Meaning Centered Leadership

Today’s multigenerational, fast-paced work environment is causing employees to rethink their work. Today it is less about the paycheck and more about seeking a meaningful and purpose-driven career. As we spend more time in the workplace, and technology makes working from anywhere more commonplace, it is more vital than ever to create a work environment that instills meaning, both in the workplace and in our lives. Research shows that the vast majority of employees (85% worldwide) are disengaged, which is killing employee happiness and satisfaction, and thereby affecting the bottom line. Meaning-Centered Leadership will inspire and incite readers to create meaning in their organizations so their employees have higher engagement and are more fulfilled. By creating meaning, we can turn employee engagement levels upside down, creating a powerful, more productive, and overall happier place to work. The 3Es of Meaning-Centered Leadership - Engagement, Empowerment, and Expertise - will provide leaders ways to develop behaviors and strategies that in turn will inspire employees to love their jobs and their lives! Happier employees lead to healthier work environments and higher engagement, positively impacting the bottom line.

What enables some talented people to rise to the top and live their full ambitions at work and in life, while others stop short? In 2007, Joanna Barsh led a team at McKinsey & Company to answer that very question. In the process, they uncovered what distinguishes leaders who are successful from those who achieve true greatness, developing an approach called Centered Leadership. They drew on research from across the academic fields of leadership, organization behavior, neuroscience, evolutionary psychology and positive psychology. In addition, Barsh interviewed over 160 leaders from many fields – including business, government and the arts – and from many countries. With quantitative research, the team learned that these leaders have mastered practices to find their balance in the midst of chaos and lead from their most resourceful selves, unleashing the potential of others. In 2009, Johanne Lavoie joined to lead development of programs that help executives build these capabilities. Their research and development work continues as more and more leaders experience Centered Leadership. In the business bestseller, How Remarkable Women Lead, Barsh described Centered Leadership’s five capabilities and the research that underpins it. Here, with colleague Johanne Lavoie, Barsh provides a practical, actionable field guide for implementation. In Centered Leadership, Barsh and Lavoie will guide you through the Centered Leadership program. You’ll find the interactive tools, exercises, and practices that have helped the men and women participants in Centered Leadership programs gain the skills, courage and confidence to lead. And, along the way, you’ll read inspiring stories of remarkable men and women leaders who demonstrate the power of these skills in action. Those early in their careers will learn how to use these skills to explore their passions and accelerate their professional development. Those forming families will be able to use them to reconcile manage work and life to get the most out of both. And those who have already achieved success will be able use these practices to reach their next leadership horizon. No matter what stage you are currently at in your career, or what level of leadership you aspire to, this book will equip you with the tools to unlock your own Centered Leader and achieve more positive impact at work and outside it.

An inspirational and practical guide to leadership from the New York Times–bestselling author of The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. Covey, named one of Time magazine’s 25 Most Influential Americans, is a renowned authority on leadership, whose insightful advice has helped millions. In his follow-up to The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, he poses these fundamental questions: How do we as individuals and organizations survive and thrive amid tremendous change? Why are efforts to improve falling so short in real results? How do we unleash the creativity, talent, and energy within ourselves and others? Is it realistic to believe that balance among personal and professional life is possible? The key to dealing with the challenges that we face is to identify a principle-centered core within ourselves and our institutions. In Principle-Centered Leadership, Covey outlines a long-term, inside-out approach to developing people and organizations. Offering insights and guidelines on how to apply these principles both at work and at home, Covey posits that these steps will lead not only to an increase in productivity and quality of work, but also to a new appreciation of personal and professional relationships as we strive to enjoy a more balanced, rewarding, and ultimately more effective life. “There seems to be no limit to the number of writers offering answers to the great perplexities of life. Covey, however, is the North Star in this field . . . without hesitation, strongly recommended.” —Library Journal

