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Business Leadership and
Market Competitiveness
New Paradigms for
Design, Governance,
and Performance
Business Leadership
and Market
Competitiveness
New Paradigms for Design, Governance,
and Performance
Andrée Marie López-Fernández
Universidad Panamericana
Mexico City, Distrito Federal, Mexico
© The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer
Nature Switzerland AG 2019
This work is subject to copyright. All rights are solely and exclusively licensed by the
Publisher, whether the whole or part of the material is concerned, specifically the rights of
translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on
microfilms or in any other physical way, and transmission or information storage and retrieval,
electronic adaptation, computer software, or by similar or dissimilar methodology now
known or hereafter developed.
The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this
publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are
exempt from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use.
The publisher, the authors and the editors are safe to assume that the advice and information
in this book are believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication. Neither the
publisher nor the authors or the editors give a warranty, express or implied, with respect to
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publisher remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and
institutional affiliations.
This Palgrave Pivot imprint is published by the registered company Springer Nature
Switzerland AG
The registered company address is: Gewerbestrasse 11, 6330 Cham, Switzerland
Preface
v
vi PREFACE
The process of writing this book has certainly been supported by lively
discussions with colleges, family, and friends. I thank Dr. Rajagopal, my
mentor, for always inspiring me to continue asking questions. I would also
like to thank Renée Valentina for motivating me to speak my mind, and
Federico for his support and love. I express my deepest gratitude to Anita
for her unwavering support, love, and continuous motivation; she has
been instrumental in this realization of this project as well as many others.
I thank Carla for always being a believer and her contagious enthusiasm,
and Victor, my accomplice, for his continuous encouragement to follow
my dreams. This project could not have been completed without you.
ix
Contents
1 Leadership Taxonomy 1
Defining Leadership 1
Initiating the Debate on Born Leaders 2
Style of Leadership 5
Seeding Leadership 10
Implanting Leadership 12
Induced Leadership 13
Purposive Leadership 16
Macro and Global Leadership 16
Syntality for Effective Leadership 17
References 19
2 Corporate Governance 27
Defining Corporate Governance 27
Governance Formality and Informality 28
Key Corporate Governance Elements 29
Internal Fit 33
External Fit 37
Media Participation in Accountability 39
References 45
xi
xii CONTENTS
3 Performance Management 49
Defining Performance Management 49
Individual Performance Evaluations 50
Integral Performance Evaluations 62
References 67
4 Collaborator Management 71
Defining Collaborator Management 71
The Dialogue of Empowerment 73
Maximizing Collaborator MO 77
Strategic Goal Achievement 81
Generational Collaboration 85
References 88
5 Organizational Designing 91
Defining Organizational Design 91
Redesign or Perish? 94
Keeping Up Is Too Slow 95
Managing Shock Dampers 98
Layering Organizational Design 103
References 107
6 Future Directions111
The Name of the Game: CSR 111
Bringing Consumer Activism into the Fold 113
Swinging for the Fences 114
Challenges Ahead 116
References 116
Index117
List of Figures
xiii
List of Tables
xv
CHAPTER 1
Leadership Taxonomy
Defining Leadership
The concept of leadership, like so many others, has been widely debated by
numerous scholars and practitioners searching for a worthy definition of
the term. As such, it has multiple definitions that vary according to firm
size and core operations, organizational context, environment, and overall
business dynamics. According to Chemers (2014), leadership is a process
by which an individual assists another or others in fulfilling an undertaking
common to all parties interested. It is about influencing others (Yukl 2010)
to attempt to realize a group’s objectives (Terry 1960); thus, managers
ultimately become leaders when they have followers who collaborate with
them in the pursuit of goal achievement. Leadership has been considered
A concept that remains relevant in the discussion of qualified women and the
obstacles and barriers they encountered to attain positions in higher echelons
(Morrison et al. 1987). The reality is that women still remain underrepre-
sented in leadership positions (Adler 1993; Cook and Glass 2014) worldwide.
