig
hervortreten, mehr sein als scheinen’
(‘Work hard, avoid the limelight, be more than you seem’)
© Stephen Bungay 2010
17