"Enabling others to act is not just a practice or technique. it's a key step in a psychological process that affects individuals' intrinsic needs for self-determination" -- in short, treat employees as if their input is valued, and don't micromanage (Kouzes & Posner 2007: 265). You must model or "personify" the shared values, and not simply deploy a do as I say, not as I do approach and reward employees for meeting small goals along the way, not just the final goal (Kouzes & Posner 2007: 76). "Recognize contributions by showing appreciation for individual excellence," to encourage the heart -- celebrate individuals as well as the collective (Kouzes & Posner 2007: 26). Again, while difficult to disagree with, the newness of the paradigm seems less than awe-inspiring; unless you 'buy' that their methodological approach was particularly useful in creating a new assessment tool. But there also seems to be a lack of a real match between Kouzes and Posner's own extensive process of data accumulation, and their product, that of the nature of the Leadership Personality Inventory (LPI) itself, which they recommend to all organizations that use their leadership model. The LPI is a quantitative survey, without the additional benefit of interviews and anecdotes that helps flesh out a picture of what type of leadership strategy is being deployed, the type of qualitative research undertaken by Kouzes and Posner at the beginning of their research, upon which the model...

Their book contains some valuable examples of managers who took great personal initiative when leading, and these examples should be heeded by upper level management -- rather than simply hand down dictates, channeling the creativity and drive of employees with leadership qualities is essential.
The Kouzes and Posner Leadership Model and the LPI also demonstrate that leadership is not a top-down process, but that leadership must permeate into every facet of the organization. No doubt the original interviewees were grateful for a chance to share leadership examples that had perhaps gone overlooked before. But the insight given is less ground-breaking than is framed by the author in their text. Perhaps the real value of the LPI is not its rather vague statements that most people would agree with are characteristic about leadership, but that simply taking the test focuses the taker's mind as to what leadership means. The test might be helpful in the contest of a team-building session or a leadership retreat, but it is no replacement for a more specific case study of leadership.

Works Cited

About LPI -- the methodology." (2002). LPI Online. Retrieved 19 Apr 2008 at https://www.lpionline.com/lpi/helpInfo/methodology.jsp

Kouzes, James M. & Barry Z. Posner. (2007). The Leadership Challenge. 4th Edition.

Jossey…