Ayman et al. (2009) held a study and found that woman leaders were associ-
ated with significantly less performance than their male counterparts, regard-
less of their level of transformational leadership. Furthermore, according to
Ryan and Haslam (2005), women face a glass cliff effect as they tend to be
appointed to leadership positions when the organization endures financial
problems and/or a decreased performance; therefore, they face a more than
challenging context and environment. It is no wonder some workers prefer
not to collaborate with women leaders (Simon and Landis 1989) and distrust
their effectiveness (Bowen et al. 2000; Sczesny 2003).
Many have studied the differences between male and female leaders.
Although differences have been identified, feminine and masculine leader-
ship styles have been said to be less contrasting than one would assume;
meaning that, the differences are quite small (Eagly 2013). That said, the
general notion is that a feminine leadership style is characterized by a dem-
ocratic, relationship-oriented, participatory leader, who is also more of a
transformational than a transactional leader (Bass and Avolio 1994); while
a masculine leadership style is more associated with an autocratic and task-
related style of leadership (Gardiner and Tiggemann 1999; Eagly and
Johannesen-Schmidt 2001; Van Engen et al. 2001). Under such assump-
tions, (1) all men would be autocratic leaders, which means no empower-
ment, or participation in decision making, and reduced or null innovation
and creativity; (2) all women would be democratic leaders, meaning
empowerment, participation in decision making, and increased innova-
tiveness and creativity; (3) since small firms’ structure is more aligned with
a centralized decision making, most of these firms would be effectively
managed by male leaders; and (4) because decision making in larger firms
is decentralized and even collaborative, these firms would be effectively
managed by female leaders.
While reaching top management and senior positions in large and mul-
tinational enterprises has proved to be difficult to say the least, finding
women entrepreneurs in small and medium enterprises (SMEs) is not
unusual. To be fair, it does not mean that women-owned/managed SMEs
are the majority, rather they are less atypical. However, there are examples
that somewhat contradict common cultural practices. In other words, it is
LEADERSHIP TAXONOMY 5
suggested that there are certain roles still thought should be strictly per-
formed by women and others by men. Consider the example of taquerías
(taco restaurants) in Mexico; these are mostly small businesses that are par
excellence owned, managed, and run by men. This, of course, includes
preparing and serving meals which is customarily considered a woman’s
responsibility, one of women’s roles in society. Thus, it seems clear that the
optimal style of leadership is not a one-size-fits-all style; it rather depends
on organizational context, environment, and, specially, the characteristics
of the group and its personality.
Style of Leadership
There are many styles of leadership that have been widely discussed by
scholars and practitioners for decades. Table 1.1 includes a brief descrip-
tion of leadership styles that have been previously researched and dis-
cussed. That said, the most commonly discussed leadership styles include
task-oriented, relationship-oriented, autocratic, democratic, laissez-faire,
transactional, and transformational leadership (Bass and Stogdill 1990;
Eagly and Johannesen-Schmidt 2001; Nikezić et al. 2012; Ehrhart and
Klein 2001; Tabernero et al. 2009). These styles tend to be associated
with type and/or size of the organization, context, and environment;
moreover, they often determine how collaborators perceive not only lead-
ership, but also their tasks, work environment, and effects of performance.
According to Bass and Stogdill (1990), leadership style is defined as the
different approaches of leaders’ behavior related to their interaction with
team members—collaborators. Meaning that, there is not one style of
leadership, a one size fits all, but a range of styles. Further, Eagly and
Johannesen-Schmidt (2001) have posited that leadership styles are the
manner in which leaders behave, which remains fairly unchanged.
Therefore, it suggests that leaders are persistent in the manner they accom-
plish objectives. In a sense, leaders tend to maintain a selected style of
leadership unless they are convinced that their approach is no longer
satisfactory.
