by Lee G Bolman
Symbolic leaders believe that the essential task of management is to provide vision and inspiration. They rely on personal charisma and a flair for drama to get people excited and committed to the organizational mission. A good leader is a prophet and visionary, who uses symbols, tells stories, and frames experience in ways that give people hope and meaning.
Comparison Scores
The following table shows percentiles for each frame, based on a sample of more than seven hundred managers from business, education, and government. The scales in Figure A.1 have been adjusted to represent percentile scores. The lowest number for each frame represents the 25th percentile; the highest number represents the 90th percentile. For the structural frame, for example, 25 percent of managers rate themselves 12 or below, and only 10 percent rate themselves 22 or above.
In a sample of more than 700 managers: Structural Human Resource Political Symbolic
10% rated themselves at or above: 22 24 17 21
25% rated themselves above: 19 22 13 17
50% rated themselves above: 16 19 11 14
75% rated themselves above: 12 16 9 11
a© 1988, Lee G. Bolman and Terrence E. Deal. All rights reserved. This survey is based on ideas in Bolman and Deal’s Reframing Organizations: Artistry, Choice, and Leadership (San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 1991, 1997, 2003).
THE AUTHORS
Lee G. Bolman holds the Marion Block Missouri Chair in Leadership at the Bloch School of Management, University of Missouri–Kansas City. He received a BA (1962) in history and a PhD (1968) in administrative sciences, both from Yale University. Bolman’s interests lie at the intersection of leadership and organizations, and he has published numerous articles, chapters, and cases. He is coauthor of Reframing Academic Leadership (with Joan V. Gallos, 2011). Bolman has been a consultant to corporations, public agencies, universities, and public schools in the United States, Asia, Europe, and Latin America. For twenty years, he taught at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, where he also chaired the Institute for Educational Administration and the School Leadership Academy. He has been director and board chair of the Organizational Behavior Teaching Society and director of the National Training Laboratories.
Bolman lives in Brookline, Massachusetts, with his wife, Joan Gallos, and a spirited Theory Y cockapoo, Douglas McGregor.
Terrence E. Deal has served on the faculties of Stanford, Harvard, Vanderbilt, and the University of Southern California. He received his BA (1961) from the University of La Verne (ULV), his MA (1966) from California State University at Los Angeles, and his PhD (1972) in sociology and administration from Stanford University. Deal has been a police officer, public school teacher, high school principal, district administrator, and university professor.
His primary research interests are in organizations, symbolism, and change. He is the author or coauthor of twenty-seven books, including the best seller Corporate Cultures (with Allan A. Kennedy, 1982) and Shaping School Culture (with Kent D. Peterson, 1999). He has published many articles on organizations, change, and leadership. He is a consultant to business, health care, military, educational, and religious organizations domestically and in Europe, Scandinavia, the Middle East, Canada, South America, Japan, and Southeast Asia. He is the founder of ULV’s Deal Leadership Institute.
Deal lives in San Luis Obispo’s Edna Valley, California, with his wife, Sandy. He is semiretired from university life. Along with writing, his current avocation is winemaking as a member of the Edna Ranch Vintner’s Guild.
Bolman and Deal first met in 1976 when they were assigned to coteach a course on organization at Harvard University. Trained in different disciplines on opposite coasts, they disagreed on almost everything. It was the beginning of a challenging but very productive partnership. They have written a number of other books together, including Reframing Organizations: Artistry, Choice, and Leadership, and Leading with Soul: An Uncommon Journey of Spirit. Their books have been translated into multiple languages for readers in Asia, Europe, and Latin America.
For five years, Bolman and Deal also codirected the National Center for Educational Leadership, a research consortium of Harvard, Vanderbilt, and the University of Chicago.
The authors appreciate hearing from readers and welcome comments, questions, suggestions, or accounts of experiences that bear on the ideas in the book. Stories of success, failure, or puzzlement are all welcome. Readers can contact the authors at the following addresses:
Lee Bolman
7 Hawes Street
Brookline, MA 02446
[email protected]
Terry Deal
6625 Via Piedra
San Luis, Obispo CA 93401
[email protected]
INDEX
Page references followed by fig indicate an illustrated figure; followed by e indicate an exhibit.
