Professionalizing Leadership (eBook)

Anders Örtenblad is Professor of Organization and Leadership at the Faculty of Social Sciences, Nord University, Norway.

Foreword 5
References 11
Preface 13
Reference 16
Contents 17
Notes on Contributors 22
List of Figures 28
List of Tables 29
Part I: Introduction 30
1: Background and Introduction: Leadership as a Profession and as the Main Theme on Bachelor Programs 31
The Debate on Leadership/Management as a Profession 32
A Brief Review of Literature Debating Management as Profession 34
The Debate on Offering Bachelor Programs in Leadership 35
An Outline of the Remainder of the Book 50
References 55
2: What Is a Profession, and What Are the Prerequisites for Being a Profession? 59
About Professional Research 60
Definitions and Characteristics of a Profession 62
1. Education, Competence and Discretion 63
2. Autonomy, Ethical Rules and Self-Control 64
3. Monopoly 65
Context: Relationship Between Profession, Government, Organization and Users 65
Dedifferentiation 66
De-professionalization 67
Conclusion: Management as a Profession? 68
References 69
Part II: Against Leadership as a Profession 72
3: How and Why Management Has Not Become a Profession 75
Section A. Is Not a Profession 73
Prospects of Professionalizing Management: US Versus Europe 77
Arguments Against and for Management as Profession 78
Taylorism: The Management Challenge to Engineering Dominance 84
Post-Taylorism: The Joint Management Tradition 85
Managerialism, Kenningism and New Public Management 1980–2010 87
Conclusion 89
References 91
4: Management as a Profession: The Historian’s Perspective 97
Section B. Can Not Become a Profession 95
Introduction 97
Professionalization of Management and Modernization: Early Debates 99
Management as a Profession: The 1960s as a Watershed and the Backlash of the 1980s 102
Traits of the Professionalization Process: Transformations in Managerial Background 104
Concluding Remarks 108
References 110
5: The Professional Leader: Man of Many Talents or Jack of All Trades? Five Questions About Professional Leadership 113
Introduction 113
The Professional Leader 114
1) Can a Person Lead an Organization Without Professional Competence in the Core Production? 115
2) Can a Professional Leader Practice at All Levels in the Organization? 117
3) Does the Professional Leader Need to Have Particular Personal Skills and Characteristics? 118
4) Can Leaders Be Professionalized Through Learning and Education? 121
5) Professionalization: Based on Talent or Knowledge? 126
Conclusion 129
References 131
6: Leadership as a Profession: A Special Case Dependent on Organizational Ownership, Governance, Mission and Vision 134
Introduction 134
Professional Leadership as Liberating Not Subjugating 138
Co-operative Purpose and Principles: An Ideological Statement Informing Co-operative Professional Leadership 140
Co-operative Leader: An Ideal Type for a Co-operative Future 143
Co-operative Leadership 145
Conclusion 146
References 147
7: Can Leadership Become a Profession? 150
Introduction 150
Building a New Organization 152
Leading Professionals 155
The Immanent Aspects of Leadership 158
A Paradox Named the Professional Leader 159
Conclusion 162
References 163
8: Against Professionalizing Leadership: The Roles of Self-Formation and Practical Wisdom in Leadership 167
Section C. Should Not Become a Profession 165
Introduction 167
What Is Leadership? 169
Leadership Implications of Practical Wisdom, Episteme and Technê 173
Dialogical Learning and Self-formation in Leadership Education 176
Conclusions 182
References 182
9: The Case for Behavioral Professionalism in Leadership 185
Conceptual Clarity of Professions, Professionals, and Professionalization 186
The Nature of a Profession 187
Functions of a Profession 187
Recipe for a Profession 188
Claiming Profession Status 190
Nature of Leadership 192
Leadership and Celebrity 193
Ubiquity of Leadership 193
Leadership and Outcomes 194
Leadership, Culture, and Accountability 195
Frustration with Unaccountable Leadership 195
Behavioral Professionalism: An Alternative to Professionalization of Leadership 197
1. Behavioral Professionalism Means Demonstrating Caring 198
2. Behavioral Professional Is Founded on a Commitment to Excellence 198
3. Behavioral Professionalism as Adherence to Values 199
4. Behavioral Professionalism as a Commitment to Learning 199
5. Behavioral Professionalism as Accountability 199
6. Behavioral Professionalism Is Determined by Others 200
7. Behavioral Professional Is Hard, Not Soft 200
8. Behavioral Professionalism and Organizational Culture 201
Conclusion 201
References 202
10: Professionalizing Political Leaders: Is This the Cure? Lessons from Political Theory 205
Introduction 205
The Debate on Professionalizing Leadership 206
The Philosopher King 207
Phronesis as Intelligent Leadership 208
Plato’s Practical Impacts on Leadership 209
The Elite Cadres 210
