One of the more stimulating books that I read last year is “Questions of Character – Illuminating the Heart of Leadership Through Literature” by Joseph L. Badaracco (Harvard Businsess School Press, 2006).

The book is the result of a class taught by Badaracco in which he uses characters drawn from fictional literature to illustrate aspects of leadership. He uses fiction rather than “real life” case studies because he believes that in fiction, if a character is well developed, we are given opportunity to look into the heart and soul of a person.

In real life we only get partial glimpses into the source of ideas and decisions; case studies and interviews with leaders are (at best) a filtered version of events that occurred. He outlines eight works that help us understand fundamental challenges that test a leader’s character. They are:

a.. Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman. Do I have a good dream? Do my deepest aspirations impel me forward through hardships, and do they engage others’ aspirations and dreams? b.. Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart. How flexible is my moral code? Will my moral code help me make the right decisions for my organization, even as business conditions change? c.. Allan Gurganu’s “Blessed Assurance: A Moral Tale.” Do I have unsettling role models? Do my role models provoke me as well as embody values I can emulate? d.. F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Last Tycoon. Do I really care? Do I have the patience, courage, and tenacity that leadership requires? e.. Joseph Conrad’s “The Secret Sharer.” Am I ready to take responsibility? Can I set clear performance standards for myself and others – and follow through on them? f.. Louis Auchincloss’s I Come as a Thief. Can I resist the flow of success? Do I recognize the hidden hazards of success and the ways to avoid them? g.. Robert Bolt’s A Man for All Seasons. How well do I combine principles and pragmatism? Can I make the difficult trade-offs needed to run my unit or business? h.. Sophocles’ Antigone. What is sound reflection? Do I think through high-stakes decisions adequately despite relentless pressure on my time? While they are not the only questions to reflect upon they are among the more important ones. Although I was not familiar with many of the works of fiction he used and may have chosen other books or characters to reflect upon, he has helped me to apply the same or similar questions to the characters in the books I read and more importantly to my own leadership.

There has been a considerable shift in the literature about leadership in the past ten years or so that talks about authenticity, character and values being more important than skills or style. Increasingly, business schools are recognising the need to supplement student training with lessons from the humanities in order to prepare students well for the messy human struggles they are also likely to meet after graduation.

The leadership “gurus” have discovered that industry and, (dare I say), the church have produced legions of technical experts, but not necessarily well-rounded leaders capable of facing the trials of the corporate world or providing a moral compass for their organisations.

I was reminded of some words of Gandhi:

“Keep your thoughts positive, because your thoughts become your words.

Keep your words positive, because your words become your behaviour.

Keep your behaviour positive, because your behaviour becomes your habits.

Keep your habits positive because your habits become your values.

Keep your values positive because your values become your destiny.”

Rev Alan Marr Director of Ministries Baptist Union of Victoria