Giving Voice to Values: A book review by Bob Morris

Giving Voice to Values: How to Speak Your Mind When You Know What’s Right
Mary C. Gentile
Yale University Press; First Edition (August 24, 2010)

How to express your values more eloquently and act upon them more effectively

As I began to read this brilliant book, I was reminded of James O’Toole’s contribution to a book he co-authored with Warren Bennis and Daniel Goleman, Transparency: How Leaders Create a Culture of Candor, when O’Toole discusses “speaking to power.” He briefly examines several plays (Sophocles’ Antigone, John Osborne’s Luther, and Robert Bolt’s A Man for All Seasons) whose protagonist offers a reminder to leaders in our own time of the responsibility to create a transparent “culture of candor.” O’Toole also examples of organizations that do — or do not — have such a culture, those whose leaders are – or are not — “constantly willing to rethink their most basic assumptions through a process of constructive dissent…about such often-taboo subjects as the nature of working conditions they offer employees, the purposes of their corporation, and their responsibilities to various stakeholders.” Whatever the size and nature of an organization may be, O’Toole insists, it must be one “one in which every employee is empowered to speak the truth.” Trust must be the essential ingredient to its effectiveness [and is] the most elusive and fragile aspect of leadership” because it is so difficult to earn but so easy to lose and, once lost, nearly impossible to regain.

I hope Gentile will forgive me for beginning this review as I have. She and O’Toole are kindred spirits. Both stress the importance of focusing on an awareness of ethical issues and then determining with meticulous care what would be the right thing to do in a moral crisis. However, well-aware of the perils of the “Knowing-Doing Gap,” she and O’Toole also stress the importance of taking appropriate action in a timely manner, driven by values to be sure but also guided and informed by scripts, rehearsals, and other preparations that will achieve the desired results. It is Gentile’s stated purpose to help her reader develop the skills and confidence as well as “the moral muscle” to express and affirm their values. She proceeds on the assumption that “most of us will encounter values in conflict with the expectations of our clients, our peers, our bosses, or our organizations. That is why this skill and practice-based approach is essential.”

Here in Dallas near the downtown area, we have a Farmers Market at which some of the merchants offer sample slices of fresh fruit. In that same spirit, here are three brief excerpts from Gentile’s lively and eloquent narrative that suggest the thrust and flavor of her insights:

“Recognizing the fact that we are all capable of speaking and acting on our values, as well as the fact that we have not always done so, is both empowering and enlightening…It opens a oath to self-knowledge, as well as situational analysis, that we may otherwise shirt-circuit.” (Page 49)

“One of the most powerful enablers we have identified has been the ability to reframe a position: an opportunity with less than ethical attributes is reframed as a risk we all want to avoid; a disagreement that appears to throw the ethics of our audience into doubt is reframed as a `learning dialogue’ wherein we are trying to uncover the true parameters of a possible decision; a win-lose choice is reframed through the use of argument and research as a win-win situation; seemingly self-evident assumptions or `truisms’ are reframed as debatable or even patently false.” (Page 67)

One of the most promising levers for enabling us to voice our values “appears to be generating a self-story that allows us to find ways to align what we think is right with who we already think we are. The point here is that how we incorporate values conflicts into our self-story can serve to enable, or disable, our ability to act on our values. It can allow us to play to our strengths, or not. Creating this story is not just about self-knowledge; it is about the way we choose to use that self-knowledge…[especially in light of research] suggesting that most of us are susceptible to self-justifying biases or finding ways to view our decisions as positively motivated, even when we would be critical of someone else who made the same choices.” (Page 115)

Gentile frames her narrative within a structure of several assumptions about her reader. For example, that her reader wants to voice and act on her or his values; has already done so in the past, with mixed results; can do so more often and more effectively than before; has found it easier to voice her or his values in some contexts or situations than in others; is more likely to increase frequency and effectiveness of voicing and acting upon values after focused and rigorous practice; and can offer “a powerful example” to others to voice and act on their own values more often and more effectively. Readers will greatly appreciate the fact that, before concluding her book, Gentile provides various resources (including some self-diagnostic exercises) that will help them to review key points, identify and then evaluate their options, and then formulate an appropriate action plan. She includes a “To-Do” list on Pages 244-245.

