Inventing Leadership

Inventing Leadership
Author: J. Thomas Wren
Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing
Total Pages: 423
Release: 2007
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 1847207243

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Tom Wren s book is a masterpiece of intellectual history. It explores the philosophical and historical foundations of democracy in a compelling way. Wren is a sparkling and graceful writer. He makes a potentially dry subject come alive with wit and insight. The issues Wren addresses are extremely timely, as the United States endeavors to advance democracy in the Middle East. George Goethals, University of Richmond, US In this important analysis of democratic thought and treatise on leadership, historian Tom Wren drills down to the essential intellectual paradox: that leadership and democracy are inherently hostile concepts. Wren brilliantly strips down our fictions concerning these domains in his extensive deconstruction of both classical and modern thought. What emerges is a dialectical awakening and a practical new vision of citizen participation and enlightened leadership. Georgia Sorenson, James MacGregor Burns Academy of Leadership, University of Maryland, College Park and US Army An excellent scholarly work that is well written and highly relevant within the context of contemporary politics. Although essential reading for teachers and students of political theory, it will also interest the general reader and armchair politician. First Trust Bank Economic Outlook and Business Review Wren is to be commended for attempting to lay bare the underlying assumptions and premises that inform any approach to politics. . . an important contribution to an ongoing conversation about what contemporary leadership should look like. Undergraduates will benefit from his review of important theorists, and practitioners should be challenged by Wren s own theses about leadership. Highly recommended. All readership levels. M.J. Watson, Choice The tension between ruler and ruled in democratic societies has never been satisfactorily resolved, and the competing interpretations of this relationship lie at the bottom of much modern political discourse. In this fascinating book, Thomas Wren clarifies and elevates the debates over leadership by identifying the fundamental premises and assumptions that underlie past and present understandings. The author traces the intellectual history of the central constructs: the leader, the people, and, ultimately, the relationship between them as they seek to accomplish societal objectives. He begins with a discussion of the invented notion of the classical paragon of a ruler. Next he pursues the invention of the countervailing concept of a sovereign people, and finally, the need for the invention of a new construct leadership which embodies a new relation between ruler and ruled in regimes dedicated to power in the people. In doing so, he draws upon the giants of the Western intellectual tradition as well as the insights of modern historians, political scientists, sociologists and leadership scholars. The book concludes with a proposed model of leadership for a modern democratic world. Elegantly written and masterfully argued, this comprehensive study will be essential reading for students and scholars of leadership and democracy.

Competing Values Leadership

Competing Values Leadership
Author: Kim S. Cameron
Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing
Total Pages: 183
Release: 2006
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 1847201563

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Both the framework and the book make notable contributions to both theory and practice. The book will be of value to scholars and organization leaders in understanding the concepts of value creation and organizational effectiveness. It will be an aid to consultants in conceptualizing strategies for organizations and in counselling leaders on how to operationalize the concepts in their organizations. S.R. Mohnot, Global Business Review This is a very readable and excellently presented volume. It will interest anyone concerned with organizational effectiveness and the competing values model. Economic Outlook and Business Review I recommend this book to anyone wishing to understand and practice leadership. Leadership is often treated in mutually-exclusive categories, such as Theory X vs. Theory Y, managers vs. leaders, transactional vs. transformative, initiation vs. consideration, etc. The Competing Values Framework presented in this book transcends these dualities. It features eight competing but complementary values that are critical for managing today s complex and pluralistic organizations. The framework emphasizes the need for balance among the eight leadership roles, and an appreciation of the context, timing, and contingencies when the leadership roles facilitate and inhibit collective endeavors. I have followed the development and testing of the Competing Values Framework over the years. It makes important contributions to both theory and practice. It stimulates positive learning outcomes for students and managers. Andrew H. Van de Ven, University of Minnesota, US Creating value in a firm is an enormously complex endeavor. Yet, despite its complexity, value creation is the objective of every enterprise, every worker, and every leader. The Competing Values Framework can help leaders understand more deeply and act more effectively. In the first book to comprehensively present this framework, the authors discuss its core elements and focus attention on rethinking the notion of value. They emphasize specific tools and techniques leaders can use to institute sustainable change. The Competing Values Framework was developed in response to the need for a broadly applicable model that would foster successful leadership, improve organizational effectiveness, and promote value creation. It helps leaders think differently about value creation and shows them how to clarify purpose, integrate practices, and lead people. Named one of the 40 most important frameworks in the history of business, it has been studied and tested in organizations for more than 25 years. Currently used by hundreds of firms around the world, the Competing Values Framework serves as a map, an organizing mechanism, a sense-making device, a source of new ideas, and a learning system. This accessible resource will be of great use to organizational scholars interested in the concepts of value creation, organizational effectiveness, and competing values; to leaders and managers interested in enhancing and creating value in their organizations; and to change agents and consultants who use the Competing Values Framework as part of their intervention strategies or who are looking to help improve organizations.

