The I of Leadership: Strategies for Seeing, Being and Doing

ISBN-13: 9781118567432 / Angielski / Twarda / 2013 / 328 str.

Nigel Nicholson

Opis

This is the leadership book you have to read: a barn-storming new take on what makes a versatile, integrated, and effective leader Using stories and examples from the lives of leaders, from the sports stadium to the White House to the office of the CEO, Nicholson shows vividly how the capacity of leaders to see what others do not see frames their actions and allows them to transform, build, destroy, or stabilize. Leaders fail through lack of insight--into themselves and into the worlds they inhabit. The strategic challenge of leadership is to find the right balance between impact and versatility and the successful crafting of an identity that merges the leader and the surrounding culture or 'zeitgeist.' Leaders covered in the book include: George Bush, Tony Blair, George S Patton, Warren Buffet, Steve Jobs, Josef Stalin, Hannibal, Elizabeth I, Nelson Mandela, Edith Cowan, Abraham Lincoln, Mohandas Gandhi, Henry Ford, Ernest Shackleton, Barack Obama, Robert Maxwell, JFK, Pope John XXIII, Margaret Thatcher, and Samuel Pepys. This book resonates with insights and searching questions on the nature of human leadership. It will be an invaluable guide to managers, consultants, and people everywhere.

Recenzje

it is what he does with the well–worn material that is original – and highly ambitious his book does stand out from the pack of leadership literature The good news is that Nicholson has forged the tools to help would–be leaders rise to the challenge (Financial Times, May 2013)

Combined with analysis of cases from several decades, this book is as richly–textured as it is insightful. (Communication Director, June 2013)

Spis treści

Acknowledgements xi

1 It Goes with the Territory Leadership Moments 1

2 Leadership in the Wild The Evolution of Power 19

3 A Very Short History of Leadership 35

4 Leadership as Strategy Situations, Processes and Qualities (SPQ) 57

5 Who am I? Leadership Qualities and the Compass Question 69

6 The Eye of Leadership The Law of the Situation 87

7 The Adaptive Leader Leadership Processes 109

8 Dynamic Leadership Shaping and Discovery 125

9 Reading the World A Leadership Conundrum 139

10 Born to Lead? Leaders Lost and Found 151

11 Who s Your Buddy? Critical Leader Relationships 165

12 Destiny, Drama and Deliberation The Lives of Leaders 183

13 The I of Leadership Inside the Mind of the Leader 199

14 Games Leaders Play Finding the Narrative 225

15 The Self–Management of Leadership You, Others and Organization 241

16 Can Leaders Save the World? Vision, Identity and Passion 259

Endnotes 271

Index 299

O autorze

Nigel Nicholson is a renowned educator, thinker, writer, and commentator on business. He is Professor of Organizational Behaviour at the London Business School, where he directs executive leadership programmes including High Performance People Skills, and the unique Proteus Programme.

Blurb

Nigel Nicholson is the most insightful and perceptive observer of leadership and organizational dynamics since Peter Drucker, and this is his best work so far. The book weaves together evolutionary psychology, modern cognitive theory, and real life examples in a lively and creative synthesis that is essential reading for anyone interested in answering the question, Who shall rule? . Robert Hogan, PhD, President, Hogan Assessment Systems

I read lots of leadership books, and this is one of the best it′s intelligent, wide–ranging, and eminently practical. If you′re a leader, or want to be one, read it! Gary Hamel, Visiting Professor of Strategy and Entrepreneurship, London Business School and Director of the Management Innovation eXchange

Leaders infect many through their emotional contagion positively or negatively. But they are human. Nigel Nicholson will captivate you with charming and at times disturbing stories of leaders with whom he has worked and those that have affected all of us. In a rare feat, Nigel has done on paper what he does in his classes reached out and given us hope that we can be better, using touching stories to show the path to new possibilities. Distinguished University Professor Richard Boyatzis, Department of Psychology, Cognitive Science and Organizational Behavior, Case Western Reserve University; Adjunct Professor of Human Resources, ESADE and co–author of the international best seller, Primal Leadership

The world has many books on leadership and many teachers on leadership. Having had the real pleasure of teaching alongside Nigel Nicholson, it is no surprise to find a bold and iconoclastic teacher producing a quirky, funny and insightful book, daring, for instance, to begin it with George W. Bush. I am usually a sceptic about leadership manuals but this is the exception, original and highly readable. Sir Ian Blair, Baron Blair of Boughton, Former Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police

The I of Leadership gives a critical message and a compelling business case for the leader to understand themselves: who you are matters in everything you do as a leader. Whether you are a developing leader or an experienced leader, Nicholson s brilliantly written book will give you a cutting edge advantage in the face of paradoxes and dilemmas. The stories of well–known leaders who succeeded or failed make the case for understanding and not necessarily imitating. Every leader is unique: this book goes back to Socrates profound advice to know thyself . George Kohlrieser, Professor of Leadership and Organizational Behaviour, IMD and award winning author of Hostage at the Table and Care to Dare

Each leader has a story but it is a story in progress, a story that probably could be written in different ways. Behind the story is what Nigel calls the I of Leadership: the consciousness of the leaders, their self management and strategy. The book is not about global leaders and celebrities, it is about all of us because we all experience that Moment , the Leadership Moment when we have to act. Mo Ibrahim, founder, Celtel and Chairman of the Mo Ibrahim Foundation

Three comments on this wonderful book: #1. Beware. If you pick up it, you will not put it down. #2. Pick it up. You will learn a lot. Who you are as leader will change (because you will know more about leadership) and Who you are matters. What you do with who you are matters even more. (from Chapter 1). #3. Don t wait. Our world is never going to slow down but you can get ahead of the curve with what you learn here. J. Keith Murnighan, Harold H. Hines Jr. Distinguished Professor of Risk Management, Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University and author of Do Nothing! How to Stop Overmanaging and Become a Great Leader