What enables some talented people to rise to the top and live their full ambitions at work and in life, while others stop short? In 2007, Joanna Barsh led a team at McKinsey & Company to answer that very question. In the process, they uncovered what distinguishes leaders who are successful from those who achieve true greatness, developing an approach called Centered Leadership. They drew on research from across the academic fields of leadership, organization behavior, neuroscience, evolutionary psychology and positive psychology. In addition, Barsh interviewed over 160 leaders from many fields – including business, government and the arts – and from many countries. With quantitative research, the team learned that these leaders have mastered practices to find their balance in the midst of chaos and lead from their most resourceful selves, unleashing the potential of others. In 2009, Johanne Lavoie joined to lead development of programs that help executives build these capabilities. Their research and development work continues as more and more leaders experience Centered Leadership. In the business bestseller, How Remarkable Women Lead, Barsh described Centered Leadership’s five capabilities and the research that underpins it. Here, with colleague Johanne Lavoie, Barsh provides a practical, actionable field guide for implementation. In Centered Leadership, Barsh and Lavoie will guide you through the Centered Leadership program. You’ll find the interactive tools, exercises, and practices that have helped the men and women participants in Centered Leadership programs gain the skills, courage and confidence to lead. And, along the way, you’ll read inspiring stories of remarkable men and women leaders who demonstrate the power of these skills in action. Those early in their careers will learn how to use these skills to explore their passions and accelerate their professional development. Those forming families will be able to use them to reconcile manage work and life to get the most out of both. And those who have already achieved success will be able use these practices to reach their next leadership horizon. No matter what stage you are currently at in your career, or what level of leadership you aspire to, this book will equip you with the tools to unlock your own Centered Leader and achieve more positive impact at work and outside it.

This resource frames leadership as based in learning processes and distinct from management processes. It presents practices and tools together with examples and pointers for intervening with contentious problems.

The Remarkable discoveries about what drives and sustains successful women leaders. Based on five years of proprietary research, How Remarkable Women Lead speaks to you as no other book has, with its hopeful outlook and unique ideas about success. It's the new "right stuff" of leadership, raising provocative issues such as whether feminine leadership traits (for women and men) are better suited for our fast-changing, hyper-competitive, and increasingly complex world. The authors, McKinsey & Company consultants Joanna Barsh and Susie Cranston, establish the links between joy, happiness, and distinctive performance with the groundbreaking model of Centered Leadership. The book's personal stories and related insights show you the magic that happens when you put the five elements of Centered Leadership–meaning, framing, connecting, engaging, and energizing–to work. They include: • How Alondra de la Parra built on her strengths and passions to infuse her life with meaning and make her way in the male-dominated world of orchestra conducting • How Andrea Jung, the CEO of Avon, avoided a downward spiral when the company turned down by "firing herself" on Friday and re-emerging on Monday as the "new" turnaround CEO • How Ruth Porat's sponsors at Morgan Stanley not only helped her grow but were also her ballast for coping with difficult personal and professional times •How Eileen Naughton recovered after losing her dream job, landing on her feet at Google and open to a new leadership opportunity • How Julie Coates of Woolworth's Australia makes energy key to her professional success, with reserves for her "second shift" as wife and mother How Remarkable Women Lead is both profoundly moving and actionable. Woman or man, you'll find yourself in its pages and emerge with a practical plan for breaking through at both work and in life.

Much has been written about a model of leadership that emphasizes women's values and experiences, that is in some ways distinct from male models of leadership. This book redirects the focus to a view of leadership as a multicultural phenomenon that moves beyond dualistic notions of "masculine" and "feminine" leadership, and focuses more specifically on leadership as the management of meaning, including the meanings of the notion of "organizational leader." This volume focuses on leadership "traditions" revealed in the history of Black women in America and exemplified in the leadership approaches of 15 African American women executives who came of age during the civil rights and feminist movements of the 1960's and 1970's and climbed to the top of major U.S. organizations. It advances a vision of organizational leadership that challenges traditional masculine and feminine notions of leadership development and practice, providing insights on organizational leadership in the era of post-industrialization and globalization. Additionally, by placing African American women at the center of analysis, this book provides insights into the ways in which race and gender structure key leadership processes in today's diverse and changing workplace. It is a must-read for scholars and researchers in organizational communication, management, leadership, African American studies, and related areas.