This paper examines the qualities that define effective leaders in today's complex and competitive business environment, drawing on peer-reviewed research. It explores the concept of "centered leadership" — built on five core capabilities including finding meaning, converting stress into opportunity, and sustaining energy — as presented by Barsh and colleagues. The paper also considers strategic intelligence and the distinction between interactive and bureaucratic leadership styles, reviews Gary Yukl's synthesis of fifty years of leadership behavior research, and analyzes what separates successful change leaders from those who fail. Real-world examples from Avon and Clairol illustrate how these principles operate in practice.
The paper consistently uses source-based argumentation: each claim is attributed to a specific peer-reviewed study, and the author moves between paraphrase and direct quotation to support analytical points. This technique models how to engage with scholarly literature critically rather than merely summarizing it — for example, comparing Barsh's "centered leadership" framework with Yukl's behavioral taxonomy to show how different researchers converge on similar conclusions.
The paper opens with a brief framing introduction, then devotes its largest section to Barsh et al.'s centered leadership model, complete with illustrative examples. It shifts to Maccoby's strategic intelligence framework and the interactive-vs.-bureaucratic distinction, followed by Yukl's taxonomy of effective leadership behaviors drawn from fifty years of research. The paper closes with Miller's analysis of what separates successful change leaders from those who fail, providing a practical capstone to the theoretical discussion.
What are the qualities that go into a strong, effective leader in today's business world? This paper explores and critiques those qualities through the available literature, drawing on peer-reviewed research in management, organizational behavior, and leadership studies.
An extraordinary amount of stress is being placed on leaders in the business community due to today's "complex, volatile, and fast-paced business environment," according to an article in the peer-reviewed journal McKinsey Quarterly (Barsh, et al., 2010). In that fast-paced business world, many leaders simply lack the skills needed to handle the issues that come before them. The answer to that problem is to identify the capabilities available in the literature and cultivate them (Barsh, 1). By "cultivating" capabilities, Barsh is talking about taking constructive steps to "frame" certain challenges and thereby "unlock" the full potential of the organization (1).
Moreover, by tapping into the "constituents" — those inside and outside the organization who can help the company succeed — the leader can "engage proactively" with any challenges that arise (Barsh, 1). One of the keys to being proactive as a leader is to "sustain your energy while creating the conditions for others to restore theirs" (Barsh, 1).
Barsh and colleagues conducted interviews with over 140 leaders in the business world over a six-year period, learning what qualities it takes to be successful in today's competitive and stressful business environment. The authors point out that not only has the globalized business world become highly demanding as an ongoing reality, but given the worldwide economic downturn of recent years, the pressure on leadership has been "ratcheted" up (2). The world is in a transformational period as far as business and markets are concerned. In those interviews, the authors sought to learn what leaders do to "find the best in themselves," and with those qualities, how leaders "inspire, engage, and mobilize others — even in the most demanding circumstances" (Barsh, 2).
What those 140 interviews revealed is that a concept called "centered leadership" is the model leaders need in order to function effectively. At the very heart of centered leadership are five capabilities that both male and female leaders need to develop (Barsh, 2). Those five are: (a) finding meaning in work; (b) taking stress and fear and converting that negative energy into opportunity; (c) leveraging connections and community; (d) acting in the face of risk; and (e) sustaining the energy that is "the life force of change" (Barsh, 2).
The interviews also brought into focus the fact that leaders who had mastered even one of these skills were twice as likely as leaders who had mastered none to believe they could lead through change (Barsh, 2). But for leaders who had mastered all five centered leadership capabilities, they were more than four times as likely to express satisfaction with their performance as leaders — and with their personal lives as well (Barsh, 2).
Again and again in their interviews and subsequent research, Barsh and colleagues determined that the quality most significant to a centered leader is "meaning." Having meaning in life and being satisfied with one's work is "five times more powerful" than any of the other four dimensions (2).
The authors point to the CEO of Avon Products, Andrea Jung, as an example of how a leader used "meaning" and the ability to tell a story to pull her company out of a slump. Knowing that she needed to streamline her company — making the changes necessary to kick-start Avon without losing the respect and support of employees — the CEO needed to create what Barsh calls "a bold vision for growth" by motivating and inspiring others to "dream big," while at the same time staying loyal to her own personal values (3).
