Mark E. Blincoe - History and Leadership: The Nature and Role of the Past in Navigating the Future

Thank you to Mark Jacobs, CEO of The Watkins Co., and Mike Mussallem, CEO of Edwards Life Sciences, for sharing their histories and wisdom.

Thank you to Abigail Bello for her editorial work and keeping the authors on task.

DOI: 10.4324/9781003100171-1

The past is a consummate teacher if properly understood. It offers innumerable case studies on the way people interact, respond to their environment, and organize their lives. Because of this, historians since ancient times have frequently dedicated books to their leaders, hoping that the past would become a source of wisdom for good leadership. This chapter builds on the notion that historical knowledge can develop better leaders. Evaluating leadership in both the past and the present requires understanding the broader historical context that shapes decisions and transforms organizations. The larger aim here is to demonstrate that the pursuit of history itself is an important aspect of good leadership. Leaders and managers who think historically will make more meaningful comparisons, and subsequently better judgment calls, when developing strategies for the future.

While every organization has a past, a series of activities and relationships that took place at an earlier time, it is the history built from this past that defines organizations and sets them apart. History forms an organizations identity, shapes its values, establishes its reputation, and offers experience that helps leaders make wise decisions. An organizations history is also deeply embedded in the larger social, political, and economic settings that influence its scope and function. Those with a clearer understanding of the way that the present is connected to the past will make better decisions.

This chapter introduces the general characteristics of good history and how it matters for leaders and managers. The basic premise is that the practice of history, as done by historians, can and should be applied by those outside of the historical profession. History is a process of investigation that seeks to understand the past in a way that is meaningful to the present. To be meaningful means that history needs to be relevant; to be relevant means that it can be used to address immediate concerns. History explains events within their own context while also searching for patterns that transcend time. The past often leaves an imprint on the future or offers parallel scenarios to contemporary settings. When done well, history makes connections between people and organizations across time and space. It establishes a link between the past and the present that situates contemporary problems as part of a longer continuum. If applied appropriately, it allows leaders to better understand and relate to their colleagues and stakeholders, discern possible outcomes from their decisions, and capitalize on the momentum of the past to create desired futures.

There is nothing new about pointing to the value of history for developing good leadership. History has often been aimed at an elite audience, generally written by those who have the time and leisure to investigate the past and the status to convey their ideas to those in leadership. Ancient and medieval historians pointed to the past as a source of wisdom to guide future decisions. They presented leaders in action, offering scenarios that tested the characteristics of good and bad leadership. The medieval historian Henry of Huntingdon (2002) wrote to his peers that history should not only provoke men of the spirit to what is good and deter them from evil, but even encourage worldly men to good deeds and reduce their wickedness. He argued that history brings the past into view as though it were present, and allows judgement of the future by representing the past (p. 4).

Renaissance historians expanded upon this by using history as a test against the moral failures of their own leaders. They believed the ancient past contained models that should be emulated. Their contemporary histories judged how well recent leaders embraced or deviated from the time-honored virtues of effective leadership as exemplified by Roman statesmen and Christian values. Historians like Leonardo Bruni completed studies about the ancient past and the development of Renaissance Florence in the 14th and early 15th centuries. He and his peers wrote history as a guide for literate statesmen in search of surefire recipes for success (Ianziti, 2012, p. 6). This presumed that leaders and their supporters should have a deep knowledge of ancient history to form a standard basis for historical judgment. History became one of the essential features of a humanist education in the 15th and 16th centuries to ensure that it could be employed by a growing number of educated professionals.

The overall goals and breadth of history have shifted since the Renaissance. Greater accessibility to education has broadened the areas of interest among historians and their audience. Yet all history is valuable for those in leadership. The issues historians write about ultimately intersect with the demands of political life, religious life, and business life. For example, any leader dealing with issues of race and gender as part of organizational strategy needs to engage with at least the results of historical inquiry, if not some of these studies themselves. Making productive changes to existing policies requires some knowledge of previous dynamics within societal networks. This requires an understanding of the research done by others and an investigation into the trends represented within an organization. Thus, history serves as a type of advisor to those in leadership. It presents different scenarios as a test for current dilemmas and offers a type of hindsight that shows possible outcomes to different solutions.

In recent years history has been valuable in demonstrating the nature of effective leadership. John McGregor Burns seminal book on Leadership (1978) is the foundation for this approach. The book highlights the experiences of Woodrow Wilson, Mahatma Gandhi, Nikolai Lenin, and Adolf Hitler, though its main aim is to elucidate the historical factors that enabled a variety of leaders to gain a political following and achieve their goals. To accomplish this Burns evaluates social and intellectual history from the period of the Enlightenment (18th century) onwards and establishes their influence on political developments. He sees effective leadership in any political model as an outgrowth of historical causation and shared values. Leaders must operate within the boundaries of previous events and the decisions made by earlier leaders. They must represent the values and goals of their followers, which are also shaped by a long trajectory of historical developments.

Burns was an advocate for transformational leadership in politics, though his ideas can certainly apply to non-political organizations as well. His book works because it grounds his theories in real experiences, not simply the methods of prominent leaders, but the values and expectations of those who supported those leaders. Furthermore, he presents historical case studies that were familiar to his original audience of the late 1970s: the American and French Revolutions, democratic reform movements of the 19th and 20th centuries, U.S. Presidential leadership, Nazi Germany, Communist Russia, etc. These developments led directly to the issues of his time, and they continue to influence global politics in the 21st century. More importantly, he binds good leadership to the past. Decisions that bring useful change have roots in the developments that shape social and cultural expectations. Burns uses history to build an understanding of the hopes and goals of those who sought leadership. He frames successful leadership around the promises made by their leaders to fulfill those needs.