Gardner+and+Connections

Notes: Gardner’s __Leading Minds: An Anatomy of Leadership__ · Leaders achieve their effectiveness through the stories they create. Leaders embody these stories/lead by example · Innovative: takes latent story from the population or expertise domain and brings new twist · Visionary: creates new story · Domain experts lead indirectly through their work · Effective leaders of institutions and organizations lead directly through the stories · Motivated by change not power Gardner’s Reasearch: · Criteria: biographical material available, achievements and failures in the past, differences among them did not reflect their having been subjected to contrasting historical conditions (patterns that transcend context) · The story as central: Arrived at story that worked for them—New stories have to outweigh existing stories (connection to Kuhn here)- Theory: · The most basic stories have to do with issues of identity-Note connection to Erik Erikson here—this book was written as a tribute to the famous developmentalist (stage theory), Gardener’s mentor · Story needs to make sense at this particular historical moment (Kuhn again) · Cognitive approach to Leadership—Grounding theory: Cognitive theorists examine how ideas ( thoughts, images, mental representations) develop and how they are stored, combined, accessed, remembered and reconstituted into new core knowledge Research Questions: · What are the ideas (stories) of the leader? · How developed? · How are they communicated, understood, misunderstood? · How do they interact with other stories—especially competing counterstories—that have already saturated the collective consciousness of audience (Kuhn again)? · How do key ideas (stories) affect thoughts, behaviors, feelings of others? Research Methods: · Document analysis (biographies, speeches, diaries,writings, audio and video) · Began with some general ideas about leadership: The notion that stories were important (Connection to Strauss here) · Monitored: MI strengths, family background, role of supportive people, time it takes to develop and disseminate novel ideas · Other themes were discovered as he went through the process Construct · Placing within a Domain—not information processing approach · The mental structures activated by the leader & followers are the missing piece · Not study of power, leader personality types, and so forth Human development and the theory: · Primate Status: compete for positions within the hierarchy/biological basis/proclivity to imitate/primate heritage is foundational to appreciation of leadership/size, strength,skill · Early Socialization: attachment/Trust vs. Mistrust—shapes how people respond to authority (Erikson’s Stages here) -sense of self and sense of belongingness to certain social groups (in-group and out-group) · The Mind of a Five Year Old: Freud—emotional states of childhood Piaget—stage transformations The idea of the “well-stocked five year old mind” Has to be prepared to educate the unschooled minds in order to relate to broader base/constituency · Attainment of Expertise in Domain · Attainment of expertise may be in the ability to understand others (Linguistic & Interpersonal Intelligences) Four Factors of the Developed Leader: · Tie to community—ongoing relationship with followers · Certain Rhythm of Life—regular contact with community/but also periods of isolated reflection · Relationship between stories and embodiments is explicit · Centrality of Choice—leadership through choice Leader’s Stories: · Stories of Identity—narratives that help people think about who they are, where they came from, where headed · Children’s stories: Rigid dialectics—good and evil clash · Moral dilemma—(Kohlberg connection here) · Adults never lose their connections to these story grammars Schooled vs unschooled mind—(the way he describes how new stories take hold is essentially Kuhn—a dialectical model) Subject and Content of Stories: · Issues of self, identity—rooted in group membership · Self-people look to others with whom they identify to answer the “Who am I?” · Group Identity—leaders who offer a different set of options with respect to group membership · Values and Meaning—build on the most credible of past syntheses Constituencies: · People differ in the extent to which they seek synthesis and can live with contradiction · People differ in their tolerance of ambiguity · Stories that are simpler if not simplistic The Six Constants of Leadership: The Story—speaks directly to the unschooled mind/inclusionary Audience—relationship between leader and audience is interactive Organization—Institutional basis Embodiment—if leader appears hypocritical—not convincing Expertise—no credibility w/o expertise Direct and Indirect Leadership Synopsis of Erik Erikson's Stage Theory of Development: Synopsis of Erikson from []   Erikson recognized the basic notions of Freudian theory, but believed that Freud misjudged some important dimensions of human development. Erikson said that humans develop throughout their life span, while Freud said that our personality is shaped by the age of five. Erikson developed eight psychosocial stages that humans encounter throughout their life. The stages are Trust vs. Mistrust, Autonomy vs. Shame & Doubt, Initiative vs. Guilt, Industry vs. Inferiority, Identity vs. Role Confusion, Intimacy vs. Isolation, Generativity vs. Stagnation, and Integrity vs. Despair. The first stage, Trust vs. Mistrust, occurs from approximately birth to one year. Erikson defined trust as an essential trustfulness of others as well as a fundamental sense of one's own trustworthiness. He thought that an infant who gets fed when he is hungry and comforted when he needs comforting will develop trust. He also said that some mistrust is necessary to learn to discriminate between honest and dishonest persons. If mistrust wins over trust in this stage, the child will be frustrated, withdrawn, suspicious, and will lack self-confidence. The second stage, Autonomy vs. Shame & Doubt, occurs between ages two and three. During this period it is important that the parents create a supportive atmosphere in which the child can develop a sense of self-control without a loss of self-esteem. Shame and doubt about the child's self-control and independence occur if basic trust was insufficiently developed or was lost such as when the child's will is broken by an over controlling parent. In this stage, Erikson said the child encounters rules, such as which areas of the house he is allowed to explore. The third stage, Initiative vs. Guilt, occurs between ages four and five. This is the stage in which the child must find out what kind of person he/she is going to be. The child develops a sense of responsibility which increases initiative during this period. If the child is irresponsible and is made to feel too anxious then they will have uncomfortable guilt feelings. Erikson believed that most guilt is quickly compensated for by a sense of accomplishment. Erikson's fourth stage, Industry vs. Inferiority, occurs between six years and puberty. This is the period in which the child wants to enter the larger world of knowledge and work. One of the great events of this time is the child's entry into school. This is where he is exposed to the technology of his society: books, multiplication tables, arts and crafts, maps, microscopes, films, and tape recorders. However, the learning process does not only occur in the classroom according to Erikson, but also at home, friend's houses, and on the street. Erikson said that successful experiences give the child a sense of industry, a feeling of competence and mastery, while failure gives them a sense of inadequacy and inferiority, a feeling that one is a good-for-nothing. Components of Erikson's prior four stages contribute to the fifth stage, Identity vs. Identity Confusion. This occurs during adolescence. During this period the identity concern reaches climax. According to Erikson this is the time when adolescents seek their true selves. Erikson's sixth stage, Intimacy vs. Isolation, occurs during young adulthood. Intimacy with other people is possible only if a reasonably well integrated identity emerges from stage five. The main concern of Erikson's seventh stage, Generativity vs. Stagnation, is to assist the younger generation in developing and leading useful lives. When the individual feels that he has done nothing to help the next generation then they experience stagnation. The final stage, Integrity vs. Despair, occurs during late adulthood. This is the time in which the individual looks back and evaluates their life. If the previous stages have developed properly then they will experience integrity. If the previous stages have not developed in a positive way then they will feel despair. <span style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="color: navy; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;">Erikson believed that development is primarily qualitative because changes are stage like, but also quantitative as one's identity becomes stronger and one's convictions solidify. He believed that nature determines the sequence of the stages and sets the limits within which nurture operates. However, all must pass through one stage before entering the next in the stated order.