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The Wizard and the Warrior: Leading With Passion and Power
by Lee G. Bolman and Terrence E. Deal
(Jossey-Bass) $27.95
Color Ken Lay a ''wannabe wizard.'' That's a species of leader notched between the ''harmful wizard'' and the ''authentic wizard'' among kinds of leaders classified in Lee G. Bolman and Terrence E. Deal's intriguing new book, The Wizard and the Warrior.
The authors also put former Hewlett-Packard Chief Executive Carly Fiorina in that category.
''Unlike authentic wizards, whose magic breathes spirit and soul into an enterprise, wannabe wizards have great intentions but limited ability to create a meaningful organization or transform one in trouble,'' the authors say.
Bolman teaches leadership at the Bloch School of Business and Public Administration at the University of Missouri-Kansas City. Deal retired as the Irving R. Melbo clinical professor at the University of Southern California's Rossier School of Education.
Ken Lay, the former chairman of Enron, ''wanted to create the greatest company ever to grace the world of business. At first the magic seemed to work, but a cultural vacuum allowed greed and cutthroat politics to trample the high ethical standards he espoused. Lay wanted an innovative, profitable and harmonious company. He wound up with a seething cauldron of selfish individuals seeking wealth.''
The real ''harmful wizard'' at Enron, say the authors, was CFO Andrew Fastow. They describe Fastow as an unscrupulous deal maker who didn't really know much about finance.
Where Lay was too hands-off, Fiorina appears to have been too hands-on, and her determination to do things her way led to her getting the ax.
''Fiorina's short reign at HP suggested she never really got the message. Like other wannabe wizards hired to turn a company around, she relied too heavily on her vision and charisma but had little sense of opposing cultural forces that generated resistance,'' they say.