Salz Review - Wall Street Journal

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Salz Review
An Independent Review of Barclays’ Business Practices
― Fairness – good leaders are just and equitable;
― Diplomatic – good leaders handle conflict well;
― Decisiveness – good leaders make sound and timely judgments;
― Competence – good leaders contribute to the company performance;
― Vision – good leaders articulate a desirable future.
They also identified eight universally undesirable attributes in leaders, including being
ruthless, a loner, egocentric and dictatorial. Other attributes were more culturally
contingent, for example respondents from different countries reacted differently to ‘being
ambitious’.
Their findings suggest that there are culturally shared conceptions of leadership whereby
people in different cultures share common observations and values concerning that which
constitutes effective and ineffective leadership. For example, in some cultures, leadership is
romanticised and leaders are given exceptional status and power; in others, for example in
cultures like the Netherlands, leadership is something to be suspicious of. The Dutch, it
seems, recognise that leadership carries with it an opportunity to abuse power. However,
Values-Based Charismatic Leadership (encompassing the seven positive universal attributes
of good leadership) is generally reported across cultures to contribute to effective
leadership.
Figure B.1 – Global Cultural Dimensions 262
Power distance:
Uncertainty avoidance:
Humane orientation:
Collectivism I (Institutional):
The degree to which members expect power to be distributed equally
The extent to which a collective relies on social norms, rules and procedures to alleviate
unpredictability of future events
The degree to which a collective encourages and rewards individuals for being fair, altruistic,
generous, caring and kind to others
The degree to which organisation or society practices encourage and reward collective
distribution of resources
Collectivism II (In-group):
Assertiveness:
The degree to which individuals express pride, loyalty and cohesiveness in their organisations
The degree to which individuals are assertive, confrontational and aggressive in their
relationships with others
Gender equalitarianism:
Future orientation:
Performance orientation:
The degree to which a collective minimalises gender inequality
The extent to which individuals engage in future-oriented behaviours in such a way which
delays gratification and encourages planning and future investment
The degree to which a collective encourages and rewards group members for performance
improvement and excellence
Most of us spend a significant proportion of our lives in organisations, most notably
schools, universities and work organisations. ‘Organisational culture’ is a term that can be
used to differentiate the experience of being a member, an employee, a customer or a
262 Based on House et al., Leadership, Culture and Organisations, 2004.