The Practical Outcomes of Leninism 212
Professionalizing Political Leadership Threatens Innovation 212
Professionalizing Political Leadership Threatens Democracy 214
Political Leaders Ought to Be Amateurs 216
Conclusions 217
References 218
Part III: In Between For and Against Leadership as a Profession 220
11: The Future of Management: Global Trends and Possible Scenarios of Development of Managerial Profession 221
Imperfection of Professional Management or Management as a Semi-profession1 222
Management on the Way to Super-Profession 227
Deprofessionalization of Professions 227
The Evolution of Control 229
Professional Business 230
How Do These Processes Affect the Overall Management Perspective? 232
Conclusions 235
References 237
12: Management/Leadership: Profession, Professional, Professionalization 240
Introduction 240
Leadership: High and Increasing Expectations, Yet Scarce and Often Unskilled Talent! 242
Leadership: Professionalization of What Exactly? 245
From Professional Leadership to Leadership as a Semi-Profession 247
Establishing Leadership as a Semi-Profession 248
Conclusion 251
References 251
Part IV: For Leadership as a Profession 256
13: Leadership, Management, and the Common Good 259
Section A. Is Already a Profession 257
Leadership and Management 260
The Professions 261
The Profession of Leadership and Management 263
A Critique of Rakesh Khurana’s Argument 265
Conclusion 268
References 269
14: Management Can Be Considered as a Profession 271
The Challenge for Management as a Profession 272
Civil Society as a Determinant of True Professions 273
Establishing the Occupational Baseline 275
A Professionalization Framework for Assessing Management 278
An Active National-Level Association 282
A Formal Body of Knowledge 283
University-Level Education 284
Established Certification Programs 285
Enforced Code of Conduct 286
Societal Sanction 287
Established Licensing Program 288
Framework Elements Assessed as Negligible 288
Summary of Assessment 289
Conclusion 290
References 291
15: The Professionalization of Medical Management? The Slow and Chequered Case of UK Health Care 297
Section B. Should but Can Not Become a Profession 295
Introduction 297
Academic Literature: Sociology of the Health Care Professions 299
A Brief History of NHS Management Reforms 300
The Professionalization of American Medical Management 303
The UK Case: Slower Progress? 306
Comparative Analysis and Future Research: Why Might the UK Project Be Slower? 308
References 310
16: Leadership as a Profession: The Need for an Authentic Jurisdiction 315
Section C. Can and Should Become a Profession 313
Definition of a Profession and of a Professional 316
Definitional Assessment 318
Essentialist and Functionalistic Assessment Framework 320
Essentailistic Assessment 321
Functionalistic Assessment 325
Overall Assessment 326
Conclusion 328
References 330
17: Should Leadership Be Considered a Profession? 332
Management Versus Leadership: True Professions? 334
Unprofessionalization of Leadership: Precedent and Resultant Myths 338
Who Is a Professional? 343
Defining the Parameters of Professionals: A Scoping Exercise 344
Conclusion 347
References 349
18: Leadership as a Profession? The Significance of Reflexive Judgment 351
Introduction 351
Reflexivity in Management Learning 352
Leadership as a Profession? Perspectives in the Ongoing Debate 354
A Case of Reflexive Judgment 355
Case 1: Shadowing the Leader at Meetings, Including Feedback and Feedforward 357
Case 2: Strengthening Reflexive Judgment 360
Conclusion 363
References 364
19: Preparing for Turning Leadership into a True Profession 367
Reducing the Status of Leadership 369
Exploring New Meanings of “Leadership” 370
Offering Bachelor Programs in Leadership 372
(Re-)installing Dual Career Paths 374
Concluding Remarks 374
References 375
Part V: On the Need for Bachelor Programs in Leadership 377
20: Bachelor Programs in Leadership: The Beginning of a Profession 378
Introduction 378
Content and Structure 381
Concluding Remarks 383
References 383
21: “As the Twig Is Bent, so the Tree Shall Grow”: Developing Strategic Intuition Through Reflective Practices in Bachelor Programs in Leadership Studies 385
References 391
22: Yes, We Should Develop New Action-Learning-Based Bachelor Programs in Leadership 393
References 398
23: The Need to Consider the Context When Offering Bachelor Programs in Leadership 400
References 405
24: How a Bachelor in Leadership Would Fill a Gap 408
Introduction 408
Adding a Bachelor in Leadership to the Current System 409
Employability in the Danish Labor Market 410
Connectivity to Practice 411
Designing a Bachelor in Leadership 412
Conclusion 414
References 415
25: Why Universities Should Give Bachelor Programs in Leadership 417
Bachelor Programs in Leadership: An Outline 418
Why There Is a Need for Bachelor Programs in Leadership: A Brief Argumentation 419
References 421
Index 423