A leadership style that is task-oriented prioritizes the completion of
tasks and activities by complying with strategic goals and objectives over
most any other aspect; and a leadership style that is relationship-oriented
prioritizes the connections made between leader and collaborators, the
latter’s well-being, satisfaction, and added value, above all else (Blake et al.
1964; Hersey and Blanchard 1993; Ehrhart and Klein 2001; Tabernero
et al. 2009). Supportive leadership prioritizes collaborators’ well-being by
fostering an amicable environment; it is aligned with the accomplishment
of policies, functions, and tasks (Pedraja-Rejas et al. 2006). And a partici-
pative leadership style suggests that leaders’ approach is based on empow-
erment so collaborators are active in decision making.
A democratic style of leadership is participative (Gastil 1994). Decision
making is decentralized enabling collaborators to actively and, in many
cases, proactively participate in decision making; and they are inspired and
motivated by their leaders (Daft and Marcic 2006; Yukl 2010). These
leaders have a considerable amount of power, yet are not dictatorial or
authoritarian (Oparanma 2013); rather, they not only encourage collabo-
rators to partake in the power (Srivastava et al. 2006) but also empower
them. Thus, they intend to positively influence collaborators (Daft and
Marcic 2006). This style of leadership has been found to increase collabo-
rators’ satisfaction, effectivity, and autonomy (Cuadrado et al. 2012).
Because of the continuous encouragement, collaborators are not only pro-
active and participative, but they also tend to exhibit more creativity and
innovativeness. Moreover, they are made aware of the effects of their work
and influence on organizational productivity and performance.
According to Burns (1978), a manager’s leadership style may either
be transactional or transformational. A transactional leadership style is
characterized by a focus on supervision (Odumeru and Ogbonna 2013)
in an effort to effectively accomplish activities and functions in align-
ment with strategic goals and objectives. It is also regarded as a leader-
ship focused on compliance with organizational policies, norms, and
standards (Ng and Sears 2012) that leads to the achievement of desired
LEADERSHIP TAXONOMY 7
ers are not proactive, avoid decision making, and show little to no concern
with collaborators’ individual needs and wants as well as the requirements
of the organization.
Therefore, collaborators receive scant to zero guidance in the fulfill-
ment of strategic goals and objectives which would require them to be
proactive in the design, development and execution of strategic plans.
These leaders may hold power for decision making yet, decide to allocate
it to the collaborators. In other words, collaborators have all power on
decision making and are in charge of business dynamics. Furthermore,
these leaders do not motivate and/or inspire followers; rather, they are
expected to motivate themselves. Incidentally, since collaborators are self-
motivating, self-supervising, and make all decisions, they are not necessar-
ily followers. Thus, it would seem as though this style requires neither a
leader that leads nor followers, per se.
Skogstad et al. (2007) held a study and found that this style of leader-
ship is akin to a destructive leadership style. This would mean that this
particular style of leadership is irrelevant when debating effectivity among
organizational leaders, as well as their impact on strategic goal achieve-
ment and individual and organizational productivity and performance.
However, some collaborators, just like with all styles of leadership, thrive
while working in an environment with a laissez-faire leadership, where
supervision is a nonissue; for instance, writers, researchers, and scientists
are able to effectively perform in an environment that promotes a laissez-
faire leadership style.
Seeding Leadership
As a society, we are obstinate on the importance of leadership and on
being a leader; to the extent that from a very young age we are taught that
a big part of being successful is effectively leading a team toward the finish
line. For that matter, there are many instances in which we discover that
not all individuals are intended to be, want to be, or even should be a
leader. The fact is that we tend to view leadership as a recipe where the
ingredients (i.e. traits) are calculated with the aim of producing the same
results each time; by doing so, we neglect to take a person’s individuality
into account.
