It is a glimpse of the operational and strategic potential of the leader's personal values that have an effect on the organization's strategy, structure, processes, personnel policies and productivity. They are the beacons of light of your conscience (your inner voice), which are crystallized in your transcendent attitudes and behaviors because you know that you are serving higher ends…. He recognizes his true essence, the higher self and with it finds the way to become the co-creator of his whole world, to learn to control the circumstances of his life and to participate safely in the act of creation.
The values of a leader are rooted in his own being and radiates them in his way of acting, speaking and welcoming everyone at the different levels of an organization, influencing the goals it pursues. The leader manages that his values enter the minds and hearts of the people (shared values), causing effects on the strategy, structure, processes, personnel policies and productivity of the organization.
The leader, as a promoter of intellectual and emotional capital, and organizations that are concerned with optimizing their intellectual capital, do so to meet customer needs and thus remain in the market, be more competitive, grow and develop strategically. and integrally. This relatively recent concept is giving greater importance and hierarchy to human knowledge in terms of capacity, of “Know How” or of any manifestation of applied knowledge to achieve optimal results in business activities.
The aforementioned is enriched with emotional capital, which refers to the affective life and the basic attitudes of integration, loyalty and commitment in the relationship man - organization - productivity. They are pointing to energy - emotional, understood as will, loyalty, commitment and responsibility, as the human content - affective essential for true human efficiency and productivity, Goleman (1999).
There is a third complementary element that is the transcendent ethical - social dimension that every organization must have in its business vision and in its contribution to the common social good.
These three concepts: intellectual capital, emotional capital and transcendent ethical-social commitment, add up to all human energy, and warn that it is undoubtedly man who generates the productive phenomenon.
Fromm (1982), through his so-called "Productive Orientation of Man" points out with all success and depth, that productivity is man's active and creative relationship with himself, with his neighbor and with nature.
Fromm refers to three different dimensions and values that are related to productivity: they are thought, action and feeling. The productivity referred to the sphere of thought is manifested in the understanding of the world through reason and truth. Productivity with respect to the sphere of action is manifested in productive work, that is, in the work done for your own well-being and that of others. And in the spheres of feeling, the productive orientation is expressed through love, that is, the feeling of union with men, with work and with nature. It defines the act of productive action, when the "inner self" the action performed by the "me", and the fate of that action, are a single and indivisible whole.
This means that the person who does not freely accept a task or does not wish to do it, does not do it and if he does it, he does not impress on him the quality and commitment that the task itself demands. Cognitive dissonance, Festinger (1957).
A company is a chaotic system García and Dolan (1997) insofar as it meets the basic characteristics of said system: they are open, dynamic, dissipative, non-linear, capable of self-organization, unpredictable and highly sensitive to their initial conditions. Businesses are chaotic social systems that cannot be regulated by directives or by directive objectives. Its capacity for self-organization essentially derives from its members freely assuming a set of shared values or principles of action.
According to Prigogine and Stengers (1984) there are two types of chaotic systems: those with low and high energy. The low-energy chaotic system is characterized in that all material resources are disordered. It is unable to organize itself without the addition of more energy (delivered by the people in the company). By contrast, turbulent or high-energy chaos is something else: its disorder contains the seed of order.
The state of chaos that is self-organizing thanks to the appearance of the so-called "attractors" is the ideal substrate for creativity and innovation in the Company.
In this state of self-organized chaos, people are not confined to narrow roles, and gradually develop their capacity for differentiation and relationship in continuous growth towards their maximum potential contribution to organizational efficiency. Thus, values act as organizers or "attractors" of disorder.
The rethinking of the values is prior and as much or more significant than the redesign of the processes. Hamer and Champy (1994) say:
“Unless values and beliefs change, new processes, well designed as they are, will never work. Changing values is as much a part of reengineering as changing processes. ”
The administrative sciences clearly show us that the most productive organizations over time and those with the highest profits have been born and have developed with enormous energy from their basic philosophy, their ethical principles and their managerial practices. It should be noted that the conceptual and philosophical foundation of the organizations themselves are not responsible for the success of the companies, but the ability to make all members of the Company or Institution know, assimilate and live those Collins and Porras principles and values (1997).