In her approach to the kind of leadership that Avon needed, Jung did not delegate the task of communicating restructuring to her managers; she took that upon herself (Barsh, 3). Jung traveled all over the world to Avon factories and labs to give her teams "a vision for restoring growth." In so doing, the employees of Avon saw that there was meaning in everything Jung had to say, and they appreciated her "honesty and humanity" (Barsh, 3). It was clear that not only did her work have deep meaning for her personally, but Jung actually loved her company — and that fact motivated her employees to embrace the drastic changes Avon needed to survive and remain competitive.
By framing her world with optimism, Jung set aside the expected stress of the moment and viewed the restructuring as an opportunity for new and sustained growth. Today, Avon is once again among the top cosmetic companies, and Jung can take credit for the centered leadership that helped drive that success.
Some leaders are so focused on daily deadlines that they fail to reach out to the creative people they have on board. The CEO of Clairol, Steve Sadove, took over a company that had been "shell-shocked" by a significant drop in sales and profits. He explained in his interview with Barsh (4) that he visited one of the more creative employees in the company to gather input on how Clairol should adjust its approach.
That employee — the designer responsible for Clairol's product packaging — opened drawers and began showing Sadove "wonderful work that he'd done," but nobody had asked him for his most creative ideas because Clairol had become a company culture where people "kept their head down" (Barsh, 4). It was obvious to Sadove that he needed to change the culture at Clairol from one where people waited to be told what to do and were afraid to speak up, to one where "innovation and creativity" were front and center. Sadove told his employees it was "OK to fail," but that no one should be afraid to bring leadership a new or creative idea (Barsh, 4).
"Risk aversion and fear run rampant during times of change," Barsh explains (5). But leaders who are centered and skilled at inspiring people can counter the emotions of fear by summoning "the courage to act and thus unleash tremendous potential" (Barsh, 5).
An article in the peer-reviewed journal Performance Improvement points to "the only one irrefutable definition of a leader," namely, "someone people follow" (Maccoby, et al., 2011). That is, of course, a generalization, and there is much more to true leadership than simply being followed. Today's effective leaders understand the need to be "collaborative" (Maccoby, 33). Putting together collaborative teams allows leaders to: (a) create innovative offerings; (b) work within and across different organizational silos; (c) interact seamlessly with suppliers, customers, and clients in order to find solutions to problems; and (d) work effectively with other cultures (Maccoby, 33).
It is clear from Maccoby's narrative that one of the important aspects of effective leadership is following an "interactive approach" rather than a traditional bureaucratic approach. An interactive approach means using "continuous improvement" and creative strategies rather than relying on top-down hierarchies, because the bureaucratic approach means clinging to old ideas about products, services, and employees. Bureaucratic structures tend to promote people based on experience and time served, while interactive leadership tends to match "talents to their work" (Maccoby, 34). In other words, if a new employee is eager and competent to launch creative strategies that align with a company's need to change, a ten-year veteran who is stuck in familiar routines and resistant to change may be passed over (Maccoby, 34).
Interactive employees are often "knowledge workers" who view themselves as free agents and want to be employed by people who can train them for their next role if necessary. They have a strong desire to lead change, adapt to emerging global markets, and seize opportunities to innovate and create new models for success (Maccoby, 34). What this framework presents is a model that effective leaders should follow: leaders with vision want to hire and promote interactive employees because those employees motivate and empower others (Maccoby, 35).
The literature reviewed here converges on a consistent picture: effective leaders combine inner qualities such as meaning, resilience, and optimism with outward behaviors such as planning, empowering, and championing change. Whether drawing on Barsh's centered leadership model, Maccoby's strategic intelligence framework, Yukl's behavioral taxonomy, or Miller's analysis of change leadership, the research consistently points toward leaders who are self-aware, collaborative, adaptable, and genuinely committed to the growth of the people around them.
Barsh, J., Mogelof, J., and Webb, J. (2010). How centered leaders achieve extraordinary results. McKinsey Quarterly, Vol. 4, 78–88.
Maccoby, M. and Scudder, T. (2011). Strategic intelligence: A conceptual system of leadership for change. Performance Improvement, 50(3), 32–40.
Miller, D. (2002). Successful change leaders: What makes them? What do they do that is different? Journal of Change Management, 2(4), 359–369.
Yukl, G. (2012). Effective leadership behavior: What we know and what questions need more attention. Academy of Management Perspectives, 26(4), 66–85.
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