Leadership, Ethics & Change

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Lecture 1: Setting the scene

United Business Institutes

01/04/09

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Laurent Ledoux

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Leadership, Ethics & Change – Lecture 1 – Setting the scene – Laurent Ledoux

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The call – Leadership & you

What do you understand by leadership?

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What don’t you want to hear about leadership?

Leadership, Ethics & Change – Lecture 1 – Setting the scene – Laurent Ledoux

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The call – 5 key hungers

«Leadership is a word that holds a lot of hungers»

Personal agency

Hunger within every person

to make a positive difference

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Hungers

conspiring to create the feeling of a growing

crisis in

Leadership

Authority

Hunger for orientation & reassurance

Dealing w. Complexity

Hunger for leadership capable to deal with growing systemic complexity

Adapting to change

Hunger for leadership that can respond to the depth, scope & pace of change

«Ethical» imagination & courage

Hunger for leadership that can act ethically on behalf of the common good

Leadership, Ethics & Change – Lecture 1 – Setting the scene – Laurent Ledoux

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The call – 4 critical distinctions

Leadership

without

easy answers

Power

Progress

Technical problems

Adaptive

challenges

Personality

Presence

Authority

Leadership

Leadership, Ethics & Change – Lecture 1 – Setting the scene – Laurent Ledoux

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Case-in-point – Next chapters

22 April

Lecture 2 : Leadership & adaptive work – Case studies I

29 April

Lecture 3 : Leadership & adaptive work – Case studies II

6 May

Lecture 4 : Leadership & adaptive work – Sabena case study (Erik Weytjens)

13 May

Lecture 5 : Leadership ethics – Case studies III & Arts of the wise leader

20 May

Lecture 6 : Situational leadership & powers to lead – Simulation (game)

3 June

Lecture 7 : Quiet leadership – Case studies IV

10 June

Lecture 8 : Quiet leadership – Case studies V

17 June

Lecture 9 : Questions of character – Final paper’s presentations I

27 May

Lecture 10 : Questions of character – Final paper’s presentations II

Leadership, Ethics & Change – Lecture 1 – Setting the scene – Laurent Ledoux

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Case-in-point – Preparatory work for lecture 2 and others

Preparatory works: The cases

1. Cases will be distributed in a few days: please give me your email adress or send me a mail (ledoux.laurent@gmail.com)

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• Read them and reflect upon them for next lecture: you will be expected to participate constructively to the debate on each case

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• More cases will be distributed at the end of the next lecture

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Leadership, Ethics & Change – Lecture 1 – Setting the scene – Laurent Ledoux

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Case-in-point – Preparatory work for lecture 2 and others

Preparatory works: Investigating yourself

1. Some « personal questions » will be distributed at the end of the lecture

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• Read them and reflect upon them during the next week

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• Write a report answering them

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• Present a synthesis of your report during one of the last lectures

Leadership, Ethics & Change – Lecture 1 – Setting the scene – Laurent Ledoux

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Case-in-point – Books to read, comment and present during one of the last lectures

Pick up one of these books to reflect upon leadership & share it with us

Picking up your book

• Listen carefully to the introduction I will give about each book and the main questions they will allow you to investigate
• Choose the book in function of the questions that appeal most to you
• Let me know which book you will take before you leave

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Reflect, write a report and present it to the group

• Write a report on the leadership issues and the questions of characters raised by this book (report to be judged more on its « quality » than on its length)
• Present your reflections on the book during one of the last lectures

Leadership, Ethics & Change – Lecture 1 – Setting the scene – Laurent Ledoux

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Case-in-point – Books to read, comment and present during one of the last lectures

Pick up one of these books to reflect upon leadership & share it with us (I)

Death of a Salesman

Arthur Miller

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“Do I have a good dream?”

• Do my deepest aspirations impel me forward through hardships, and do they engage others’ aspirations and dreams?
• Am I dreaming with my eyes wide open?
• Which dreams will you abandon?
• Are these really my dreams?
• Am I more interested in the destination or in the journey?
• Are my dreams dead or alive?
• Am I really listening to my dreams?
• Is it my dream or our dream?

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Things Fall Apart

Chinua Achebe

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“How flexible is my moral code?”

