Leaders/Scholars Association
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Selected Proceedings 1998 Annual Meeting: Leaders/Scholars Association Meeting of the Minds— between those who study leadership and those who practice it The James MacGregor Burns Center for the Advanced Study of Leadership of Study Advanced the for Center ACADEMY OF LEADERSHIP The James MacGregor Burns Academy of Leadership is committed to strengthening leadership of, by, and for the people.The Academy fosters responsible and ethical leadership through scholarship, education, and training in the public interest. The Center for the Advanced Study of Leadership is located in the James MacGregor Burns Academy of Leadership.The Center is dedicated to increasing the quantity and quality of scholarship in the field of Leadership Studies. It provides leadership scholars and reflective practitioners with a unique community, one that fosters intellectual discourse and mutual support among women and men from diverse backgrounds, disciplines, and areas of the world. For additional copies of this report, or for other publications from the Burns Academy, contact: The James MacGregor Burns Academy of Leadership University of Maryland College Park, MD 20742-7715 301/405-6100, voice 301/405-6402, fax [email protected] http://academy.umd.edu *The Center for the Advanced Study of Leadership thanks the W.K.Kellogg Foundation for its generous support. Cover photo: James MacGregor Burns (left), Senior Scholar at the James MacGregor Burns Academy of Leadership, and Warren Bennis, Founding Chairman of the Leadership Institute at the University of Southern California, at the Center for the Advanced Study of Leadership’s November 1998 conference in Los Angeles, California. Selected Proceedings 1998 Annual Meeting: Leaders/Scholars Association Meeting of the Minds— between those who study leadership and those who practice it Center for the Advanced Study of Leadership THE JAMES MACGREGOR BURNS ACADEMY OF LEADERSHIP Copyright © 1999 Copyright © 1999 by the James MacGregor Burns Academy of Leadership. Permission is granted to reproduce and distribute the contents of this document in whole or in part as long as any reproduction identifies the Center for the Advanced Study of Leadership at the Burns Academy of Leadership, University of Maryland as the source. Library of Congress ISBN: 1-891464-20-5 Table of Contents Introduction . .p. 1 Barbara Kellerman and Scott W.Webster PART I: KEYNOTE SPEECHES The End of Leadership . .p. 5 Warren Bennis Staying Alive. .p. 11 Ronald A. Heifetz Leadership Lessons and Competencies: Learning . .p. 21 from the Kellogg National Fellowship Program Roger H. Sublett and John A. Beineke The Legitimacy to Lead . .p. 27 Ronald Walters Public Leadership:The Unanswered Questions— . .p. 33 Do Leadership Scholars Have the Answers? Kathryn J. Whitmire PART II: SELECTED PAPERS To Give Their Gifts:The Innovative,Transforming . .p. 43 Leadership of Adaptive Work Richard A. Couto An Ethical Challenge for Leaders and Scholars: . .p. 53 What Do People Really Need? Douglas A. Hicks and Terry L. Price Leadership, Leaders, and Sin . .p. 63 Joseph C. Rost Leadership in International Organizations: Lessons . .p. 71 Learned Through the International Monetary Fund I. Marlene Thorn and Ginette Prosper APPENDICES A. International Leadership Association . .p. 79 B. Additional Conference Proceedings . .p. 81 C. 1998 Conference Program . .p. 82 D. Contributors . .p. 84 This is blank Introduction Introduction Barbara Kellerman and Scott W.Webster n 1994 the W.K. Kellogg Foundation decided to support a term mayor of Houston,Texas.And another was Warren Bennis, four-year initiative intended to create for the first time a com- one of our most eminent leadership scholars. Imunity of scholars in the field of Leadership Studies.The goal Of course, this is not to say that all of the people were happy of the Kellogg Leadership Studies Project (KLSP) was quite spe- all of the time. In fact, conference evaluations indicated that some cific: to produce and disseminate knowledge that advanced lead- scholars wanted more information on the latest research, and ership theory, education, and practice. some leaders and managers wanted a greater focus on leading and By most measures, KLSP was a considerable success. It pro- managing. But there did emerge from the meeting in Los Angeles duced a series of working papers written by some of the best a near consensus: By an overwhelming majority those present scholars in the field. It brought together for four consecutive strongly supported the idea of an organization permanently com- years a group of people who had finally found some like-minded mitted to those with a professional interest in leadership. colleagues. And it helped to legitimize an The November conference stiff- area of inquiry that had—despite its obvi- ened spines.We decided to take a leap, ous importance to the course of human We sought to create a to work on the assumption that the affairs—remained