Not everyone is intended to be a leader. Some simply do not have the
traits commonly associated with leadership which is not a negative
LEADERSHIP TAXONOMY 11
Implanting Leadership
As mentioned earlier in the chapter, one of the characteristics of transfor-
mational leadership is the leader’s efforts to continuously motivate col-
laborators to not only fulfill their tasks effectively but also be creative,
innovative, and proactive. In this sense, leaders are able to develop stream-
lined ideologies that are intended to seep through the organization and
directly impact individual, team, and organizational performance.
Implanting leadership requires a leader with a clear vision of what she/
he aims to achieve, what the finish line should look like, and a mission
describing how members should reach the finish line. Meaning that, the
first step in implanting leadership involves developing and implementing
strategic goals and objectives, and a strategic plan to accomplish them.
Then, the leader creates and executes a philosophy that encompasses val-
ues, beliefs, principles, norms, policies, and standards that dictate the
manner in which members’ behavior and attitude toward the vision and
mission ought to be. By doing so, organizational direction is clarified by a
streamlined ideology.
Take Vincent Thomas Lombardi as an example. He successfully led the
Green Bay Packers to win five World Championships and two Super Bowls
(Lombardi 2001). He has gone down in history as one of the best leaders
because of his inspirational and motivational approach to leadership. In
Lombardi’s famous speech on leadership he said that leaders are made
through continuous effort and hard work in order to account for success
(Lombardi 2001). He recognized that there are certain attributes which a
person must embody in order to become an effective leader, in that leader-
ship is nurtured by a mixture of talents and qualities. He created an ideol-
ogy that described winning as a habit and victory as only the moment
when a person has worked their heart out and lies exhausted on the field of
battle (Lombardi 2001). His ideology of what a team should do and how
it must be done is as celebrated as his inspirational speeches; he transmit-
ted his expertise through them which not only made him one of the great-
est leaders ever but also led a high-performing team to success.
SMEs and particularly family businesses are also associated with the
practice of implanting leadership. In reference to SMEs, owners bring
forth their ideology and, because of the shorter distance between them
and collaborators, they are able to effectively transmit it and ensure its
execution throughout the organization. Family businesses have a certain
familiness, the organization’s individuality (Habbershon and Williams
LEADERSHIP TAXONOMY 13
2000), that dictates the organization’s ideology and permeates its business
dynamics. In both cases, the ideology is implanted through the owners’
leadership which is, in turn, experienced through the organization’s cor-
porate culture.
Induced Leadership
In many cases, leadership is influenced by internal factors as much as by
external factors that surround and affect the organization. These factors
not only delineate the leadership style but also impact decision making and
individual, team, and organizational performance. Contingency leadership
theories suggest that there is no sole way to lead others meaning that,
leadership style is based on context, environment, and is situational
(Horner-Long and Schoenberg 2002). These are the it depends theories;
leadership styles are adopted in accordance with the requirements of given
circumstances, strategic goals, and desired performance. Further, the lead-
ership style might depend on a team’s characteristics and the members
she/he is leading; and, style may also vary with the size of the organization
and line of business.
There are various points of view regarding organization size, the style
of leadership and their performance, including the fact that there are
diverse variables associated with size that may be equally relevant to lead-
ership, decision making, and performance (Hart and Banbury 1994); fur-
ther, industrial characteristics determine organizational strategic behavior
as much as organizational size impacts the latter (Dean et al. 1998).
Therefore, there may be aspects that prove to be more challenging for
smaller firms than that for larger firms; and, vice versa, some strengths for
larger, multinational organizations turn out being areas of opportunity for
smaller ones. Organizational leaders from larger firms place emphasis on
the abilities and skills to effectively and swiftly react when decisions have
been made (Chen and Hambrick 1995). Larger, multinational enterprises
(MNEs) are usually characterized by formal and institutionalized pro-
cesses and procedures, as well as collaborative decision making; that is, the
decisions are usually made by a group (Matlay 1999), or team, of people
working toward a particular strategic goal and objective. Smaller organiza-
tions are characterized by a certain degree of informality in the way leader-
ship relates with collaborators (Matlay 1999) as well as with the design,
development, and execution of policies, processes, and procedures.
