December 2015 |

James G. Clawson

VABEs
Leadership Skills and Motivation Factors
VABEs are values, assumptions, beliefs, and expectations about the way the world is
or should be of that region. (Clawson, 2012) Its all about how you define yourself
and how you are going to leader the word around you. You have to look at yourself
before you can try and motivate other in the workforce. Clawson states that global
business must work across all of these categories, and to do so effectively requires
the ability to respect the identities and affiliations of others. Some people can do that,
many or must cannot. There are ethnic, religious, and racial boundaries. Global leader
must navigate these as well when it comes to leading others. It is said that the most
destructive VABE is Im Right and You Are Wrong (Clawson, 2012 P. 188)
Clawson states that most organizations acknowledge verbally that people are the
most important asst. At the same time many do not follow up their espoused theories
with effective organizational designs that are consistent. So whereas we might
acknowledge that without people, its hard to have an organization without carefully
designed human resource management systems. Human Capital Management is
very important to the workplace, also labeled Personnel or Human Assets and
Human Resources. Without People you have no real organization. (Clawson,
2012)
It is said that new managers who ask too many questions about what they can and
cannot control do are sending signals that maybe they arent managerial material
after all. If you experience a gap in your understanding of what your job is, Clawson
advice would be to take the Leadership Point of View (LPV) to look around, see what
needs to be done, analyze the relevant forces at play, and then initiate action. Do not
wait to be told what to do.
Leaders want to influence people, so unless they understand why people behave the
way they do, their efforts may have random, perhaps unpredictable, even alienating

Brief Contents

Effects. Despite the fact that leaders want to get more energy out of people, they may, in fact, do
just the opposite. (Clawson, 2012)
Clawson also states that all leadership involves a moral dimension in why and how people exert
influence over othersand the stance that one takes in this regard is a strategic choice. The moral
issue is also a Level Three consideration: that is, how one influences other depends on the values,
assumptions, beliefs, and expectations (VABEs) of the people involved. Because Leadership is about
influencing others, to study leadership is to beg the moral and strategic questions of whether it is
right to influence others and what means one should employ. Some people strongly feel that they
have no right or desire to influence other and prefer that others be left alone to determine the
path of their lives without external pressures. Others strongly feel that they have not only the right
but the God-given responsibility to change others think and believe. Yet, within our sphere of
contacts and acquaintances, this dilemma of whether we will choose to influence others to change
the way they behave, think, and believe remains. (Clawson, 2012 P. 75-76)

IRSC
LEVEL THREE LEADERSHIP

Ruth Fleurant
IRSC
3209 Virginia Ave
Fort Pierce, FL 34981