A
ABC Television
“Above all else, do no harm” (Hippocratic Oath)
Adaptive problems
Advocacy and inquiry skills: Ellen and Don’s story reframed by using; providing feedback using; used by peacemakers
Affiliated Computer Services (ACS)
Afghanistan: structural evolution of Al-Qaeda in; U.S. invasion of
Agendas: description of; political skill in setting
Akers, John
Al-Qaeda
Alden, John
Allen, George
Amazon: as “culture of metrics”; focusing on best customer service at lowest price; founded by Jeff Bezos; Jeff Bezos’s metrics maestro leadership of
Apple: failed MobileMe product of; launch of iPhone; Michael Eisner’s public criticism of; “Pirates” team at; Steve Jobs fired from; Steve Jobs’s recruitment of John Sculley to; Steve Jobs’s return (1997) to save
Apple Stores
Argyris, Chris
Arthur Andersen scandal
Asiana Airlines Boeing 777 crash (2013)
Atlas Rocket
Authority: Chilean miner rescue (2010) dynamics of leadership and; description of failed leadership in Lord of the Flies; lateral; U.S. Army commando team’s structure and; vertical
Authorship (structural frame): leader contribution to excellence through; relationship between power and
B
Bakken, Earl
Ballmer, Steve
Bankruptcy: Mulcahy’s leadership in keeping Xerox from; WorldCom scandal leading to
Bargain hunting game
Bargaining skills
Barrett, Colleen
Barry, John
Baseball team structure
Basketball team structure
Beatles’ Shea Stadium concert (New York)
Beliefs: as element of leader’s worldview; self-images based on virtues and; stories that give flesh to shared values and. See also Cultural symbols and values
Bennis, Warren
Bezos, Jeff: as Amazon founder; concepts, categories, and beliefs included in worldview of; lack of human resource leadership displayed by; leadership configuration used by; metrics maestro leadership image of
bin Laden, Osama
Blink (Gladwell)
Blodgett, Lynn
Bloomberg Businessweek
Boeing
Bono
Brand, Russell
Brummel, Lisa
Buckley, George
Buffett, Warren
Bureaucracy
Burke, James E.
Burns, Ursula: leadership configuration of; leadership image as an authentic engineer; successful leadership of Xerox by
C
Camp David Accords (1978)
Caring and love (human resource frame)
Carlson Companies
Carlzon, Jan
Ceremonies. See Rituals and ceremonies
Cézanne, Paul
Change: leadership challenges related to; limits of leadership in managing
Change management: carriers versus catalysts approach to; comparing skidding automobile to command-and-cont
rol capabilities of college presidents; faith in leaders’ abilities to create successful; four-frame model used for; Lisa Brummel’s successful approach at Microsoft; rooted in a shared understanding of challenges
Change management frames: analysis of Ford Motor’s resurrection using the; human resource; political; structural; symbolic
Chess masters
Chilean miner rescue (2010): comparing leadership dynamics of Lord of the Flies and the; group dynamics during the
Chrysler: Bob Nardelli’s failure as CEO of; U.S. government bailout of
Cluelessness: of Bob Nardelli as CEO of Home Depot; as failure of “common sense”; of Ron Johnson as CEO of JCPenney
Coalition building skills
Coca-Cola
Cohen, M.
“The Commoditization of the Starbucks Experience” memo (Schultz)
Conflict: as inevitable in all social interactions; Lois Payne case example of handling; negotiation and bargaining skills to manage; peacemaker approach to; personal and emotional overtones of; political dealings and role of; technical and adaptive problems that cause; warrior approach to. See also Political dynamics
Contextual factors (or structural contingencies): core process; information technology; nature of the workforce; size and age; strategy and goals
Cook, Tim
Cooper, Cynthia
Costco: enlightened employee management at; Jim Sinegal’s CEO position at
Couric, Katie
“Court sense”
Cross, Irv
Cultural symbols and values: danger of importing from one company to another; examples of values that bond companies; how symbolic leaders (Magicians) work with; Starbucks’s story on revival of; stories that give flesh to shared; of the WD-40 company; Zappos employees trained using. See also Beliefs; Virtues
Customer service: Amazon’s focus on lowest priced and best; and decline of Home Depot; reframing IBM’s; Zappos’s extraordinary levels of
D
Dallas Cowboys
Dartmouth
Data General. See Eagle Group (Data General)
Davidson, Adam
Davis, Jack. See Davis-Martin case study
Davis-Martin case study: facing a serious leadership challenge; human resource scenario reframing response by the; political scenario reframing response by the; structural scenario reframing response by the; symbolic scenario reframing response by the
DC-8 airline flight crash
de Castro, Edson
De Pree, Max
Decision making: how fluid expertise facilitates; for technical versus adaptive problems; U.S. Army commando team. See also Leadership ethics
Defense of Marriage Act
Delivering Happiness (Hsieh)
Digital Equipment Corporation
Dilbert (cartoon strip)
Disney, Roy
Diversity. See Employee diversity
Dockers
Duke University: women’s basketball team
E
Eagle Group (Data General): contribution of informal cultural players to the; examining the success of the; example approach used by members of the; humor and play as part of the work processes; leadership diversity used as competitive advantage by; mushroom management used by the; ritual and ceremony used by the; “signing up” ritual of the; specialized language used within the; stories and group lore used by the
Eagleman, David
Eastman, George
Egypt, and Camp David Accords (1978)
Eisner, Michael
Ellen and Don’s story
Ellison, Larry
Emotions: defusing; human resource frame’s focus on caring and love; listening and inquiring to understand other people’s
