University of MIchigan Business School professor, Robert E. Quinn, the author of Deep Change, has written a new book Building The Bridge as You Walk On It - A guide for Leading Change.
The book shows how some very successful business organizations have converted theory into practice, using integrity and character to be the revitalizing firet hat makes it all work. In fact, Quinn argues, every one of the largest, most-successful companies seems to use this type of transformational leadership.
He has a web site for this book and other books at www.deepchange.com.
The University of Michigan Ross School of Business iTunes site
has a "seminars" section and a great talk by Robert Quinn can be
downloaded via iTunes fromt here titled "Building the Bridge from Good
to Great".
Professor Quinn presents the case that extraordinary organizations achieve extraordinary results, measured by the bottom line, by using a transformational change that comes about by first transforming the character of the organizations leadership.
Through stories, anecdotes, and exercises, he tries to make these concepts accessible, event though they fly in the face of traditional, highly-competitive theories of how to maximize wealth and productivity of a business organization by setting the managers at each other's throats in a competition to see "who is best."
The leadership style that is consistently found in the highest-performing organizations stresses character, integrity, humility, collaboration, and a leader who is oriented to care first about the organization and second about themself.
Quinn says (page 90):
[...The] fundamental state of leadership is ... the movement towards ever-increased levels of personal and collective integrity. Ever-increasing integrity is the source of life for individuals and groups.... It is the antithesis of slow death...
He goes on to discuss how continual application of this sort of "tough love" can create a collective movement in the organization to a much more empowered and creative state, and how that movement takes on a life of its own that can outlast the person who induced it, possibly even completing its work after the person has left.
He quotes Victor Frankl (1963):
What man needs is not a tensionless state, but rather the stiving and struggling for some goal worthy of him.
Teaching Resources and course Syllabi for various courses are available on-line for free as well.
Free access to previous research presentations in audio format, downloadable to iTunes or whatever you use, are also available.
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