Creating Magic

Creating Magic
Author: Lee Cockerell
Publisher: Crown Currency
Total Pages: 290
Release: 2008-10-14
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 0385528280

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“It’s not the magic that makes it work; it’s the way we work that makes it magic.” The secret for creating “magic” in our careers, our organizations, and our lives is simple: outstanding leadership—the kind that inspires employees, delights customers, and achieves extraordinary business results. No one knows more about this kind of leadership than Lee Cockerell, the man who ran Walt Disney World® Resort operations for over a decade. And in Creating Magic, he shares the leadership principles that not only guided his own journey from a poor farm boy in Oklahoma to the head of operations for a multibillion dollar enterprise, but that also soon came to form the cultural bedrock of the world’s number one vacation destination. But as Lee demonstrates, great leadership isn’t about mastering impossibly complex management theories. We can all become outstanding leaders by following the ten practical, common sense strategies outlined in this remarkable book. As straightforward as they are profound, these leadership lessons include: Everyone is important. Make your people your brand. Burn the free fuel: appreciation, recognition, and encouragement. Give people a purpose, not just a job. Combining surprising business wisdom with insightful and entertaining stories from Lee’s four decades on the front lines of some of the world’s best-run companies, Creating Magic shows all of us – from small business owners to managers at every level – how to become better leaders by infusing quality, character, courage, enthusiasm, and integrity into our workplace and into our lives.

Inventing the Job of President

Inventing the Job of President
Author: Fred I. Greenstein
Publisher: Princeton University Press
Total Pages: 177
Release: 2009-08-10
Genre: History
ISBN: 1400831369

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How the early presidents shaped America's highest office From George Washington's decision to buy time for the new nation by signing the less-than-ideal Jay Treaty with Great Britain in 1795 to George W. Bush's order of a military intervention in Iraq in 2003, the matter of who is president of the United States is of the utmost importance. In this book, Fred Greenstein examines the leadership styles of the earliest presidents, men who served at a time when it was by no means certain that the American experiment in free government would succeed. In his groundbreaking book The Presidential Difference, Greenstein evaluated the personal strengths and weaknesses of the modern presidents since Franklin D. Roosevelt. Here, he takes us back to the very founding of the republic to apply the same yardsticks to the first seven presidents from Washington to Andrew Jackson, giving his no-nonsense assessment of the qualities that did and did not serve them well in office. For each president, Greenstein provides a concise history of his life and presidency, and evaluates him in the areas of public communication, organizational capacity, political skill, policy vision, cognitive style, and emotional intelligence. Washington, for example, used his organizational prowess—honed as a military commander and plantation owner—to lead an orderly administration. In contrast, John Adams was erudite but emotionally volatile, and his presidency was an organizational disaster. Inventing the Job of President explains how these early presidents and their successors shaped the American presidency we know today and helped the new republic prosper despite profound challenges at home and abroad.

Inventing Leadership

Inventing Leadership
Author: J. Thomas Wren
Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing
Total Pages: 432
Release: 2007
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN:

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The tension between ruler and ruled in democratic societies has never been satisfactorily resolved, and the competing interpretations of this relationship lie at the bottom of much modern political discourse. In this fascinating book, Thomas Wren clarifies and elevates the debates over leadership by identifying the fundamental premises and assumptions that underlie past and present understandings. The author traces the intellectual history of the central constructs: the leader, the people, and, ultimately, the relationship between them as they seek to accomplish societal objectives. He begins with a discussion of the invented notion of the classical paragon of a ruler. Next he pursues the invention of the countervailing concept of a sovereign people, and finally, the need for the invention of a new construct - leadership - which embodies a new relation between ruler and ruled in regimes dedicated to power in the people. In doing so, he draws upon the giants of the Western intellectual tradition as well as the insights of modern historians, political scientists, sociologists and leadership scholars. The book concludes with a proposed model of leadership for a modern democratic world. Elegantly written and masterfully argued, this comprehensive study will be essential reading for students and scholars of leadership and democracy.

