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The Transformed Leader

by Ernest L. Stech, Ph.D.

207 pages; quality trade paperback (softcover); catalogue #04-1523; ISBN 1-4120-3695-X; US$20.00, C$23.95, EUR15.95, £11.50

The oldest, most universal perspective on leadership. A transformed leader stands with one foot in each of two worlds: the realm of the possible and the land of the practical.

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About the Book      About the Author      Table of Contents and Excerpts      Catalogue Information

About the Book

A single portrait of the enlightened leader and wise person has existed in the world's literature for over 2,000 years and for much longer in mythology. The portrait is fleshed out with modern work in humanistic psychology and the psychology of archetypes. The resulting picture is of an individual, transformed as a result of life's journey, who stands in two worlds: the realm of the possible and the land of the practical. The transformed leader perspective is universal, timeless, gender-free, and based on fundamental truths about human nature.

By undergoing a transformative process, either deliberately or involuntarily, a leader discovers a life mission and true vocation. The transforming journey results in someone who is tough, passionate, humble, sees the world clearly, and perseveres, all traits needed in the ordinary world. However, the transformed leader also has a vision of the possible, of what could be, together with faith that the possible can become tangible. Having been set free of the boundaries of ordinary existence, the transformed leader is spontaneous and creative. Finally, that person experiences transcendence, a sense of uniqueness and being specially chosen. Being chosen is at once energizing and a burden.

The Transformed Leader relies on the work of Joseph Campbell in mythology, the writings of Lao Tze and other Taoist writers, Carol Pearson's efforts to describe basic human archetypes, and Abraham Maslow's studies in humanistic psychology. A single picture of the transformed person and leader emerges from those sources.

Transformation is distinguished from training and development processes and a survey of transformative events and activities is provided. A concluding chapter deals with the kinds of relationships a transformed leader might have with subordinates, the ways in which such a leader would work over time, and the contexts in which the transformed leader is most likely to flourish.

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About the Author

Ernest L. "Ernie" Stech, Ph.D., (pronounced Steck) is the principal in Chief Mountain Consulting and Executive Director of the Flagstaff National Monuments Foundation. He is former President and CEO of Frost Engineering Development Corporation, Englewood, CO. Stech is a contributor to Northouse's Leadership Theory and Practice (Chapter 10, "The Psychodynamic Perspective") and the author of Leadership Communication. His work is cited in Bass and Stogdill's Handbook of Leadership. As a professor of Communication at Western Michigan University he developed and taught an undergraduate leadership course. Stech's interests are in transformative processes, leadership development, leadership as relationship, and leading as a process.

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Table of Contents and Excerpts

excerpt from Chapter 1: Leaders, Leadership, Management, and Power

Leading is a burden. The popular press, hundreds of books, and numerous seminars would lead anyone to believe that leadership was a wonderful state to which all should aspire. Being a leader suggests the acquisition of prestige, power, and wealth. The follower, the subordinate, the mere employee is doomed to a life of minor satisfactions and must look to his or her personal life for any real rewards.

The untold story about leading is that it is onerous and difficult. There is no respite from it. The leader carries a load of responsibility not only for projects, products, and processes but also for the people in the work team or organization. The issues and problems far exceed anyone's ability to deal with all of them in one working day or week or career. There is always more to do.

Other untold stories are those of the thousands of failures. Reading any of the business papers or magazines makes it very clear that failures are far more numerous than successes. There is a steady litany of reports concerning the changes in leadership that go on daily in the world of commerce. The changes are not the result of retirements or promotions to better positions. Almost all of them involve failures.

Motives for Becoming a Leader

Unfortunately, the vast majority of persons seeking to become leaders or more precisely managers or administrators do so because of the perceived prestige, power, and, of course, financial rewards. That motivation is unfortunate. It results in people in positions of authority who are there because of their own personal needs rather than the requirements of the task at hand or for the good of the people in the team.

The motivation is understandable, however, because of the numerous stories of success in the popular press, particularly stories about large homes, expensive cars, ski chalets, yachts, and other concomitants of financial success. When television profiles a home for its décor, the home is always upscale. (There are no shows on "Homes of the Poor and Destitute.") When a newspaper reports on a social event, it is always one attended by the rich and powerful.

As described in a later chapter, there is also the possibility of achieving some kind of glory and immortality in leading an organization. The success may last a long time. The leader who creates that kind of success will be honored with statues or plaques or a portrait on the boardroom wall.

Toward the end of the movie Patton the general strolls across a field after the end of World War II. In a voiceover as the general walks, he tells the following, paraphrased here. "In ancient Rome, when the conqueror returned to the capital city, he was honored with a parade. The procession included the prisoners taken in the battle and the spoils carried in carts. Ahead of the conqueror rode his wife and children as the crowds along the avenue cheered. Then came the conqueror himself, resplendent in uniform. Behind him stood a slave holding a crown over the hero's head. As the procession moved along the parade route, the slave whispered into the conqueror's ear: 'All glory is fleeting.'"

There is another kind of leader and a different kind of motivation for becoming a leader. There are people who feel they have some kind of mission in life, a mission other than becoming rich and famous. Such individuals have a dream of some sort about the world, about life, about the way people can live and work together, about creating a better neighborhood or community or nation. Some of the people with a vision and mission are able to communicate the vision to others and enlist their efforts.

The thesis of this book is that those persons who are inspired in some way to work toward a dream get there through a process of transformation. That process can occur in any number of ways, some of which are provided in later chapters. However, the outcomes of transformation are consistent. Not all who are transformed become leaders. Some become poets or recluses. A few are able to articulate the dream, the vision and inspire others.

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Catalogue Information

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