DEEP Insight
Giving Wings to Your Leadership Style 
The Value of Values
Authors: Peus, Claudia
Date: Second Quarter 2012
Tags: human, leadership, integrity, values, dignity
Many managers argue that, in principle, they would like to give employees more room for development and creativity, but given the urgent challenges resulting from the instability of domestic and global financial markets, they must focus on efficiency and cost cutting instead. But do humanistic principles and superior business performance really contradict each other? This article looks at some humanistic leadership principles underpinning successful organizations. It offers guidelines for managers on how humanistic leadership can renew an organization's direction, structure and capabilities, while also winning over employees, whose support is critical for success. The author suggests the factors that are hugely important for managing organizational change initiatives effectively. Finally, she summarizes existing research indicating that humanistic or ethically oriented leadership -- often termed transformational leadership -- can be linked to positive economic performance.
Tools and Frameworks:
> "Humanistic Leadership Principles" poses practical ways that managers can model six values in order to win over employees and effect organizational change initiatives, leading to positive economic performance.
Examples Cited:
IBM, Gore-Tex, Toyota
Research Basis:
Reviews recent empirical research on the relationship between ethically oriented leadership and economic performance, indicating that such leadership is, in fact, economically effective.
About the Author:
Claudia Peus is a professor at TUM School of Management, Technische Universität München, and academic director of the university's executive education center.
PREMIUM MATERIAL
To view this, you need to SUBSCRIBE or be an IESE ALUMNI MEMBER
