Introduction
The Tao Te Ching (How Things Work) by Lao-Tzu dates back to the 6th century B.C. (Wren, 1995, p. 69) but the counsel it provides regarding leadership is still relevant for today. In reading the excerpts from the Tao Te Ching in chapter 15 of J. Thomas Wren’s book (Wren, 1995, pp. 69-71) I see connections with two important leadership approaches that influence my leadership practice. These are Greenleaf’s servant-leadership (Wren, 1995, pp. 18-23) and Chrislip and Larson’s collaborative leadership (Chrislip and Larson, 1994, pp. 138-146).
I find this fascinating that these two modern day approaches seemingly have roots in Lao-tzu’s work. Consequently, in order to illustrate this correspondence and improve my understanding, I will take parts from the excerpts found in chapter 15 of J. Thomas Wren’s book (Wren, 1995, ibid) and associate them with similar excerpts taken from writings about servant-leadership and collaborative learning.
Selflessness
In this instance the portion of this Tao Te Ching excerpt I focus on is where Lao-tzu writes, “Enlightened leadership is service, not selfishness. The leader grows more and lasts longer by placing the well-being of all above the well-being of self alone.” (Wren, 1995, p. 69)
Compare this with how John Barbuto describes the “Calling” characteristic of servant leadership. He writes, “Servant leaders have a desire to make a difference for other people and will pursue opportunities to impact others’ lives─ never for their own gain. A servant leader is willing to sacrifice self-interests for the sake of others.” (Barbuto, Oct., 2007)
Now consider that Chrislip and Larson write about how collaborative learning shares ideas with servant leadership by noting that “Collaborative leaders are servants of the group, helping stakeholders do their work.” (Chrislip and Larson, 1994, pp. 142-143)
When you compare these statements with the Tao Te Ching excerpt I feel that this clearly shows that Lao-tzu’s concept of enlightened leadership being service and not selfishness as having a clear connection with both collaborative and servant leadership. Again, I find it fascinating that this modern day concept of the servant leader is not really all that modern since it is similarly espoused in the Tao Te Ching.
Water
A part of this excerpt from the Tao Te Ching says: “Consider the leader: the leader works in any setting without complaint, with any person or issue that comes on the floor; the leader acts so that all will benefit and serves well regardless of the rate of pay; the leader speaks simply and honestly and intervenes in order to shed light and create harmony,” (Wren, 1995, p. 70).
In their book, Chrislip and Larson note that “Collaborative leaders bring people to the table, help them work together constructively, and keep them at the table,” and “The distinguishing feature is that these [collaborative] leaders initiate a process that brings people together when nothing else is working.” (Chrislip and Larson, 1994, p. 139). Examining the www.collaborativeleadership.org website one finds six key principles of collaborative leadership given. For this instance the third principle “Developing trust and creating safety: Creating safe places for developing shared purpose and action.” appears to be appropriate (http://www.collaborativeleadership.org/pages/faq.html, retrieved Jan. 23, 2008).
Now for servant leadership Barbuto has the following in his article. Under Persuasion, he writes “Servant leaders seek to convince others to do things rather than relying on formal authority.“ Looking at Community he says “A servant leader instills a sense of community spirit in the organization.” (Barbuto, Oct., 2007).
When I read this particular excerpt from the Tao Te Ching this key phrase stood out: “intervenes in order to shed light and create harmony”. Looking at key phrases from collaborative leadership I found “help them [people] work together constructively,” “brings people together,” and “developing shared purpose and action”. For servant leadership I see “seek to convince others to do things rather than relying on formal authority” and “instills a sense of community spirit” as key ones. In comparing these phrases I see correspondence between all of them and would say this again demonstrates a clear connection between the leadership philosophy in the Tao Te Ching and that of collaborative and servant leadership.
Unbiased Leadership
For this excerpt of the Tao Te Ching I am lead to these four sentences: “Learn to lead in a nourishing manner,” “Learn to lead without being possessive, ”Learn to be helpful without taking the credit,” and “Learn to lead without coercion.” (Wren, 1995, p. 70).
In their book on collaborative leadership Frydman, Wilson, and Wyer write “The role of the leader is to give people freedom, and enable them to think, contribute, and participate.” (Frydman, Wilson, and Wyer, 2000, p.199).
Chrislip and Larson note that for a collaborative leader “ownership of the process is shared” (Chrislip and Larson, 1994, p.139).
Relative to servant leadership Barbuto in his article writes under his Growth section that “Servant leaders have a strong commitment to the growth of people.” Also, recall that under Persuasion, he writes “Servant leaders seek to convince others to do things rather than relying on formal authority.” (Barbuto, Oct., 2007)
I think it is clear that the Frydman, Wilson, and Wyer excerpt relates to all the Tao Te Ching sentences while the Chrislip and Larson excerpt relates to ”Learn to be helpful without taking the credit.” As for the Barbuto examples, I feel they correspond to “Learn to lead in a nourishing manner” and “Learn to lead without coercion”, respectively. Thus, this shows again that Tao Te Ching leadership concepts are similar in kind to those of collaborative and servant leadership.
Being a Midwife
In this part of the Tao Te Ching I am lead to this statement: “Facilitate what is happening rather than what you think ought to be happening.” (Wren, 1995, p. 71).
Chrislip and Larson write “Collaborative leaders help groups create visions and solve problems.”(Chrislip and Larson, 1994, p.139).
Barbuto notes in his article that “They [servant leaders] are receptive and genuinely interested in the views and inputs of others.” and that “They [servant leaders] encourage others to dream great dreams” (Barbuto, Oct., 2007).
Again, I feel that comparing each of these excerpts to the Tao Te Ching excerpt again clearly shows that the leadership philosophy of Lao-tzu and that of collaborative and servant leadership are connected.
Conclusion
I believe that the comparisons made between the different excerpts from the Tao Te Ching and those taken from writings on collaborative and servant leadership show that Lao-tzu’s leadership philosophy is similar to that of collaborative and servant leadership.
References
John E. Barbuto, Jr., “Becoming a Servant Leader: Do you have what it takes,” NebGuide, University of Nebraska-Lincoln Extention, Institute of Agriculture and Natural Resources, issue G1481, October, 2007, retrieved Jan. 27, 2008 http://www.ianrpubs.unl.edu/epublic/live/g1481/build/g1481.pdf
David D. Chrislip, Carl E. Larson, Collaborative Leadership, , Jossey- Bass, Inc., 989 Market St. San Francisco, CA 94103-1741, 1994.
Bert Frydman, Iva Wilson, JoAnne Wyer, The Power of Collaborative Leadership: Lessons for the Learning Organization, Butterworth-Heinemann, 225 Wildwood Ave., Woburn, MA 01801-2041, 2000.
J. Thomas Wren ed., The Leader’s Companion, Free Press, Simon & Schuster, NY, 1995.
http://www.collaborativeleadership.org/pages/faq.html, retrieved Jan. 23, 2008.