A Conversation With James G. March on Learning About Leadership

In an interview, professor James G. March talked about teaching leadership. He said that counterfactuals are inventions. They are essential to the art of historical storytelling, but they have only modest standing as evidence. The telling of history is difficult. Not only is it true that the time delays in effects are varied, the causal structure is usually complex. There are numerous endogenous developments. Educational institutions are as limited in control over outcomes as other organizations. There is no magic. Being a leader involves being embedded in a network of relations and expectations that considerably reduce one's autonomy. By and large, society does not want "autonomous" leaders. He has focused primarily on the poetry side of leadership -- the understanding of the deeper dilemmas of leadership in the society. These include such issues as the relation between public life and private life, the balance between diversity and unity, the role of gender and sex in leadership, and the justification of great action.