8 July 2003

New leadership model will stem CEO revolving door

Australia's peak body for management has called a halt to the slash and burn mindset that saw CEO turnover in Australia quadruple between 2001 and 2002*, with the launch of a new virtues-based model for leadership.

The Australian Institute of Management's virtuous leadership model and the book that explains it, The 7 Heavenly Virtues of Leadership, leave little doubt that today's relentless pursuit of short term, bottom line results will not be the making of tomorrow's leaders.

According to a national director of the Australian Institute of Management and editor of the Management Today book series, Ms Carolyn Barker, future leaders will be judged by their ability to lead by example, build loyalty, and ensure sustainability.

"We spent a long time consulting with leaders and managers across the country to develop what was conspicuously absent in this country: a list of leadership virtues relevant for modern Australian organisations. The ones we agreed on are humility, courage, integrity, compassion, humour, passion and wisdom.

"In the corporate context, it is about using 'good behaviour' to drive the bottom line", Ms Barker said.

The latest offering in a highly successful series of books for managers, The 7 Heavenly Virtues of Leadership makes a compelling case that sustainability can only be achieved by organisations willing to accept a paradigm shift: from the 'cut-throat' model to the 'virtuous leadership' model.

"Good leaders must spend more time looking at their own behaviour and performance before they can effectively manage that of their employees, because their actions and attitudes directly influence the people and culture of their organisation.

"Research has shown that effective leaders have a high degree of emotional intelligence. They are self-aware and have a deep understanding of their own values and the effect they have on others.

"And while that may sound self-evident, it often gets forgotten in the context of bottom lines, power struggles and the pressure to deliver shareholder returns", Ms Barker said.

"These sorts of topics may sound like soft issues, but the book's contributors successfully make what Fabian Dattner calls 'a commercial case for compassion'. She argues that smart leaders are recognising that creating a vision and aligning people with it is no longer a soft issue: it is a crucial leadership skill. If you can't provide it then your organisation will not be attractive to the very talent you need to survive.

"If we are to believe - and I do - contributor Charles Kovess' declaration that 'Australia's future is totally dependent upon the quality and behaviour of our leaders', then this is an urgent task and a very timely book", Ms Barker said.

In a departure from much of the management book genre, Seven Heavenly Virtues offers no 'ten easy steps to success' format.

"It is a call to leaders to examine their own conduct and its impact on the their organisation and employees. Virtue is where the leadership buck stops - where there is no-one to answer to but self. There are no quick fixes, no management secrets. Only what contributor Ray Weekes calls 'unsparing self-examination'", Ms Barker said.

And while ranging over the philosophical, it is anchored strongly in the everyday, providing practical help on how to develop the seven virtues. Contributor Charles Kovess likens the journey to getting fit - it's simple to go jogging four times a week, but not easy.

"One of the most important messages in the book is that there are no secrets to virtue - everybody can work towards having humility, courage, integrity and the rest. None of the contributors position themselves as a 'guru' possessing the holy grail of leadership. They simply warn against thoughtless leadership; virtue depends on questioning yourself, how and why you do things and how that affects others.

"This isn't rocket science. They are simple concepts, yet sorely lacking in many organisations", she says.

"It goes beyond simply determining the right thing to do. It's about the right way to live", she said.

For further information please contact:

Carolyn Barker, Chief Executive Officer on (07) 3227 4836 or 0417 764 106
Vivienne Hardy or Belinda White at Interaction on (02) 9261 4102
Vivienne Hardy on 0411 208 951

For more information on The 7 Heavenly Virtues of Leadership or to purchase any books from the Management Today Series, please click here.

* Source: a report by Booz Allen Hamilton, Deliver or Depart: CEO Succession 2002