Values are words, and therefore relatively simple structures of thought that, however, encompass complex knowledge of the desired reality. Values have the ability to transcend the perception of what is immediately existing in order to conceptualize the vision of the ideal. This conceptualization of the desirable can end up containing in a few words more knowledge than an entire strategic plan, especially when, as usual, there is no one who is capable of reading and assimilating it.
Values are part of the power of knowledge insofar as they guide daily behaviors, unite and give meaning to collective wills, serve to resolve conflicts and make decisions for change, Rockeach (1976).
García del Junco, Ganaza and Baena (2001) in their work: "The need to enhance personal values, as a strategic resource, in organizations", intentionally distinguish between manager and leader, which does not imply that both cannot occur in only one person. One of the clearest distinctions between the Director of the Company and the leader is set out by Bennis and Nanus (1985): The leader acts on the sentimental and spiritual resources of the organization, while the Director acts on the physical resources of the same, on its capital, the aptitude of the personnel, the raw materials and the technology. Any competent Director can make the people of the organization earn a living. An excellent Director can see to it that work is done efficiently and productively, on schedule,and with a good level of quality. However, it is up to the leader to make the people of the organization experience pride and satisfaction in their work.
It is a sentimental appeal to some of the essential human needs.
Four years ago there is the concern of “an anthropological approach to the theory of leadership” García del Junco and Sanchz Vurues (1998), whose interest lies in pointing out that the main factor that makes a person a leader is their personal values, since they exist a series of these that are very attractive to form an ideal of a person especially attractive to others, the followers of the leader. Among the most interesting contributions of this theory, it is pointed out that it does not contemplate the possibility of counter values as conformers of the figure of the leader Based on this Anthropological approach to leadership theory, I conclude that:
- The most important personal (instrumental) values for the leader are: honesty, responsibility and respect, coinciding with those they have assumed. The following relationships exist:
1. Responsibility leads to autonomy and this in turn to freedom.
2. Honesty implies truthfulness and coherence and this to an inner harmony.
3. And respect, to be courteous to treat with human delicacy, which would lead to prudence (cardinal virtue), temperance, moderation and discernment. Wisdom is reached, prudent conduct in life.
The above leads to what I have called a triangle:
a) A triangle of final values, which lead leaders in their attitudes and behaviors to be respectful, responsible and honest. Based all of this on an energy center of a final value personal fulfillment (self-realized) and the other three directly connected to each other, freedom, inner harmony and wisdom:
Self-realized exhibits a continuous "freshness of appreciation". Each sunrise and sunset fills you with energy again, and each new flower is an event that never loses its miraculous quality. The self-realized do not have preconceptions of the way things should be. They are very receptive to experience and allow each of them to express itself.
c) "The act of loving" that integrates the final and instrumental values of the leader transcends thought and words. As Fromm (1994) says: in the act of loving, of surrendering, in the act of penetrating the other person, I find myself, I discover myself, I discover both of us, I discover man. The only way to achieve total knowledge is through the act of loving: that act transcends thought, transcends words. It is a reckless plunge into the bonding experience. However, knowledge of thought, that is, psychological knowledge, is a necessary condition for full knowledge in the act of loving. I have to know the other person and myself objectively, to be able to see their reality, or, rather, to put aside the illusions, my irrationally deformed image of them.Only by objectively knowing a human being can I know him in his ultimate essence, in the act of loving.
Care, responsibility, respect and knowledge are mutually interdependent. They constitute a syndrome of attitudes found in the mature person; that is, in the person who productively develops his own powers, who only wishes to possess those that he has gained through his work, who has given up the narcissistic dreams of omniscience and omnipotence, who has acquired humility based on that inner force that only genuine productivity activity can provide.
These values inserted and assumed in their attitudes and behaviors of the leader's life are its roots and the beacons of light of their conscience, which radiate the art of loving whose work is to understand and forgive, points out Weiss (2003).