14 A. M. LÓPEZ-FERNÁNDEZ
One of the main reasons reported for lack of success in small organiza-
tions is unsatisfactory leadership (Davies et al. 2002). Decision making
tends to be highly centralized in entrepreneurial (Mintzberg 1973),
smaller organizations, meaning that, in SMEs the power over decision
making is usually in the hands of one person (Matlay 1999) who is often
the owner/manager of the firm. According to Byers and Slack (2001),
one reason for the degree of power and decision making centralization is
the leader’s interest in preserving control and preference for speedy deci-
sion making. Chen and Hambrick (1995) have posited that one of the
aspects most valued in smaller organizations is the velocity with which
leaders make decisions. Therefore, as would seem, smaller firms are struc-
turally more aligned with a bureaucratic and autocratic leadership style,
and larger firms with a democratic leadership style. However, it is not the
size of the firm which determines the optimal style of leadership that will
ensure desired outcomes, productivity, and performance; rather, it is the
perception of style, and characteristics of the group, team and/or organi-
zation itself that best determines the style of leadership required to fulfill
strategic goals and objectives.
Puni et al. (2014) posit that organizational success has as much to do
with leadership style as with the work environment created for collabora-
tors. Leadership style has been considered a guideline to predict organiza-
tional outcomes and performance. It seems straightforward to correlate a
type of leadership with elements such as strategic goal achievement,
empowerment, stakeholder satisfaction and added value, innovativeness,
and competitive advantage. Furthermore, it should be well associated with
active participation in decision making, organizational climate and design,
justice, and social responsibility. However, this is not always the case
because a significant aspect leadership style effects is its actual perception.
In other words, leadership is in the eye of the beholder…and collabo-
rators too. Each manager selects or adopts a style of leadership and may
or may not be aware of using such style. Further, collaborators may not
always perceive the leadership style as intended by the manager. It is not
uncommon for managers to perceive themselves as democratic, partici-
patory, and/or transformational when in reality their behavioral pattern
of leadership is much closer to an autocratic or laissez-fair style. The
same applies to collaborators; although a leader may have the best inten-
tions, collaborators may perceive their actions inflexible, uninspiring,
and even questionable.
LEADERSHIP TAXONOMY 15
Purposive Leadership
Sometimes leaders emerge with a sole purpose, meaning that they are
objective oriented and only focused on the achievement of a single objec-
tive. This leadership may dissipate as fast as it materialized; that is, more
often than not, once the objective has been accomplished the person
leaves her/his leadership position. This does not mean that person will not
take on another leadership role, rather, that they may choose another
objective to pursue.
Purposive leadership generates from an ideology that grows with a
given situation in a given context and environment. In the majority of
cases, the objective may be seen as a cause, in that the leader demonstrates
deep commitment toward advocating or standing up for a cause. In order
to achieve the objective, this leadership is embedded in others, i.e. col-
laborators, through their streamlined ideology (implanted leadership). In
other words, the ideology, the cause, and the objective are taken on by
others in its pursuit.
Examples range from parents who decide to coach a little league team
for a season, or as long as their child plays on the team, leading a food
drive for victims of a natural disaster, leading a protest or a campaign,
becoming interim business director or the president of a nation, to eradi-
cating extreme poverty in a region. This type of leadership is untainted as
no other interests are added to those of the leader. This also means that
the leader is extremely focused on the task at hand and is not easily swayed
by third-party concerns. For instance, it is unlikely that parents coaching
little league will compromise their leadership efforts because of interests of
the opposing team, and a protest leader will not give in before the protest
objective has been accomplished. It is not surprising that purposive leader-
ship is, in many cases, the starting point for other types of leaders intend-
ing the achievement of objectives on a larger scale and in the long term.
LE CAMP DE VÖHRENBACH
TÊTES DE BOCHES
(5 avril 1916).
