Psychology of management

1.1 The idealistic strategy
HOW EMOTIONAL IMPACT IS BUILT UP: the leader inspires people depicting to 
them an attractive image of the future. 
IMPACT ON ORGANIZATION’S CLIMATE: maximum positive. 
APPROPRIATE FOR USING: when a change in situation demands creating a new image 
of the future or when it is necessary to determine the clear direction to move in. 
THE SOURCES OF THE IDEALISTIC STYLE 
Of all emotional intellect skills the fundamental one for the idealistic style is certainly 
inspiration. Combining inspiration with the triad of “self-certainty – self-consciousness – 
empathy” idealistic leaders clearly set the goal which seems authentic to them and correlate it 
with the values shared by their subordinates. And because leaders themselves believe steadfastly 
in their dream, they can lead firmly the people to their cherished aim. When the time comes to 
change the movement direction, their self-certainty and the ability to initiate changes ensure the 
smooth transition to the novelty. 
Of great significance is another aspect of emotional intellect – the openness. To be 
trusted, leaders themselves have to believe in their dream. If the image depicted by a leader 
smacks of falsity, people will feel it. Besides, sincerity enables to destroy all inner barriers with 
which some company employees surround themselves. This is movement towards honesty, open 
circulation of information and knowledge, thanks to which employees at all control levels feel 
their being involved in the general process and can take necessary decisions. Sometimes 
managers have a false feeling that concealing information gives them additional power, but real 
leaders understand that proliferation of knowledge is the guarantee of success. That’s why they 
openly share information wit their employees. 
And yet, of all the emotional intellect skills the utmost importance for an idealistic leader 
has empathy. The ability to share other people’s feelings and understand their position means 
that the leader will be able to paint a really inspiring image of the future. And on the contrary, a 
leader who interprets people’s feeling incorrectly is unlikely to be able to inspire them. 

---

63 
The idealistic style makes a positive impact on the organization’s climate. It is especially 
effective to use this style when business is at the crossroads – for instance, in the reorganization 
period or when a company needs a new image of the future. No wonder that the idealistic style is 
in a natural way adopted by “reformist” leaders – the executives who strive for a radical 
reshaping of business. 
Nevertheless, no matter how powerful the idealistic style might be, it isn’t applicable in 
any situation. It shouldn’t be used, for instance, in the case when a leader works with a team of 
experts or colleagues who are more experienced than the leader him/herself: in a colorful 
description of fantastic future they may see only empty verbosity or misunderstanding of the 
current situation. Such erroneous behavior breeds cynicism, which leads to decrease in 
productivity. There is another limitation: when a manager trying to use the idealistic style takes 
on dictatorial traits, this may undermine the spirit of equality inherent to command management. 
If these exceptions are put aside, one can say that leaders are usually clever enough to use 
this idealistic “golf-club” more often than others. Perhaps this won’t serve a guarantee of correct 
hitting a hole at first strike, but it will certainly come useful at a long distance.