From this much more humanistic and organizational development (DO) approach, a new strategic leadership tool, Managing by Values, appeared in 1997, with two simultaneous publications, one in Spain and the other in the United States. Bolívar and Sanchez (2002).
Management by values aims to introduce the personal dimension into managerial thinking, not only in a formal way, but in daily practice. It focuses on setting up companies that, therefore, integrate human capital in its entirety, both in its rational dimension and in its emotional dimension.
We could say that it is a global framework from which to redesign an organizational culture that generates adherence, commitment and enthusiasm, since it is from the emotional connection through values, such as trust or creativity, that professional performance reaches its highest quality. Thus, management by values represents a proposal for evolution from a conventional organizational culture of values of orientation to control towards a new culture of development values.
Stein (2003), points out: “Pragmatic leadership involves a different way of managing people, in which the model of effectiveness is overtaken by fertility, a consequence of developing the talent of the members of the organization in an environment of confidence and fostering creativity ”.
From the aforementioned we have the potential of Trust and Creativity that directly affect the performance of a human team to achieve its maximum quality. But there can be no creativity without freedom, people and their talents grow at the rhythm set by the sounds of freedom and its reverse, responsibility. Trust alone is earned with truth that comes from honesty and with it the inner harmony that implies inner peace from which security is derived. A security that can only come from within, security points out Weiss, is a non-earthly spiritual trait. Security derives from Inner Peace (Inner Harmony) and from the knowledge of our authentic essence, which is spiritual.
Serotonin is a neuro transmitter of the brain. Its presence in high amounts indicates a level of calm. The higher the serotonin level, the greater one's peace. Notes Valerie Hunt, writing about spiritual enlightenment in her book Infinite Mind, observes: “In my laboratory we discovered that when a person's energy field reached the highest, most complex vibrations, through imagination or meditation, that person had spiritual experiences regardless of your beliefs ”(p. No. 285). The doctor is a scientist and psychological researcher in the fields of human energy. Think: when you are at peace and you send this silent serenity, you influence everyone around you. Invisible energy particles are called pheromonesthat are emitted in moments of fear and its opposite: love. In places where spiritual awareness and unconditional love are practiced, pheromones of beauty and tenderness are emitted that remain in the environment Dyer (2001).
Inner peace (Inner Harmony) reveals to us the capacity of this final value that leaders have, which leads them to have a spiritual development superior to normal. Complementing this spiritual profile of the leader I maintain that it is very clearly identified with the last call phase of adult development of Dyer (1997), the spiritual. In this phase of life he recognizes the true essence, the higher self. By knowing your higher self, you are on your way to becoming the co-creator of your entire world, learning to control the circumstances of your life and to participate safely in the act of creation. Thus, you literally become a protester.
The spiritual phase of your life is characterized by an awareness that this place called earth is not your home. He knows that he is not an athlete, a warrior, or even a statesman, but an infinite, limitless, immortal, universal, and eternal energy that temporarily resides in a body. He knows that nothing dies, that everything is an energy that is constantly changing.
As a soul with a body, you are passionately drawn to your inner world. You leave your fears behind and begin to experience a kind of detachment from this physical plane. You become an observer of your world and move on to other dimensions of consciousness. This infinite inner energy is not only in him, but also in all things and all people alive or who have lived in the past. You begin to know that intimately.
After being born in a physical state, Weiss (2003) points out, our main source of learning is the relationship with others. Through the joy and pain of relationships with other people, we progress on our spiritual path to learn about love from everywhere. It can be learned more when there are obstacles than when there are few or none. A life with difficult relationships, full of obstacles and losses, presents many more opportunities for soul growth. A person may have chosen the most difficult life in order to accelerate their spiritual progress.
Another source that is related to what Weiss points out is the research by Bennis and Thomas (2003): “All of our interviewees described their crucibles as opportunities for reinvention, to take control over their lives and to find meaning in circumstances that many people would have found it terrifying and potentially crippling. At its most extreme, this capacity for reinvention resembles eternal youth; a kind of vigor and openness, and a permanent capacity for wonder that is the antithesis of the stereotype of old age.
