A synthesis of the empirical, qualitative data research conducted with large Brazilian company executives. By Anderson de Souza Sant’Anna, Marly Sorel Campos and Samir Lofti Vaz. (Vale Leadership Development Core)

1. GESTÃO ESTRATÉGICA DO SUPRIMENTO
E O IMPACTO NO DESEMPENHO DAS
EMPRESAS BRASILEIRAS
WHAT DO BRAZILIAN EXECUTIVES THINK
ABOUT LEADERSHIP?
A synthesis of the empirical, qualitative data research conducted with large Brazilian company executives.
By Anderson de Souza Sant’Anna, Marly Sorel Campos and Samir Lofti Vaz. (Vale Leadership Development Core)
This study allows the identification of the main “effective
leader” attributes from the viewpoint of the executives
interviewed. Four leadership styles were defined for this
purpose: the people-oriented leader, the visionary leader,
the mobilizing leader, and the ambivalent leader.
To derive this synthesis, the main themes and challenges
associated to contemporary management were identified,
and grouped in three main key dimensions: Meanings,
Competences, Styles & challenges associated to
contemporary Leadership; Leadership Development;
and Leadership and the Enabling Context.
1. CONTEMPORARY LEADERSHIP
MEANINGS, COMPETENCES,
STYLES & CHALLENGES
The first category among those observed concerns the
meanings conferred upon the word, leadership, and
what involves leadership performance attributes, styles,
functions and challenges. Reports indicate myriad
competence attributes associated to the leader persona
in the current context: Capability to take over; Curiosity,
Capability of handling mistakes; Capability to inspire
and creating a shared vision; Credibility; Pioneering;
Steadfast stance; Discipline and equilibrium; Systems
view, Capability to delegate functions; Negotiation
capabilities; Aggregating capabilities; Capability to align
interests; Risk-taking capability; Optimism and good
humor; Capability to deal with people.
Notably, these attributes ensue from indications by
people who hold different views of what are the “effective
leader’s” characteristics. No consensus was found,
however, concerning what leadership in itself indeed
represents.
At any rate, similarities and/or complementarities are
found in many of the attributes reported by different
respondents. Eventually, these attributes could be
grouped in four sets, representing leadership styles quite
akin to those preconized by Blake and Mouton (1964)
and Kouzes and Posner (1997), as per Table 1.
AUTHORS’ OBJECTIVES:
1. To investigate the meanings attributed to and leadership styles articulated with the experience and practice of the investigated
executives.
2. To investigate key themes to leadership development in the current business and organizational context.
3. To identify contemporary trends, new themes and challenges underlying the leadership theme.
FE1201

2. 2What do Brazilian executives think about leadership?
Table 1
MAIN LEADERSHIP STYLES ACCORDING TO
EXECUTIVES SURVEYED
Leadership
style
Main leadership
attributes
People-oriented
leader
Knowing how to deal with
people, how to handle mistakes,
being an aggregator
Visionary leader
Having a holistic, long-term view,
being a pioneer, being curious,
being a mobilizer
Mobilizing leader
Knowing how to align interests,
being a mobilizer, having good
negotiation skills
Conciliatory leader
Maintaining discipline and
composure, having a steadfast
stance, knowing how to deal
with people, having good
negotiation skills
Source: Research Data
In Table 1, the categories arrayed in the left side column
represent the main behaviors adopted by the leaders,
which they consider to be perceived by their followers.
The right side column shows the attributes more
commonly associated to the reported leadership styles.
Notably, the indicated leadership attributes cannot be
defined as unique to a single leadership style. In other
words, a “mobilizer leader” can be recognized for his
“steadfast stance”, or a “visionary” can have “good
negotiation skills”.
At any rate, people-oriented leaders are those who
concentrate upon the relationships with their followers,
engaging in dialogue and providing constant feedback.
The interaction between both is trust-based. Besides the
willingness to deal with people, these leaders understand
that all people are liable to make mistakes.
The visionary leadership style, in turn, analyzes different
perspectives and trends existing in the organization’s
internal and external environment to develop a clear view
of where to go. This view orientates the followers’ actions,
but since if tends to anticipate trends breaching from
the status quo ante, leaders should motivate followers
and have good convincing abilities. In many cases, the
establishment of this vision depends on the leader’s
pioneering efforts and curiosity.
The mobilizing leadership style is recognized for
prompting followers with different interests to share
common objectives. This leader will perform to inspire
people to act; he is therefore action-oriented. He
envisions negotiation as a means of galvanizing people
in the quest for results. It is dependent, therefore, of his
great convincing abilities.
Finally, conciliatory leaders will reconcile the people
orientation with the quest for results. This requires
discipline and equilibrium to resort to his good relationship
skills in favor of negotiation and their followers’
performance review. In many cases, this process requires
leaders to adopt a steadfast stance.
The four leadership stances emerging from the interviews
demonstrate the importance of new leadership attributes.
After all, the leader “should change as organizational
requirements and people preferences evolve”.
Some of these requirements, however, also impose new
challenges, as highlighted in Table 2.
Once these main challenges are defined, it becomes
essential, therefore, to prepare these leaders to act
in different geographic and cultural contexts, capable
of coexisting with and assimilate different values and
cultures. This requirement, associated with the highly
dynamic and complex nature of today’s world, requires
attributes such as sensitivity for quick decision-making,
albeit based upon “signals” emanating from the
environment and followers. There is an expectation that
“closer leaders” be developed, that is, those who have
the ability to relate to people and establish multiple
relationship networks.
Teamwork and project development capabilities
represent another, highly emphasized competence heard
during interview reports. In this sense, the consideration
that it should be “incumbent upon the leader to ensure
the complementarity of competences and the diversity of
team members’ characteristics” is notable. Moreover, the
leader should be capable of leading “teams of followers”
built for myriad purposes, including many different
professional profiles.