Le camp de Vöhrenbach était commandé par l’oberst Freiherr von
Seckendorff, vieillard grognon que nous appelions Kœniggraetz, parce qu’il
avait jadis combattu à Sadowa et parce que des prisonniers français ne
seraient pas français s’ils ne coiffaient pas leurs geôliers d’un surnom. Le
bonhomme en vit de toutes les couleurs. Son attitude dès le début trahissait
le désir qu’il avait de vivre sans histoires. Malheureusement pour lui, nous
n’étions pas décidés à jouer les chiens couchants, et Kœniggraetz ne goûta à
peu près jamais la tranquillité qu’il souhaitait, s’il la souhaita. Écœuré de
notre ingratitude autant que mû par son tempérament de hobereau soudard,
il occupa ses journées à nous chercher des poux. Quand son imagination ne
lui suggérait aucune tracasserie, il s’en prenait aux sentinelles du poste de
police, hommes de la landstùrm, auxquels il avait toujours quelque chose à
reprocher. Il hésitait quelquefois à nous injurier, et sa rage s’abattait alors
sur le personnel du corps de garde qu’il pétrifiait dans une raideur
d’automates dont nous nous amusions.
Freiherr von Seckendorff, dit Kœniggraetz, avait la manie des discours.
Pour le moindre événement, il se présentait à nous au moment de l’appel du
matin, et il nous haranguait. Chaque fois c’était la même comédie. Il
commençait en français, d’une voix calme, presque aimable, cherchait ses
mots, ne les trouvait pas toujours, et tout à coup, au tournant d’une phrase,
excédé de fatigue et ne contenant plus ses impressions, se jetait tête basse
dans les lourdes périodes allemandes. Sa voix montait, pleine de graillons,
libérant toute une bile, dont nous avions de la peine à ne pas rire.
—Meine Herren... Meine Herren...
Le vieillard tonitruait, bafouillait, levait la canne, secouait la tête, et,
pour finir, saisi d’une quinte de toux furieuse, il s’en allait en prenant le ciel
à témoin de son impuissance.
Freiherr von Seckendorff était suivi constamment par son adjoint, un
capitaine de cavalerie qui ne se mêlait à aucun débat, qui passait pour être le
gendre de son colonel, et dont nous ignorions le nom. Quand j’aurai dit que
nous l’appelions Tête de veau, je n’aurai pas besoin de tracer le portrait de
ce comparse falot et sévère.
Monsieur le Censeur, leùtnant d’infanterie, était certainement l’officier
le plus cruel, le plus sournois, et le plus acharné de toute la boîte. Combien
de fois, devant lui, n’ai-je pas éprouvé de fortes démangeaisons au bout des
mains? Il rappelait le Herr Schmidt de Mayence, comme s’il eût été son
frère, mais il avait moins de désinvolture et un peu plus de lenteur d’esprit.
Avant la guerre, disait-on, sous couleur de s’occuper de commerce de bois,
il espionnait en Russie. Cet honnête passé expliquait pourquoi la
mobilisation allemande lui avait confié un poste à l’intérieur. Il se tirait de
sa mission avec un zèle parfait. A le voir, vous n’eussiez jamais pensé qu’il
fût si méchant, et pourtant son regard fuyait derrière le lorgnon, quand il
nous parlait en contractant les mâchoires. Tortionnaire silencieux qui se
gardait d’opérer en plein jour, et qui soufflait ses rancunes à l’oreille de
cette ganache de Kœniggraetz!
Il était le grand maître de nos correspondances. Je l’ai souvent observé à
sa table de travail, quand il lisait les pauvres lettres que nous écrivions. Il
avait l’air d’un policier qui se réjouit de farfouiller dans un tiroir. Tout lui
semblait inquiétant. Il épluchait notre style comme si la victoire de
l’Allemagne eût dépendu de son application à ce labeur de larbin.
