The Daily Leadership Dialogue - Looking to take your people management and leadership skills to the next level? Tune in to ”Daily Leadership Dialogue" for insightful daily conversations with top business executives, HR leaders, and industry experts from around the world. Join us as we explore a wide range of topics critical to organizational success - from building high-performing teams and developing future leaders, to designing effective employee development programs and navigating complex HR challenges. You’ll walk away with actionable strategies and tools to elevate your approach to people management and drive transformative change in your workplace. Whether you’re an HR professional, business leader, entrepreneur, or someone passionate about the human side of organizations, this podcast is your go-to resource for leveling up your knowledge and elevating your impact. Get ready to uncover the alchemy of exceptional people management! New episodes available daily. Subscribe today!
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The Daily Leadership Dialogue - Looking to take your people management and leadership skills to the next level? Tune in to ”Daily Leadership Dialogue" for insightful daily conversations with top business executives, HR leaders, and industry experts from around the world. Join us as we explore a wide range of topics critical to organizational success - from building high-performing teams and developing future leaders, to designing effective employee development programs and navigating complex HR challenges. You’ll walk away with actionable strategies and tools to elevate your approach to people management and drive transformative change in your workplace. Whether you’re an HR professional, business leader, entrepreneur, or someone passionate about the human side of organizations, this podcast is your go-to resource for leveling up your knowledge and elevating your impact. Get ready to uncover the alchemy of exceptional people management! New episodes available daily. Subscribe today!
Leadership as Plumbing and Poetry: Why March's Counterintuitive Insight Matters More Than Ever
Daily Leadership Dialogue
38 minutes
6 days ago
Leadership as Plumbing and Poetry: Why March's Counterintuitive Insight Matters More Than Ever
Abstract: James March distinguished between leadership as "plumbing"—the rational work of plans, structures, and controls—and leadership as "poetry"—the imaginative work of meaning-making, emotion, and beauty. Contrary to conventional leadership scholarship emphasizing measurable outcomes, March argued that leaders' poetic impact on human experience and meaning exceeds their ability to execute instrumental change. This article synthesizes March's framework with contemporary organizational research to examine why leaders' symbolic and emotional influence often proves more durable than their structural interventions. Drawing on evidence from meaning-making research, organizational symbolism studies, and practitioner accounts across healthcare, technology, and public sectors, we explore how leaders shape collective imagination, ritual, and aspiration—even when tangible outcomes remain elusive. The analysis offers three forward-looking capabilities for twenty-first-century leadership: aesthetic consciousness, symbolic stewardship, and poetic resilience. Organizations seeking sustainable impact may benefit more from cultivating leaders' capacity for beauty and meaning than from optimizing their technical execution.
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Daily Leadership Dialogue
The Daily Leadership Dialogue - Looking to take your people management and leadership skills to the next level? Tune in to ”Daily Leadership Dialogue" for insightful daily conversations with top business executives, HR leaders, and industry experts from around the world. Join us as we explore a wide range of topics critical to organizational success - from building high-performing teams and developing future leaders, to designing effective employee development programs and navigating complex HR challenges. You’ll walk away with actionable strategies and tools to elevate your approach to people management and drive transformative change in your workplace. Whether you’re an HR professional, business leader, entrepreneur, or someone passionate about the human side of organizations, this podcast is your go-to resource for leveling up your knowledge and elevating your impact. Get ready to uncover the alchemy of exceptional people management! New episodes available daily. Subscribe today!