For some people, hopefully for many people, this will be the most important book they ever read IF they absorb and digest the wealth of information and counsel with meticulous care. I urge them to highlight or underline key passages and review them frequently… and re-read the entire book again in 2-3 months. It will reward their attention generously. More to the point, it will strengthen the skills they need to think more clearly and to assert themselves more effectively. Mary Gentile does more, so much more than encourage principled people to speak up and take action when they know what’s right and what must be done. She also prepares them to speak with greater eloquence and to increase the impact of any actions their conscience compels them to initiate.

Bob Morris on The Courageous Follower: A Book Review

The Courageous Follower: Standing Up to and for Our Leaders
Ira Chaleff
Berrett-Koehler (2003)

It is important to keep in mind that a “follower” is not necessarily someone who never leads; rather, a follower is someone who, in a non-leader situation, nonetheless has ample opportunities to exercise judgment, demonstrate initiative, and offer support to someone who has leadership responsibilities. In other words, the terms “leader” and “follower” have much less to do with rank, title, status, etc. and much more to do with relative authority and responsibility. In the U.S. Marine Corps, for example, senior officers will defer to a non-com who possesses better information.

As I began to read Chaleff’s book, I was reminded of James O’Toole’s essay, “Speaking to Power,” in Transparency: How Leaders Create a Culture of Candor that he co-authored with Warren Bennis and Daniel Goleman As he notes, “speaking to power is, perhaps, the oldest of all ethical challenges.” He briefly discusses several plays (Sophocles’ Antigone, John Osborne’s Luther, and Robert Bolt’s A Man for All Seasons) whose protagonist offers a reminder to leaders in our own time of the responsibility to create a transparent “culture of candor.” This precisely what Chaleff has in mind when examining “courageous followers” who, when involved in the dynamics of the leader-follower relationship, must summon the c courage to assume responsibility, to serve, to challenge, to participate in transformation, and to take moral action.

Meanwhile, Chaleff quite correctly poses this question to leaders: “Do you have the courage to listen to followers?” In the book’s final chapter, he shares his thoughts about how important it is for leaders to not only accept but encourage and indeed welcome “messages” that, although perhaps unpleasant to receive, need to be heard and carefully considered. Chaleff urges all leaders to invite “creative challenge” rather than discourage it.

For me, this is one of the most important points that Doris Kearns Goodwin makes in Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln. When forming his cabinet after election as the 16th president in 1860, Abraham Lincoln assembled a cabinet whose members included several of his strongest political opponents: Edwin M. Stanton as Secretary of War (who had called Lincoln a “long armed Ape”), William H. Seward as Secretary of State (who was preparing his acceptance speech when Lincoln was nominated), Salmon P. Chase as Secretary of the Treasury (who considered Lincoln in all respects his inferior), and Edward Bates as Attorney General who viewed Lincoln as a well-meaning but incompetent administrator but later described him as “very near being a perfect man.”

It took great courage as a leader for Lincoln to include these opponents in his administration but he needed their advice prior to making what proved to be critically important decisions throughout the Civil War. He welcomed their dissent. Also to Lincoln’s considerable credit, he created a “culture of candor” in which it was not necessary for a follower to be courageous when “speaking to power.”

I highly admire this updated and expanded Third Edition of a book that can be of great value to those who must address today’s leadership crisis…and perhaps prevent tomorrow’s.

