Transforming Leadership by James Burns
“Summoned forth by human wants, the task of leadership is to accomplish some change in the world that responds to those wants”
Our present culture society is changing faster than any other time in history. Technological innovation continues to change the globe at a rapid and alarming pace. In 1965, Gordon Moore, co-founder of Intel, projected that technological advances will double every two years as transistors in microchips double. This became known as Moore's Law. And you know what, it turns out Moore was wrong. Technology isn’t just doubling on a consistent exponential curve—it is speeding up. The doubling of transistors and, thereby, technological advances now appear to be doubling every eighteen months.
In his book, Transforming Leadership, Burns states that leadership is a moral undertaking, a response to human wants revealed in public values, to create change. For Burns, the task of leaders, especially global leaders, must be to respond to the needs of humanity, starting with those cravings that are most basic to people—food, water, medicine, and shelter. Burns concludes his book with a call for leaders to rise together to transform the global economy to address poverty. Rapidly advancing technology provides us with a metamorphosis moment. This moment gives transformational leaders a chance to change the world. The ever-changing technological advances, the interconnectivity of superpowers, and the excess of the western world presents everything needed to eliminate extreme poverty.
But how does the moral leader create transformation in an increasingly morally subjective and diverse world with technology advancing exponentially? Burns contends leaders must learn from the transformational leaders of history. The latter attempted to capitalize on the needs of the people to evoke lasting transformational change.
Franklin D. Roosevelt
Burns has personal ties to FDR. “In the fall of 1940, I had looked down on him from the balcony of the Boston Garden as he painfully inched his way to the rostrum to assure “the mothers and fathers of America” that “your boys are not going to be sent into any foreign wars.” Soon he would become my commander in chief in World War II” (22).
Burns highlights something intriguing about FDR’s two terms of presidency. He transitions from transactional to transformational leadership from his first to second term. Due to the fragmentations in congress, rising Republican disagreement, and the checks and balances of the constitution mainly providing stalemates on policy all led FDR to primarily transactional exchanges. But something changed while he was in office.
Pearl Harbor. The surprise coordinated Axis offensive on American territories and sovereign borders united the states and parties to a singular end—A Just War. At that point, war was already unavoidable. However, the attacks on Pearl Harbor and the other pacific islands awoke national unrest that cried for justice. And people were ready to be led.
“No matter how long it may take us to overcome this premeditated invasion, the American people in their righteous might will win through to absolute victory…With confidence in our armed forces, with the unbounding determination of our people, we will gain the inevitable triumph—so help us God.” – FDR to America on December 8th, 1941.
FDR utilized the beating heart of American’s demands for justice to institute transformational change that went beyond anything he had hoped to achieve with his previously failed economic recovery in the New Deal. While combating injustice, FDR harnessed the momentum of an amalgamated public opinion to coordinate and strategize changes that were only whispers of dreams before.
In the same way, Burns urges his readers to unify around the injustice and oppression of extreme poverty. According to ourworldindata.org, “most people in the world live in poverty. 85% of the world live on less than $30 per day, two-thirds live on less than $10 per day, and every tenth person lives on less than $1.90 per day.” With these statistics, Burns urges his readers to consider pressing leaders to transform for a cause that bridges the expanses of country and state competitors.
Transformational leaders harness their people's needs, values, and will to a common goal that is unattainable except for their concerted effort.
