There's no 'I' in team and that may ring true for Putin

With the world intensely following updates on the Russia-Ukraine war day-by-day, it’s hard to ignore the differences between the two leaders at the centre of the conflict.

While Volodymyr Zelensky is being praised for inspiring the people of Ukraine to band together, Vladimir Putin’s decision to invade the country has caused a divide in Russia.

Many of Putin’s actions have left people across the world asking "why?"

New research by The University of Queensland provides insight into these characters and their very distinct leadership styles of identity leadership and leader identity.

In their research, authors Professor Alex Haslam and Dr Nik Steffens from the School of Psychology explore and explain these two contrasting forms of leadership, and their impact on the war in Ukraine.

Identity leadership

Simply put, identity leadership is about ‘we’ and ‘us’.

Leaders who embrace this approach are defined by their sense of themselves as members of the particular groups that they want to influence and lead.

Indeed, they may even act against their personal interests in order to advance the cause of the collective.

Zelensky’s approach to the challenges he and his fellow Ukrainians confront provides a textbook operationalisation of identity leadership.

Everything he says and does is focused on building a sense of togetherness that mobilises Ukrainians to defend their county.

This is exemplified by his response to an offer of personal evacuation from the United States: “The fight is here. I need ammunition, not a ride”.

Likewise, his various video messages have reinforced the sense that he does not see himself as superior to others but that he is "one of us" committed to "doing it for us".

This can be contrasted with the very different story that unfolded recently in Afghanistan when leaders fled for safety, leaving citizens to fend for themselves and the country in chaos.

Amongst other things, what this example shows is that the key resources for leadership are not carrots and sticks but a sense of shared identity that the leader embodies and cultivates.

By remaining with, of, and for the people of Ukraine, Zelensky has proved himself to be an inspirational and effective leader at a time when Ukrainians have needed it the most.

Leaders in a range of spheres — from business and politics to sport and science — could learn from his example.

Zelensky shows that when leaders help us stand together, we, and they, stand stronger.

Protesters holding signs with quotes from Zelensky

Leader identity

Flipping to the other side of the coin, where identity leadership zeroes in on leaders’ “we-ness”, leader identity focuses firmly on their "I-ness".

Putin’s leadership style is harder to discern and pin down, but there are aspects of his actions and projected persona that bear the hallmarks of leader identity.

At its heart, leader identity sees leadership as a process that is facilitated and furthered by an individual’s sense of “me as a leader”, where leaders succeed in getting others to accept this as well.

Emblematic of this is the image of Putin sitting at one end of a long table in a grand room bearing down on the assembled entourage.

From the outside at least, Putin pursues a controlling approach to leadership within the country in which he alone seeks to define the agenda, the narrative, and access to information.

His style is to achieve things by force and not by will. In contrast to identity leadership, this is about power over others rather than power through others.

So, whereas Ukrainians are following Zelensky’s lead because they identify with their shared cause, outside Putin’s inner circle, this appears generally to be far less true for Russians more generally.

It is nonetheless clear that this approach can have a huge impact and can produce great change.

But because it is reliant on material resources to achieve its ends it is sustainable only so long as those resources are at hand — which is why depriving oppressors of those resources is so critical.

So, while Russia has many more material resources than Ukraine at their disposal, history tells us that, in the end, this will not be a deciding factor.

For without psychological buy-in of the form that identity leadership creates, all victories are hollow and unsustainable.

In the short term, though, this is no consolation to Ukrainians. Putin’s attack on them is as obscene and outrageous as it is destructive and traumatic, and our hearts go out to all those whose lives are being destroyed through the crimes now being perpetrated against them and their country.

Professor Alex Haslam is Professor of Social and Organisational Psychology and Australian Laureate Fellow at the University of Queensland. His research focuses on the study of group and identity processes in organisational, social, and clinical contexts. Together with colleagues, Alex has written and edited 15 books and published over 300 peer-reviewed articles on these topics.

Contact:
habs.media@uq.edu.au
@UQHealth on Twitter

Dr Nik Steffens is Senior Lecturer and Director of the Centre for Business and Organisational Psychology in the School of Psychology at The University of Queensland. His research focuses on leadership and followership, group processes and teamwork, and health and well-being in applied contexts. Nik has conducted research in collaboration with over 100 researchers across the globe.