Employee diversity: Men’s Wearhouse’s commitment to; Semco’s programs to increase
Employee empowerment: as buzzword versus genuine; of Carlson Companies; Men’s Wearhouse approach to; Semco’s approach to
Employee investment: Men’s Wearhouse approach to; Semco’s programs for
Employee management: benefits of human resource frame used for; Ellen and Don story on interpersonal blindness and; empowerment as part of; human resource frame’s principles for; Men’s Wearhouse approach to; Robert Owen’s and Henry Ford’s radical approaches to; Semco’s principles for; Semco’s shift from structural to human resource; “treat ’em like dirt” approach to. See also Workforce
Employee retention: Men’s Wearhouse approach to; Mulally’s changes to Ford Motor’s approach to; Semco’s human resource frame approach to
Enron scandal
Ethical issues. See Leadership ethics
Ewert, Doug
Excellence (authorship of)
F
Facebook
Factory metaphor (structural frame): introduction to the; leader’s authorship contribution; reframing ethical leadership
Fairness (political frame)
Faith and significance (symbolic frame)
Family metaphor (human resource frame): introduction to the; leader’s love and caring contribution; reframing ethical leadership using the
Feedback: leadership skills of advocacy and inquiry for; principles of interpersonal; 360-degree
Feelings: defusing emotions and; human resource frame’s focus on caring and love; listening and inquiring to understand other people’s
Finding Nemo (film)
Firth, Neal
Fisher, Roger
Fluid expertise
Football team structure
Forbes magazine
Ford, Henry
Ford, William, III
Ford Motor Company: “Alan Legacy” for turnaround of; Alan Mulally brought in to transform; Business Plan Review (BPR) introduced to; debt facing; deliberate media “leaks” strategy used by; improved employee retention at; Model T advertisement (1925) by; securing support for change from senior executives of; story of Allan Mulally’s turnaround of; town hall meeting held for employees of; United Automobile Workers (UAW) recruited to help transformation at
Fortune magazine: Businessperson of the Year award; list of America’s 100 Best Places to Work 2013
Four-frame model: change management using the; introduction to human resource frame; introduction to political frame; introduction to structural frame; introduction to symbolic frame; Jeff Bezos’s leadership configuration using the; leadership ethics reframed using the; multiframe thinking of the; overview of the; Steve Jobs’s leadership configuration using the; Tony Hsieh’s leadership configuration using the; understanding the power of the; Ursula Burns’s leadership configuration using the. See also Leadership images; Leadership thinking; specific frame
Frames: definition of; four leadership; multiframe thinking; reframing by shifting
Framing: matching mental maps to situations through; process of reframing previous; role of fluid expertise in; understanding the process of. See also Reframing
Fry, Art
Functional groups: based on knowledge or skill; based on product organization; based on time or shift; established around customers or clients; grouped by process; organized around place or geography
G
Game plans
Gates, Bill
General Electric (GE)
George, Bill
Gerstner, Lou: ability to reframe his thinking; effective change management by; influenced by stories of Thomas J. Watson Sr.; stories of IBM’s history and future told by; story of his turnaround of IBM; successful reframing of IBM
Getting to Yes (Fisher and Ury)
Gladwell, Malcolm
“Go to the balcony” strategy
Goals: as contextual factor or structural contingencies; embedded in strategy; as major task of leadership
Google
Gordon, Eric
Grisham, John
Group dynamics: comparing leadership impact on; Lord of the Flies (Golding) description of failed; saga of the trapped Chilean miners
Groups: Chilean miners during
rescue; Lord of the Flies dystopian novel about schoolboys; political nature of all; six ways of organizing functional. See also Teams
H
Harley-Davidson
Harvard University: comparing structure of McDonald’s and; decentralized structure of; two core processes at
Heifetz, Ronald
Henriquez (el Pastor)
Hippocratic Oath
Hiring: Ellen and Don’s story on interpersonal blindness during process of; Men’s Wearhouse approach to; Semco’s human resource frame approach to
Hock, Dee
Holland, Chuck
Home Depot: Bob Nardelli’s cluelessness and impact on; revamped with Six Sigma
HomeDepotSucks.org
“Horse trading”
How to Measure Anything: Finding the Value of “Intangibles” in Business (factories metaphor)
HP (Hewlett-Packard)
Hsieh, Tony: customer-service standards of; Delivering Happiness by; leader of the tribe image of; leadership configuration used by; Linkexchange.com cofounded by
Human brain: how it perceives reality; mental maps created by the. See also Leadership thinking
Human resource frame: change management strategy using the; Ellen and Don’s story used to examine the; expansion of leaders’ thinking by the; family metaphor, concepts, leadership, and challenge of the; Jeff Bezos’s rare display of the; leadership and management approach of the; Men’s Wearhouse employee management using the; Olivia Martin case study using the human resource scenario; overcoming interpersonal blindness through the; people-friendly principles of the; reframing ethical leadership using the family metaphor of the; Semco turnaround using the; Steve Jobs’s rare display of the. See also Four-frame model
Humor, and play
I
IBM: Charlie Chaplin commercials and THINK slogan of; cultural values, language, and beliefs of; financial decline facing; Lou Gerstner’s stories to illuminate history and future of; Lou Gerstner’s successful reengineering of; reframing customer service at