3. 3FDC Executive
New Leadership Challenges
Developing leaders capable of dealing with cultural
diversity.
Building and developing high-diversity teams.
Developing relationship networks.
Leading amidst complexity.
Table 2.
2. LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT
Another theme approached by executives concerns
values, experiences and relationships capable of
influencing the leadership development process.
Although many leadership characteristics are indicated to
be innate, a few of the respondents noted the contribution
made by the first experiences in the social-familiar
environment as fundamental to the leadership formation
process. The personae of parents, professors and close
relatives take the role of supporting this direction for the
identification or as models to structure the leadership
imaginary.
It was also found that not all innate and/or acquired
leadership characteristics are adherent to the working
experiences, considered by the executives as important
moments for value and knowledge deconstruction and
resignification. In such processes, the main references
are the personae of immediate superiors, directors, or
presidents of successful companies to whom they were
personally linked or even public individuals, such as
governmental leaders.
To this is to be added the understanding by the responding
executives that the development of leadership skills is a
continuous process, permanently coping with gaps and
barriers to be overcome. The priority given to routine
(managerial) activities, for example, is indicated as a
hurdle against the construction of an organizational
ambiance that favors the development and application
of skill attributes that are more germane to the exercise
and development of leadership.
Other obstacles are time constraints for continual learning
actions and to participate in programs and activities
that will encourage the development of new leadership
attributes. Besides, there is a demand for still scantily
consolidated leadership attributes.
3. LEADERSHIP AND ENABLING
CONTEXTS
Besides analyzing leadership from the viewpoint of
the leader persona and his relationship with their
teams of followers, executives also analyzed the
theme through organizational lenses, as concerns
organizational culture and internal environment and their
implications upon leadership development. In the same
vein, management policies and practices capable of
encouraging the construction of enabling contexts, more
akin to the contemporary notion of leadership, were also
approached.
The importance attributed to the dissemination of the
company’s strategy and business vision is also notable.
Many reports indicate this factor as a fundamental
element to the leadership process, to the extent that
people feel more motivated by the process and attribute
greater meaning to their work and role in the organization.
For respondents, a core attribution of contemporary
leadership. Is to ensure the inclusion of people in the
strategic formulation processes with encouragement to
an effectively participatory management.
Thispractice,initself,contributestowardtheestablishment
of an organizational culture that favors strategic thinking,
sharing information, knowledge and values that are
fundamental to the renewal and transformation processes
continually required of today’s organizations and ensuing
from the current business context, and reported by the
respondents.
At the same time, this process is indicated to be an
important element for leadership development, upon
providing greater engagement and autonomy to explore
opportunities related to the internal and external
environments.
FINAL CONSIDERATIONS
Respondents highlighted aspects such as the following,
as leadership challenges within the current context:
•• developing leaders capable of dealing with
cultural diversity;
•• establishing and developing high-diversity
teams;
•• developing relationship networks and leading
amidst complexity.

4. 4What do Brazilian executives think about leadership?
Another challenge concerns values, experiences and
relationships to be built and shared by the leader, such
as to positively influence the leadership development
process.
Besides leadership analysis from the viewpoint of the
leader persona and his relationships with teams of
followers, the emphasis attributed to the relevance of
culture and the construction of enabling contexts, such as
to allow the support of leadership attraction, development
and retention processes.
Concerning this aspect, the authors also found a concern
with dealing with new generations, especially the so-
called Generation Y, which will soon take up key positions
in organizations due to the retirement of baby-boomers.
In summary, the perceptions and reflections extraction
in this study allow the creation of subsidies – from the
viewpoint of actors directly involved in the leadership
issue in the business context – to deepen the debate
and also to establish new agendas and research lines
into this theme.
The full article can be found at the Vale Leadership Development Core, at
www.fdc.org.br/pt/pesquisa/lideranca/paginas/publicacoes.aspx