McCain for President: A Candidacy In Vain – Page 1 of 3
PRESS ARTICLE
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McCain For President: A Candidacy In Vain
This is not an election slogan by the Democrats but an outcome of an independent study on what brings leaders to power. At the debut of the US Primaries in 2008, this study predicted that the 44th US President would be a ‘transformer,’ a leader with the same stature and charisma as earlier transformer-type US Presidents, such as James Madison, Abraham Lincoln, John F. Kennedy, and Ronald Reagan. Rather than John McCain (or Hillary Clinton), Barack Obama fits that profile best. Nations and other forms of human organization (corporate organizations included) attract different types of leaders as they advance from one state of emergence to another. Transformer-type heads of government help transform a nation by a new wave of thinking, a wave that sets off a new cycle of growth. Typically, such leaders go beyond tradition, yet in a way that benefits and appeals to a nation eventually. Transformers are charismatic because, without charisma, they would not succeed in getting their message of change across. At times, transformers need to make several attempts before realizing a breakthrough. The independent view that distinguishes transformer-type leaders has often been developed in a rather unconventional career. ‘Transformers’ are succeeded by ‘builders.’ In turn, ‘builders’ are succeeded by ‘growers’ and ‘growers’ by ‘confronters.’ Then, the cycle re-starts, that is, if it re-starts. No matter whether it concerns societies or corporate organizations, forms of organizations either disappear or reinvent themselves through a ‘transformer’ at the end of a cycle of growth. The different case studies show how the state of an organization or society shapes the role of a leader. Lincoln confirms this when he observes: ‘I claim not to have controlled events, but confess plainly that events have controlled me.’
Marc van der Erve PhD, marcvandererve@yahoo.com, www.marcvandererve.org Phone: +32 475 362 396, Belgium (Home Country), +27 79 21 88 642, South Africa (October-April)
McCain for President: A Candidacy In Vain – Page 2 of 3
What is more, in contrast to what most unabridged dictionaries claim, forms of organization do not determine harmonious action but, rather, harmonious action determines forms of organization. Nations as well as corporate organizations are visible residues of behavior patterns that, under the circumstances, best succeed in minimizing inequalities, inequalities such as the unfulfilled needs of a people or market. The emergence, selection, and reproduction of such patterns determine the state of emergence of a nation (or organization) on a most predictable path, a path that effectively dictates the emergence of any form of organization. The vital question is how well a head of government fits the leadership role (transformer, builder, grower, confronter) that is required in a certain state of emergence and how long he or she will be allowed by ‘the environment’ to hold on to power. The situation in Zimbabwe shows what happens to a nation when a leader prevents it from developing to a next state of emergence. A comparison of ‘leaderless organizations in nature’ and ‘human organizations involving leaders’ reveals that leaders help organizations further improve their capacity to minimize the very inequalities that produced them. A leader adds value to an organization particularly by creating and sustaining an awareness of its own emergence. This explains why leaders communicate achievements and shortcomings, deal with the press, instill controls, orchestrate the development of a common long-term vision, worry about culture, pursue a strategic planning process, engage in regular operational meetings, and sustain a network of check and balances. On the whole, leadership is not about leaders but about organization or, in the light of the US presidential elections, the US Presidency is not about presidents but about what the nation needs most in the next state of its emergence. Leadership is not an eternal but a temporal phenomenon. It is due to the progression of the emergence-related needs of society that democracies emerged.
Link to study, A NEW LEADERSHIP ETHOS - THE ABILITY TO PREDICT: http://www.marcvandererve.org/images/ANLE_Manuscript.pdf Link to author’s bio: http://www.marcvandererve.org/images/Website_Bio_of_Marc_van_der_Erve.pdf Link to website: http://www.marcvandererve.org
Marc van der Erve PhD, marcvandererve@yahoo.com, www.marcvandererve.org Phone: +32 475 362 396, Belgium (Home Country), +27 79 21 88 642, South Africa (October-April)
McCain for President: A Candidacy In Vain – Page 3 of 3
Marc van der Erve PhD, marcvandererve@yahoo.com, www.marcvandererve.org Phone: +32 475 362 396, Belgium (Home Country), +27 79 21 88 642, South Africa (October-April)