Is the ordinary better than the heroic?

‘Process, practical coping and performance: Achieving sustainable excellence indirectly through phronetic self-cultivation’ delivered by Robert Chia, Research Professor of Management at the Adam Smith Business School, University of Glasgow, is the final instalment in a series of guest lectures run by the University’s Centre for Governance, Leadership and Global Responsibility (CGLGR).

A consultant for well-known multinational corporations and international organisations and institutions in Britain, Europe and Asia, Professor Chia has run CEO strategy workshops and given many keynote presentations at major academic and practitioner conferences. 

Speaking ahead of the lecture at Leeds Beckett he said: “The tendency to frame and justify policies, decisions and practices according to a means-ends mode of reasoning is deeply embedded in our modern business culture. Even not-for-profit organisations, public sector bodies and charities now subscribe to this ‘consequentialist theology’ where actions and choices are driven by anticipations, incentives and desires. This unwittingly results in a short-termist mentality which frequently generate negative, unintended consequences that eventually undermine the success achieved.

“In my lecture, I shall argue that sustainable success is better achieved by striving for excellence for its own sake. In doing so, we invariably engage in phronetic self-cultivation; that is, through this process of perfecting action we develop an empirical sensitivity to goings-on in the world and the practical wisdom necessary to deal with intractable human issues”

Professor Simon Robinson, Director of the CGLGR at Leeds Beckett University, added: “It is a pleasure to welcome Robert to our University. His research into phronetic self-cultivation and its relevance to business is very insightful. I am sure the people of Leeds and wider community will find his talk of great interest.”

Professor Chia holds a PhD in Organisation Studies (University of Lancaster) and is an elected Fellow of the Royal Society for the encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce.  Prior to entering academia, Professor Chia worked for 17 years in aircraft maintenance engineering, manufacturing management and human resource management for a large multinational corporation based in the Asia Pacific.

The CGLGR launched in 2015 as a University-wide research centre. It aims to address issues in governance and responsibility, across all sectors, in a global context. For more information go to the Centre for Governance, Leadership and Global Responsibility.