Book Review: Followership

Followership: How Followers Are Creating Change and Changing Leaders
Barbara Kellerman
Harvard Business School Press (2008)

In recent years, especially in the business world, relationships between “leaders” and “followers” have changed significantly. Throughout most of human history, leaders at the highest level (e.g. tribal chiefs, war lords, monarchs, and tyrants) were almost always those who seized or inherited positions of authority. Business leaders were owners. Over time, the concept of self-determination evolved to a point when political authority began to shift to elected representatives. Stock companies with shared ownership emerged in the business world. Still later, labor unions were formed to secure and protect workers’ rights. Throughout this lengthy process, the respective roles of the leader and follower reflected various social, political, and economic changes. Today, it is often difficult to answer a rather simple question, “Who leads whom?”

According to Barbara Kellerman, “followership is the response of those in subordinate positions (followers) to those in superior ones (leaders). Followership implies a relationship (rank), between subordinates and superiors, and a response (behavior), of the former to the latter.” Her book departs from the leader-centric approach that dominates much of the current consideration of leadership and management. “Focusing on followers enables us to see the parts they play, even when they do little or nothing. And it empowers them, which is to say that it empowers us.” Kellerman duly acknowledges that the line that separates superiors from their subordinates is often “blurred.” Also, “the line between them tends to shift. Some of us are followers most of the time and leaders some f the time. Others are the opposite.” Finally, that many people are superiors and subordinates simultaneously. Moreso now than at any prior time that I recall, our roles are determined within a context and, as Kellerman correctly suggests, “followers are creating change and changing leaders.”

These are among the questions to which she responds:

• What are some of the most common misconceptions about followership?

• How and why are leaders and followers “inextricably enmeshed”?

• Why do people follow their leaders, even those whom Jean Lipman-Blumen has characterized as “toxic”?

• What are the different types of followers and how are they “all in some way engaged”?

• “Standing up and speaking out is not, of itself, good enough.” Why not?

Note: James O’Toole also has much of value to say about this in an essay (“Speaking Truth to Power”) included in, Transparency: How Leaders Create a Culture of Candor, co-authored with Warren Bennis and Daniel Goleman.

Of special interest to me is the material Kellerman provides in Chapters 5-8 when citing real-world examples of followers who were “Bystanders” during the Holocaust, “Participants” who were involved in the “saga of Vioxx” at Merck, “Activists” who acted upon allegations of clergy sex with minors in the Catholic Archdiocese of Boston, and “Diehards” who “wanted to catch, to kill, the enemy responsible for the attacks on American soil [on September 11, 2001] but questioned the judgment of those who formulated subsequent responses to them, such as Operation Enduring Freedom that included involvement in Afghanistan (Operation Anaconda), beginning in March of 2002.

As for Participants, they “clearly favor their leaders and the groups and organizations of which they are members – or they are clearly opposed. [They invest] some of what they have (time, for example) to try to have an impact.” With regard to Activists, they “feel strongly about their leaders and act accordingly. They are eager, energetic, and engaged…[and] work hard either on behalf of their leaders or to undermine and even unseat them,” such as Cardinal Bernard Law of Catholic Archdiocese of Boston. As for Diehards, they are defined by their dedication, including their willingness to risk life and limb. Being a Diehard is all-consuming. It is who you are. It determines what you do.” Those who have Diehards among their followers “have a special responsibility in those situations in which lives are at stake.” Kellerman cites Colin Powell and George Tenet as two examples of leaders who remained silent rather than opposing the American invasion of Iraq, “putting their loyalty to the president ahead of their loyalty to the people. Consider it a lesson in how not to follow.” Whether or not you agree with Kellerman’s assessment, at least in this situation, Powell and Tenet were both leaders and followers.

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Click here to check out a video of Kellerman discussing her concept of followership.

Barbara Kellerman is the James MacGregor Burns Lecturer in Public Leadership at Harvard Kennedy School’s Center for Public Leadership. Her next book, Leadership: Essential Selections on Power, Authority, and Influence, will be published by McGraw-Hill in August.