The paradoxes of leadership

Colleague and fellow Wisconsin business school alumna Linda Hall helped me discover this 2001 research paper on the qualities and challenges of leadership in a digital age (Mary Lynn Pulley & Valerie I. Sessa, ”E-leadership: tackling complex challenges,” Industrial and Commercial Training, Volume 3, Number 6, 2001). Instead of solid, categorical conclusions about the nature of leadership, the interviewees for the study described a series of paradoxes that define the life and work of the modern leader.

These paradoxes suggest continual tensions that cannot be resolved, but can only be balanced. They seemed particularly appropriate to arts and cultural leadership, so here they are with excerpted text from the article.

• Swift and mindful. The most common response we heard when asked about the impact of technology on leadership is the need for speed. Yet making swift decisions usually requires falling back on habitual responses — or even kneejerk reactions….The dilemma embedded in this polarity is how to balance efficient, habitual responses with fresh ideas and innovation.
• Individual and community. Technology provides us with tools that give individuals a great deal of autonomy…. The dilemma is how to create ways for individuals to be autonomous without feeling isolated.
• Top-down and grass-roots. Many organizations are still based on a hierarchical structure, and frequently someone at the top needs to make a fast decision…. The trouble is that many people who are at the top of organizations today do not know the answer and in fact, there may not be one. More than ever before, digital technology gives us the tools for voices to be heard from any level within an organization and even beyond the organization. The dilemma that is inherent in this polarity is to decide when to use control while also increasing collaboration.
• Details and big picture. The need to manage and prioritize an enormous amount of data has never been more demanding. Yet to stay competitive, leaders must also be able to link all these bits of information together to identify patterns…. The dilemma of this polarity is how to sift through vast amounts of data and weave it together so that it becomes meaningful.
• Flexible and steady. With new technologies and changing economic conditions, organizations have to be able to sense needs and opportunities, adapt, and improvise. Ongoing mergers, acquisitions, alliances, and downsizing, mean that employees are frequently working on teams of continuously shifting players. At the same time, organizations and individuals must maintain some sense of priorities and movement toward a common direction…. Therein lies the dilemma: maintaining focus on a common direction and purpose in the midst of continuous change.