This article surveys contemporary trends in leadership theory as well as its current status and the social context that has shaped the contours of leadership studies. Emphasis is placed on the urgent ...need for collaboration among social-neuro-cognitive scientists in order to achieve an integrated theory, and the author points to promising leads for accomplishing this. He also asserts that the 4 major threats to world stability are a nuclear/biological catastrophe, a world-wide pandemic, tribalism, and the leadership of human institutions. Without exemplary leadership, solving the problems stemming from the first 3 threats will be impossible.
For the first time, a top leadership scholar and a top leadership practitioner explore the true duties, demands, and privileges of leadership. I ntellectual sparks flew when Warren Bennis, the ..."father" of modern leadership studies and Steven B. Sample, one of the most accomplished university presidents in recent history, came together for candid explorations of the forces that shape successful leaders and unsuccessful ones. The Art and Adventure of Leadership, their final collaboration, reveals the profound insights that the authors gained together over the 16 years in which they co-taught one of the most popular leadership courses in America. Here, each brings his own distinct vantage point as they address the mechanics and mysteries of leadership. The result is a unique examination of the journey of great leaders from momentary setbacks to ultimate success. It offers profound lessons on what determines the difference between failure and redemption for leaders. And it illuminates important and overlooked dimensions of great leaders ranging from Winston Churchill to Steve Jobs. Together, they explore why: * A mature leader must grasp when it's healthy to risk failure, and when failure can't be tolerated at any cost * Leadership isn't for everyone and requires a particular set of skills and competencies that are often glossed over in most management literature * To succeed in an uncertain and fast-changing world, a shrewd leader must understand which aspects of human society change—and which aspects never change * A mature, wise leader must seek a balance between high-minded ideals and the gritty realities and compromises that leaders face in their daily lives * Above all, meaningful leadership remains a matter of character With incredible insight, this book examines why George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, and other giants were able to recover from failures, learn resilience, and prepare themselves for their moments of destiny. In so doing, it demonstrates and helps cultivate the leadership skills that you need to create your own most meaningful legacy. The Art and Adventure of Leadership is a unique look at leadership, and a critical resource for the leaders of tomorrow.
Leading with Sense Gauthier, Valérie; Bennis, Warren
2014, 2014-08-13
eBook
Today's business environment demands a new approach to leadership, one that effectively connects individuals and organizations in the midst of change. Leading with Sense offers a new, practical ...approach to meeting this challenge. Drawing on her experience as a poetic translator and her expertise in cross- cultural leadership, Valérie Gauthier outlines the tenets of savoir-relier: a framework for building sensible, trustworthy, and lasting relationships that enables leaders to value difference, work across boundaries, and navigate complex systems.Savoir-relier teaches leaders to tap into their senses in the midst of strategizing, allowing them to act intuitively and rationally at once. Few leaders dare to claim that their "gut feelings" are critical to their decisions. But, by engaging their intuition, they are able to draw on experience, better appreciate their environment, build confidence, and summon the courage to tackle the task at hand. Leading with Sense trains readers to be poets and translators in the business context. With savoir-relier, we can write our own stories, deciphering the challenges that we face with acumen, humility, and respect. Using real-world examples of this pioneering approach, Gauthier provides readers with methods and tools for cultivating a savoir- relier mindset to build positive relationships, nurture diversity, drive mindful innovation, and foster success.
An intimate look at the founding father of the modern leadership movement Warren Bennis is an acclaimed American scholar, successful organizational consultant and author, and an expert in the field ...of leadership. His much awaited memoir is filled with insights about the successes and failures from his long and storied life and career. Bennis' life and career have traversed eight decades of first-hand experience with tumultuous episodes of recent history-from Jewish child in a gentile town in the 30's, a young army recruit in the Battle of the Bulge to a college student in the one of the first progressive precursors to the civil rights movement to a patient undergoing daily psychoanalysis for five years, and later a university provost during the Vietnam protests.Reveals the triumphs and struggles of the man who is considered the pioneer in thecontemporary field of leadership studiesBennis is the author of 27 books including the bestseller On Becoming a LeaderThis is first book to examine the extraordinary life of Warren Bennis by the man himself.
Business schools are facing intense criticism for failing to impart useful skills, failing to prepare leaders, failing to instill norms of ethical behavior--and even failing to lead graduates to good ...corporate jobs. These criticisms come not just from students, employers, and the media but also from deans of some of America's most prestigious B schools. The root cause oftoday's crisis in management education, assert Warren G. Bennis and James O'Toole, is that business schools have adopted an inappropriate--and ultimately self-defeating--model of academic excellence. Instead of measuring themselves in terms of the competence of their graduates, or by how well their faculty members understand important drivers of business performance, they assess themselves almost solely by the rigor of their scientific research. This scientific model is predicated on the faulty assumption that business is an academic discipline like chemistry or geology when, in fact, business is a profession and business schools are professional schools--or should be. Business school deans may claim that their schools remain focused on practice, but they nevertheless hire and promote research-oriented professors who haven't spent time working in companies and are more comfortable teaching methodology than messy, multidisciplinary issues--the very stuff of management. The authors don't advocate a return to the days when business schools were glorified trade schools. But to regain relevancy, they say, business schools must rediscover the practice of business and find a way to balance the dual mission of educating practitioners and creating knowledge through research.