DEPM 604 Leadership & Management in Distance Education
According to Maccoby, leaders are there to notice talents, coach, and motivate. Although leaders should design responsibilities for their subordinates to help them realize their skills, they should be there to support, mentor, and guide (Maccoby, 2000, p. 58).
Maccoby, M. (2000). The human side: Understanding the difference between management and leadership. Research-Technology Management, 43(1), 57-59. [eReserves]
F. Westley and H. Mintzberg distinguished five styles of visionary leadership:
Creator – is based on inspiration and imagination. It is product focused, and the process of creation can be quite sudden and holistic. It usually refers to start-up companies where innovative and imaginative leaders create new products. The product targets an independent consumer. Edwin Land formed a Polaroid camera company, but it started suddenly on one of his trips with his daughter who asked him why she could not see a picture right away. Land ran to one of his friends after the incident and told him all about his Polaroid camera idea which he envisioned very vividly. Impulse and creation lead Land to it (Westley & Mintzberg, 1989)
Proselytizer – based on foresight and imagination which is very market focused. This visionary style of leadership frequently shifts focus and needs time for consumer adaptation. The created product is tangible, focuses on consumer masses, and creates competition of collective market infrastructure. The company may be a start-up, or the outcome of the company can carry innovative infrastructure. Steve Jobs had a proselytizer style of leadership. Very much like Land, he was creative, but he lacked concrete imagination. He only had a hunch that the consumer market needed access to the computers, and he had an idea to sell them. However, the major part of the Apple computer was designed by Jobs’ co-founder, Steve Wozniak. Steve Jobs was not an outstanding leader, but he was a perfectionist, which often lead to intolerance by others. While Land was creating a product when he had an inspiration with a Polaroid camera, Jobs was trying to create an entirely new market (Westley & Mintzberg, 1989).
Idealist – is also based on imagination but the ideas are even loftier. This process of visionary leadership is very deliberate, deductive, and introspective. Its focus is not so much on the market but instead on ideals. The organizational content in this style is somewhat bureaucratic and is based on politically based concepts. Rene Levesque who was the head of the Party Quebecois represented that kind of visionary leader. He was premier of Québec 1976-85, politician, journalist, and nationalist. Lévesque later founded the Party Québécois (PQ), eventually bringing it to power in 1976. The party’s primary objective was Québec independence, and for 15 years Lévesque was the leading champion of that ideal (Westley & Mintzberg, 1989).
Bricoleur – this leadership style is characterized by sagacity, insight, and foresight. It is product and organization focused where process is emergent, interactive, and inductive. It is not an introspective ability to invent or imagine, but preferably an interactive, social ability to understand situations and recognize the essential part of it. Lee Iacocca was the chairman of the board (1979–92) of Chrysler Corporation. He secured the most substantial amount of federal financial assistance ever given to a private corporation at that time. He was the head of hierarchical organizations and had the advantage of producing tangible products through tangible processes employing strategy (Westley & Mintzberg, 1989).
Diviner – characterized by insight, sagacity and inspiration. It is service focused and can be sudden, incremental, and interactive with the employees being the target group. Its focus is on the process itself rather than on the product because an organizational structure is essential for this style of visionary leadership. Jan Carlzon, the former CEO of SAS Scandinavian Airlines, had for decades been a visionary in business and leadership; he emphasized the importance of the customer-oriented and employee-empowered company (Westley & Mintzberg, 1989).
Westley, F., & Mintzberg, H. (1989) Visionary leadership and strategic management. Strategic Management Journal,10(1), 17-32.
Maccoby, M. (2000). The human side: Understanding the difference between management and leadership. Research-Technology Management, 43(1), 57-59. [eReserves]
F. Westley and H. Mintzberg distinguished five styles of visionary leadership:
Creator – is based on inspiration and imagination. It is product focused, and the process of creation can be quite sudden and holistic. It usually refers to start-up companies where innovative and imaginative leaders create new products. The product targets an independent consumer. Edwin Land formed a Polaroid camera company, but it started suddenly on one of his trips with his daughter who asked him why she could not see a picture right away. Land ran to one of his friends after the incident and told him all about his Polaroid camera idea which he envisioned very vividly. Impulse and creation lead Land to it (Westley & Mintzberg, 1989)
Proselytizer – based on foresight and imagination which is very market focused. This visionary style of leadership frequently shifts focus and needs time for consumer adaptation. The created product is tangible, focuses on consumer masses, and creates competition of collective market infrastructure. The company may be a start-up, or the outcome of the company can carry innovative infrastructure. Steve Jobs had a proselytizer style of leadership. Very much like Land, he was creative, but he lacked concrete imagination. He only had a hunch that the consumer market needed access to the computers, and he had an idea to sell them. However, the major part of the Apple computer was designed by Jobs’ co-founder, Steve Wozniak. Steve Jobs was not an outstanding leader, but he was a perfectionist, which often lead to intolerance by others. While Land was creating a product when he had an inspiration with a Polaroid camera, Jobs was trying to create an entirely new market (Westley & Mintzberg, 1989).
Idealist – is also based on imagination but the ideas are even loftier. This process of visionary leadership is very deliberate, deductive, and introspective. Its focus is not so much on the market but instead on ideals. The organizational content in this style is somewhat bureaucratic and is based on politically based concepts. Rene Levesque who was the head of the Party Quebecois represented that kind of visionary leader. He was premier of Québec 1976-85, politician, journalist, and nationalist. Lévesque later founded the Party Québécois (PQ), eventually bringing it to power in 1976. The party’s primary objective was Québec independence, and for 15 years Lévesque was the leading champion of that ideal (Westley & Mintzberg, 1989).
Bricoleur – this leadership style is characterized by sagacity, insight, and foresight. It is product and organization focused where process is emergent, interactive, and inductive. It is not an introspective ability to invent or imagine, but preferably an interactive, social ability to understand situations and recognize the essential part of it. Lee Iacocca was the chairman of the board (1979–92) of Chrysler Corporation. He secured the most substantial amount of federal financial assistance ever given to a private corporation at that time. He was the head of hierarchical organizations and had the advantage of producing tangible products through tangible processes employing strategy (Westley & Mintzberg, 1989).
Diviner – characterized by insight, sagacity and inspiration. It is service focused and can be sudden, incremental, and interactive with the employees being the target group. Its focus is on the process itself rather than on the product because an organizational structure is essential for this style of visionary leadership. Jan Carlzon, the former CEO of SAS Scandinavian Airlines, had for decades been a visionary in business and leadership; he emphasized the importance of the customer-oriented and employee-empowered company (Westley & Mintzberg, 1989).
Westley, F., & Mintzberg, H. (1989) Visionary leadership and strategic management. Strategic Management Journal,10(1), 17-32.