Leadership Styles With a Meditation on the Tao

Throughout Frederic Laloux’s book Reinventing Organizations, you will find references made to the leadership styles associated with each model/level of organizational development, which in turn are coordinated with the level of consciousness that individual leaders operate from. As you know, the stages or levels and their corresponding leadership styles are as follows:
Red — Magic/Tribal = Fear-based leadership
Amber — Traditional/Agrarian = Rule-based leadership
Orange — Scientific/Industrial = Heroic-based leadership
Green — Post-modern/Informational = Servant leadership
Teal — Integral/Evolutionary = Integral leadership
In this assignment, you will explore the various leadership styles, placing an emphasis on the Teal leader. The assignment has two parts.
Part One
Using your knowledge of the various organizational models/levels and the corresponding stages of consciousness, do some secondary research and identify one leader for each level/stage; that is, locate one leader that illustrates each type of leadership from among the following levels: Red, Amber, Orange, and Green. You can utilize any type of sources you like: internal/external organizational reports/documents, books, academic journals, trade magazines, popular
magazines, newspapers etc. It is important that you explore four different organizations however and find one leader for each level. Note that the leader chosen does not necessarily need to be a CEO, but rather can be any employee in a leadership role. Note also that an important aspect of this assignment is that you cite your sources; that is, it is important to share where you located the information upon which you made your decision. In addition to identifying a leader for each level/stage, it is also important that you answer the following question(s): WHY did you choose the leader; that is, HOW exactly do they demonstrate leadership at the given stage of consciousness (i.e. HOW do they use fear, rules etc as they lead)? Share details as you “make your case.” And in making your case, you can of course refer to any of the various values, structures, and processes associated with an organization at that given level.
Remember one leader from each level/stage from four different organizations.
Part Two
Read a selection from a “classic” book on leadership — The Tao of Leadership: Lao Tzu’s “Tao Te Ching” Adopted for a New AgeActions (1985) by John Heider. This book was published 35 years ago and is still quite influential/widely read. Approach your reading as if it were a meditation; that is, read the passages slowly and allow them to settle in your consciousness. At first, do not think about what you read, but rather read with an openness that simply allows the words to enter into you (it would be a good idea to read them more than once). Then, after reading each of the passages, choose the three or four (refer to them by their number and name) that had the most impact on you personally. Next, turn to Reinventing Organizations (particularly Chapters 2.6 and 2.7) and explain how the passages you chose relate to the traits of a Teal leader as outlined by Laloux. It is important to make direct connections to Laloux’s work. Be detailed as you illustrate how a Teal leader possesses knowledge of the Tao — how does a Teal leader demonstrate the knowledge of the Tao as he or she leads? And finally, what are your own thoughts on this style of leadership? What are its merits? Do you foresee any possible demerits? If you personally would like to lead in this fashion, why so?