• Will my moral code help me make the right decisions for my organization, even as business conditions change?
• Do my deepest aspirations impel me forward through hardships
• Do they engage others’ aspirations and dreams?
• How Deep Are the Emotional Roots of My Moral Code?
• What Do My Failures Tell Me?
• How Have I Handled Ethical Surprises?
• Are my basic moral obligations clear?
• Do my motives have moral content?
• Is my moral code dominated by other considerations?
• Do I Have the Courage to Reconsider?
• Can I ask myself hard questions?
• Do I rely on modesty and openness to reflect?
• Am I willing to confront tough realities?
• Am I searching for wisdom?
• Can I Crystallize My Convictions?

Leadership, Ethics & Change – Lecture 1 – Setting the scene – Laurent Ledoux

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Case-in-point – Books to read, comment and present during one of the last lectures

Pick up one of these books to reflect upon leadership & share it with us (II)

Antigone

Sophocles

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“What is sound reflection?”

• Do I think through high-stakes decisions adequately despite relentless pressures on my time?
• Can I Shift Perspectives?
• Is My Reflection Messy Enough?
• Am I Encouraging Real Dialogue?
• Do I feel like Creon?
• Have my analysis and judgment evolved?
• Can I listen to the Voices of Prudence?
• Love or Passion?
• Do I Hold the Gods in Awe?

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A Man for All Seasons

Robert Bolt

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“How well do I combine principles and pragmatism?”

• Can I make the difficult trade-offs needed to run my unit or business?
• Do I Undervalue Gentle Humor?
• Can I Dramatize?
• Can I Ask for Understanding?
• Can I Make Others Struggle?

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Leadership, Ethics & Change – Lecture 1 – Setting the scene – Laurent Ledoux

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Case-in-point – Books to read, comment and present during one of the last lectures

Pick up one of these books to reflect upon leadership & share it with us (III)

I Come as a Thief

Louis Auchincloss

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“Can I resist the flow of success?”

• Do I recognize the hidden hazards of success and the ways to avoid them?
• What Do I See Around Me?
• Am I a Little Too Nice?
• Am I Willing to Underachieve?
• Do I Know Why and Feel Why?

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The Secret Sharer

Joseph Conrad

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“Am I ready to take responsibility?”

• Can I set clear performance standards for myself and others - and follow through on them?
• Do I Really Feel My Responsibilities?
• Can I Look at the Reality Around Me?
• Can I Take Small Steps Forward?
• Can I Take Responsibility?

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Leadership, Ethics & Change – Lecture 1 – Setting the scene – Laurent Ledoux

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Case-in-point – Books to read, comment and present during one of the last lectures

Pick up one of these books to reflect upon leadership & share it with us (IV)

Blessed Assurance:

A Moral Tale

Allan Gurganus

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“Do I have unsettling role models?”

• Do my role models provoke me as well as embody values I can emulate?
• Does My Role Model Meet Deep Needs?
• What Does My Role Model Elicit from Me?
• Does a Role Model Offer Gifts of Discomfort?
• Do I Have Down-to-Earth Role Models?
• Do I Have “Will Fix” Role Models?

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The Love of the Last Tycoon

F. Scott Fitzgerald

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“Do I really care?”

• Do I have the patience, courage, and tenacity that leadership requires?
• Am I Deeply Accountable to Myself?
• Am I Deeply Accountable to Others?
• Am I Realistic About the Conditions?
• Is There Sugar?

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Leadership, Ethics & Change – Lecture 1 – Setting the scene – Laurent Ledoux

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Case-in-point – Books to read, comment and present during one of the last lectures

Pick up one of these books to reflect upon leadership & share it with us (V)

Our iceberg is melting

John Kotter

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“How do I do well in an ever-changing worlds?”

• How do I set the stage?
• How do I decide what to do?
• How do I make it happen?
• How do I make it stick?

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Conférence sur l’efficacité

François Jullien

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“Do I lean on the potential of the situation?”

• What is the concept of efficiency for occidentals?
• How does it differ for orientals?
• What are silent transformations?

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In French

Leadership, Ethics & Change – Lecture 1 – Setting the scene – Laurent Ledoux