42 Strategic Leadership
a self constructs relationships with others. In this account, respect does not fully
exist as a value for us as selves, nor as leaders, unless we shape our intentions and
actions by it, no matter how much we know about it, espouse it verbally, or feel
positively about it. As a value, respect provides a pattern of intentionality and
motivation that shapes our actions.
For a leader, or for anyone, valuing the other as an end rather than an object
is not a simple possibility. The self as agent is constantly and forever solicited
by thoughts and feelings—anxieties, insecurities, obsessions, stereotypes—that
push and pull away from the enactment of respect. In effect, the self is continu-
ously offered emotional, psychic, and ideological chances to satisfy other needs or
compulsions that may be disrespectful and harmful to the other. If it is to prevail
as a way of valuing another person, respect has to exercise sovereignty over the
self ’s choices among the conflicting possibilities that flood a person’s intentions
and actions.
Values and Identity
As we consider the full reach of personal agency and fulfillment, it becomes
clear that the choice of a specific constellation of values defines an individual’s
identity as a self. The constitution of the self coincides with the choice of a set
of values (Mehl 1957; Ricoeur 1992). As the distinguished philosopher Charles
Taylor puts it, when the question “Who am I?” is posed, “This can’t necessarily be
answered by giving name and genealogy. What does answer this question for us
is an understanding of what is of crucial importance to us. To know who I am is a
species of knowing where I stand” (1989, 27).
Although this evocation of values as the activity of valuing has been cast in
terms of individual identity, cultural and organizational identities clearly function
in similar ways. They represent shared and institutionalized value commitments
that finally must be enacted through the agency of individuals. It makes perfect
sense to ask of participants in organizations, “What matters decisively to this
institution? ” Questions of this sort trigger the process of self-discovery and the
articulation of organizational identity, which is the birthplace for the work of
strategy.
Values and Leadership
As we give a central place to understanding the dynamics of human agency
and valuing, we also open new perspectives on leadership. We see more clearly
that the meaning of leadership at a fundamental level turns on human values,
specifically as the effort to understand and to respond to the values and needs of
constituent groups and individuals in a variety of different forms.
Leadership occurs precisely in the relations between leaders and followers in
matters that are of decisive importance to both parties. To be sure, the shape and
scope of the leadership process and the way it deals with values depend decidedly