at the margins of the time was right for the establishment of academy. mix—a “meeting of the an association designed to serve people When the project was over the primary with a professional interest in leader- question was obvious: what would ship. Thus was the International become of the group? How would the minds between those Leadership Association (ILA) born. community of scholars dedicated to Beginning in 1999, the ILA will Leadership Studies continue to stay con- who study leadership meet annually toward three primary nected? ends: 1) to generate and disseminate Enter the Center for the Advanced and those who cutting-edge work in theory and prac- Study of Leadership (CASL).When CASL tice; 2) to strengthen ties among those was established, in early 1998, these were practice it.” who study, teach, and exercise leader- among the first questions it sought to ship; and 3) to serve as an arena within address. We were determined to hold on which those with a professional inter- to, and indeed further to grow, the network of leadership schol- est in leadership can share research, resources, information and, ars that had finally taken root. above all, ideas. For further information on the ILA, see the back And so it was clear from the start that CASL would sponsor of this book. Here it will suffice to say that the conference that is some kind of leadership conference. It was also clear that this reflected in these Selected Proceedings laid the groundwork for event would be dedicated at least in part to leadership scholar- what we hope will be an inclusive and enduring network of lead- ship.What kind of entity would host the conference, and indeed ers, managers, scholars, educators, community activists, consult- what kind of conference it would actually be, were less clear. ants, trainers, and interested institutions. The strategy we settled on was to include in the conversation As the conference program makes clear, those who attended previously missing colleagues: practitioners.We sought to create the meeting in Los Angeles were not at a loss for something to a mix—a “meeting of the minds between those who study lead- do. The forty-eight-hour event was packed—arguably too ership and those who practice it.” packed!—with excellent speakers, panels, and roundtables. For example, as suggested above, the five keynote speakers, each of The conference that was the result of this decision took place whom is represented in the pages that follow, covered a wide on November 13–15, 1998, at the University of Southern range of topics that reflected their own different training and California. It was held under the auspices of the newly created experiences.Together they at least made a dent in the wall that, Leaders/Scholars Association—a name obviously intended to in general, still separates theoreticians from practitioners. (This reflect the two primary constituencies. divide is particularly apparent in the public sector.) As the conference program included as an appendix indicates, As the title of this publication indicates, the proceedings that the conference did indeed include a reasonably good mix of follow are selective. Included are the five keynote speeches; and those who study leadership and those who practice it. For exam- four papers that we consider to be of particular interest, in part ple, one of the keynote speakers was Kathryn Whitmire, five- because in one or another way they each mingle theory and 1 Introduction practice.We are pleased to add that six of the other presentations ***** are also available—on the web site of the Center for the The Leaders/Scholars Association Conference was made pos- Advanced Study of Leadership at “http://casl.academy.umd.edu.” sible with the generous support of the W.K.Kellogg Foundation. The Leaders/Scholars Association conference was an experi- We are also grateful to the faculty and staff of the University of ment.We first wondered whether folks would even attend, and Southern California for their hospitality and to Zachary Green, were astonished when our most optimistic attendance estimates Nance Lucas, Georgia Sorenson and the rest of our colleagues at were exceeded by a healthy number.We trust that the papers that the Burns Academy of Leadership for their steadfast support and follow testify to the vitality of leadership as an area of intellectual wise counsel. inquiry, and to the virtues of bringing those of us with a profes- sional interest in leadership together on a regular basis. For their help in assembling this book, we acknowledge Leadership matters. But our work in the area is likely to yield Michelle Berry, Richard Chapman, Debra K. Cheyne, Monica more of consequence if the conversations among us are joined. Negm, Beth Rossi, and Barbara C. Shapiro. Conference attendees listen to Sunday morning comments. 2 PART I KEYNOTE SPEECHES Carmen Foster, John F.Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts. The End of Leadership The End of Leadership Warren Bennis hank you very much, Jim Burns.