We have borrowed from biology a term neoteny, which, according to the dictionary, means “preservation of juvenile characteristics in adults of a species” to describe this quality, this delight in constant learning that all the leaders we interviewed showed, with regardless of their age.
Recent link studies indicate that caring for the baby and other close interactions with a child cause the mother's system to be flooded with oxytocin, a soothing and comforting hormone that is a powerful antidote to cortisol, the hormone generated by stress.. Oxytocin appears to be the binding binder. In addition, the baby's unique appearance and behavior result in oxytocin being released in the lucky adult.
They also believe that great leaders possess four essential qualities, and were surprised to discover that these qualities are the same that make a person able to make sense of an experience that could be negative.
First, there is the ability to engage others and draw them into a common feeling. Second, there is having a differentiated and eloquent voice. Third is the sense of integrity (including a strong set of values).
However, by far the most important quality of the four is what they called "adaptability"; it is, in essence, applied creativity, a practically magical ability to overcome adversity, with all the tension it generates, and to get out of problems stronger than at first. It is made up of two primary qualities: the ability to capture the context and the ability to endure. The ability to grasp the context involves the ability to weigh a number of factors ranging from the way in which different groups of people will interpret a gesture to the ability to put a situation in perspective. Without this ability, leaders are absolutely lost because they cannot establish contact with their followers.
Endurance is exactly what it seems: the perseverance and resistance that makes it possible for people to emerge from devastating circumstances without losing hope.
The combination of endurance and the ability to capture the context is what, above all else, makes it possible for the person not only to survive an ordeal, but also to learn from it and end up being stronger, more committed and more determined than in the past. These attributes make it possible for leaders to grow as people through their melting pot experiences, rather than being destroyed by them: they make it possible for them to find opportunities where others would find only despair. This is what true leadership is made of.
Ribeiro (2000) points out that we only know a small part of the capacity of our brain, as if it were an iceberg, of which we can only see what is on the surface. Consciousness covers only 1% of what exists in our brain. The remaining 99% of our potential resides in the unconscious.
Today it is known that our brain has two differentiated areas: the left hemisphere, which acts on logical reasoning, and the right hemisphere, which is more open to intuition and emotions and allows access to the unconscious. If we developed the right part of the brain, we would be able to come into contact with our unconscious. In turn, the individual unconscious is related to the collective unconscious, and access to it would give us a power that now seems impossible to us.
To conclude, I would like to take Garcia del Junco and Sanchz Vurues de Segovia (1998), who point out, based on Fiedler's transactional model, those managers motivated in their style to relations in the organization, manifest a clear disposition to face the values according to Bass del transformational leadership model, and according to them they complete this integrative synthesis following Burns (who although Bass distinguishes between status and esteem for the role of the leader) we emphasize that the leader assumes the role of such if he benefits society with his actions. Hence, they represent the framework of a theory on leadership by personal values, and not the controllers, which they have called "Anthropological approach to leadership theory."
Based on what was previously stated by them, I have completed my doctoral thesis “Anthropological approach to leadership theory: personal values in the leader” and I am currently investigating the same approach which will constitute my doctoral thesis. The roots of leadership are framed by these three investigations.
Finally, this topic has a significance that goes beyond business productivity, since this is a consequence of the development of the potential of the human being, which Fromm (1997) very well points out: “Man must accept responsibility for himself and also the fact that only by using his own powers (the full realization of those faculties that are peculiarly his: reason, love and productive work) can he give meaning to his life ”.
The roots of leadership are its personal instrumental values of honesty, respect and responsibility, these are its operational potential. And wisdom, freedom and inner harmony are his final values, these are his strategic potential Rokeach, (1973).
I define this leadership as Fromm (1997) points out to a productive person: “He trusts his reason and is capable of loving others and himself and has the will to act virtuously. " It is a leadership from the inside out, since it cannot give or give something that it does not have."
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