Fortune Makers

Fortune Makers
Author: Michael Useem
Publisher: PublicAffairs
Total Pages: 319
Release: 2017-03-14
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 1610396596

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Fortune Makers analyzes and brings to light the distinctive practices of business leaders who are the future of the Chinese economy. These leaders oversee not the old state-owned enterprises, but private companies that have had to invent their way forward out of the wreckage of an economy in tatters following the Cultural Revolution. Outside of brand names such as Alibaba and Lenovo, little is known, even by the Chinese themselves, about the people present at the creation of these innovative businesses. Fortune Makers provides sharp insights into their unique styles -- a distinctive blend of the entrepreneur, the street fighter, and practices developed by the Communist Party -- and their distinctive ways of leading and managing their organizations that are unlike anything the West is familiar with. When Peter Drucker published Concept of the Corporation in 1946, he revealed what made large American corporations tick. Similarly, when Japanese companies emerged as a global force in the 1980s, insightful analysts explained the practices that brought Japan's economy out of the ashes -- and what managers elsewhere could learn to compete with them. Now, based on unprecedented access, Fortune Makers allows business leaders in the United States and the rest of the West to understand the essential character and style of Chinese corporate life and its dominant players, whose businesses are the foundation of the domestic Chinese market and are now making their mark globally.

Creating Leaderful Organizations

Creating Leaderful Organizations
Author: Joseph A. Raelin
Publisher: Berrett-Koehler Publishers
Total Pages: 310
Release: 2003-02-15
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 1609941934

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The times demand a new style of leadership. Employees today are highly trained and independent-they can offer much more to an enterprise than simply their obedience. And with the relationship between worker and organization constantly changing, no one person will likely be able to lead alone. Creating Leaderful Organizations presents a paradigm of leadership tailored to our times, one that is based on mutual-rather than heroic-leadership. It is not merely consultative, with leaders graciously allowing followers to participate in leadership, nor is it a stewardship approach in which the leader occasionally steps aside to allow others to take over temporarily. It is a revolutionary new approach that transforms leadership from an individual property to a collective responsibility. Raelin details how "leaderful" practice can accomplish the critical processes of leadership more effectively than any existing approach. And using actual examples from leading-edge organizations, he offers practical guidance for assessing your own and others' leaderful predisposition, preparing for leaderful practice, distributing leadership roles, and dealing with resistance to change.

Reinventing Organizations

Reinventing Organizations
Author: Fr?d?ric Laloux
Publisher:
Total Pages: 0
Release: 2014
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 9782960133516

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"The way we manage organizations seems increasingly out of date. Deep inside, we sense that more is possible. We long for soulful workplaces, for authenticity, community, passion, and purpose. In this groundbreaking book, the author shows that every time, in the past, when humanity has shifted to a new stage of consciousness, it has achieved extraordinary breakthroughs in collaboration. A new shift in consciousness is currently underway. Could it help us invent a more soulful and purposeful way to run our businesses and nonprofits, schools and hospitals? A few pioneers have already cracked the code and they show us, in practical detail, how it can be done. Leaders, founders, coaches, and consultants will find this work a joyful handbook, full of insights, examples, and inspiring stories."--Page [4] of cover.

Leadership for the Twenty-First Century

Leadership for the Twenty-First Century
Author: Joseph Rost
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing USA
Total Pages: 240
Release: 1993-02-18
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 031301843X

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This illuminating study critiques the concept of leadership as understood in the last 75 years and looks to the twenty-first century for a reconstructed understanding of leadership in the postindustrial era. More similarities in past decades were found than had been thought; the thread throughout Rost's book is that leadership was conceived of as good management. He develops a new definition and paradigm for leadership in this volume that distinguishes leadership from management in fundamental ways. The ethics of leadership from a postindustrial perspective completes the paradigm. The book concludes with suggestions that can be immediately utilized in helping to transform our understanding of leadership.

Talent Leadership

Talent Leadership
Author: John Mattone
Publisher: AMACOM
Total Pages: 306
Release: 2012-10-16
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 0814432409

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Great leaders drive the bottom line, which is why organizations pour money into leadership development. But most companies have no real way to gauge whether their endeavors are paying off-much less where they are falling short. Talent Leadership shows how to set up a world-class leadership-development program-and have the metrics to prove it!Packed with research findings, best practices, case studies, proprietary assessments, and more, this innovative book explains how to: * Employ assessments to benchmark current and future executive talent * Use the resulting data to identify leaders with potential based on their capabilities, commitment, and alignment with organizational goals * Leverage analysis to target training and coaching where they will have the greatest impact on individual performance and overall operating success By measuring, calibrating, and recalibrating the leading indicators that directly predict organizational health and the ability of leaders to meet those needs, HR and OD professionals will bring a much-needed numbers focus to their crucial talent development efforts. This book is for leaders of HR, Talent Management, OD/MD professionals, and the vast population of operating managers who are charged with identifying, managing and developing high-potential and emerging leaders.