Comprenait-il mal? Il convoquait l’auteur de la lettre, et exigeait des
corrections. Souvent, quand il soupçonnait qu’une carte, écrite au crayon,—
car nous ne devions écrire qu’au crayon en 1916,—cachait un mystère à
l’encre sympathique, il contraignait l’officier suspect à recommencer
d’urgence sa carte, sans daigner lui fournir un motif quelconque.
L’infortuné n’avait plus le temps de se servir de son encre, et monsieur le
Censeur souriait de plaisir. Ses décisions étaient irrévocables. Le plus
souvent, les raisons nous en échappaient. Ainsi ne saurai-je jamais
pourquoi, au mois de juin, je dus déchirer une carte où j’avais mis ces deux
mots coupables: «Il neige».
Où il était odieux, monsieur le Censeur de Vöhrenbach, c’est pour le
courrier qui nous arrivait de France. Il avait l’air alors, non plus d’un
policier, mais d’un dégoûtant bonhomme qui, par le trou de la serrure, dans
une chambre d’hôtel, épie le coucher de jeunes époux. Songez à la
souffrance d’un officier français qui voit, entre les mains d’un officier
boche, les lettres de sa fiancée, de sa femme, ou de sa maîtresse, qui voit le
monstre se vautrer dans des tendresses qui ne sont pas à lui, qui voit le
rustre violer le secret de deux cœurs! Monsieur le Censeur avait des
raffinements. Vous envoyait-on une mauvaise nouvelle capable de vous
attrister? Vous apprenait-on la mort d’un parent ou d’un ami? Vite,
monsieur le Censeur vous remettait l’enveloppe afin que vous pussiez
pleurer plus tôt. En revanche, souvent, on gardait dans les tiroirs de la
censure le courrier de plusieurs jours d’un même officier qu’on surveillait.
On confrontait les différentes feuilles de papier. On cherchait si la
quatrième page du 12 avril, si obscure, ne faisait pas suite à la troisième
page du 11 avril. On rapprochait les textes. Et, quand on ne découvrait rien,
pour plus de sûreté on supprimait froidement le tout.
Un jour, un lieutenant sut que son beau-père était décédé. Le matin
même, un jeudi, nous avions remis à la kommandantur notre carte
hebdomadaire. Le lieutenant alla frapper à la porte de monsieur le Censeur.
—Voulez-vous me rendre ma carte de ce matin? dit-il. Mon beau-père
étant mort, je désirerais ajouter quelques mots de condoléances pour ma
femme.
Il ne demandait pas une faveur extraordinaire, ce garçon. Monsieur le
Censeur eut un beau geste.
—Mais pas du tout, monsieur, dit-il. Dans des circonstances pareilles,
nous vous autorisons à écrire une carte supplémentaire. Allez écrire cette
carte, monsieur, et apportez-la. Elle partira tout de suite par le courrier de ce
soir, sans subir la retenue de dix jours, qui est de règle.
Le lieutenant remerciait. Le censeur protesta:
—C’est tout naturel, monsieur.
Seulement, trois mois plus tard, comme il était de nouveau en face de
monsieur le Censeur, le lieutenant vit sur la table sa carte supplémentaire,
qui n’était jamais partie.
Cependant, si monsieur le Censeur gagnait sur nous de nombreuses
parties, combien de coups d’épingle n’a-t-il pas reçus dans son amour-
propre! Et aussi combien de coups de couteau! Les lettres qu’on nous
adressait, toutes dépourvues de renseignements militaires, nous révélaient
pourtant bien des choses au nez de la censure. Dès le début de juillet 1916,
au moment de l’offensive franco-anglaise de la Somme conjuguée avec
l’offensive russe, l’enthousiasme des succès se devinait dans toutes les
enveloppes venues de France. Il y aurait un beau recueil à publier avec
toutes ces nouvelles spirituellement déguisées qui nous réjouissaient chaque