Reflections On Leadership

"I believe that [Bob Greenleaf's] essay, 'The Servant as Leader' is the most singular and useful statement on leadership that I have read in the last 20 years. Despite a virtual tidal wave of books on leadership during the last few years, there is something different about Bob Greenleaf's essay, something both simpler and more profound . . . For many years, I simply told people not to waste their time reading all the other managerial leadership books. 'If you are really serious about the deeper territory of true leadership,' I would say, 'read Greenleaf.' " —from Chapter 20 by Peter M. Senge, Director of the Center for Organizational Learning at MIT's Sloan School of Management and author of The Fifth Discipline: The Art and Practice of the Learning Organization "There is a building momentum for enlightened leadership in the for-profit world, the social sector, and many areas of government today . . . Good books that deal with the beliefs and convictions that nurture this movement are not easy to find. This is one. Reflections on Leadership is a worthy and worthwhile gift to all those who attach high value both to their responsibilities and to the people with whom they work." —from the Foreword, by Max DePree, Chairman and CEO of Herman Miller Inc. and author of Leadership Is an Art and Leadership Jazz "I could give you three examples of major businesses who have used this business of servant-leadership training . . . at times of terrible crisis and have worked themselves out of the crisis. Practicing servant-leadership . . . had absolutely enormous incredible benefits for them . . . and then they threw it away. Because, as soon as the crisis passed, they said 'why exert ourselves?' The great problem is not how to . . . teach servant-leadership in the first place, but to get organizations to continue to use it and embed it in part of their culture." —from Chapter 7 by M. Scott Peck, author of The Road Less Traveled "Reflections on Leadership is fitting tribute to a man whose own sense of service has given all of us hope that at long last leaders will recognize that power of purpose is far stronger than power of position. After nearly 30 years, Robert K. Greenleaf's work has struck a resonant chord in the minds and hearts of scholars and practitioners alike. His message lives through others, the true legacy of a servant-leader." —Jim Kouzes, Chairman and CEO of TPG/Learning Systems and coauthor of The Leadership Challenge and Credibility "We are each indebted to Greenleaf for bringing spirit and values into the workplace. His ideas will have enduring value for every generation of leaders." —Peter Block, Founding Partner, Designed Learning Inc. and author of The Empowered Manager, Flawless Consulting, and Stewardship: Choosing Service Over Self-Interest In the twenty-five years since Robert K. Greenleaf first articulated his vision of "servant-leadership," the world has seen a steady expansion in the influence of the man and his ideas. Hailed as the "grandfather" of the modern empowerment movement in business leadership, Greenleaf described true leaders as those who lead by serving others —empowering them to reach their full potential. He saw the ideal leader as one who transforms and integrates an organization; a steward with a commitment to the growth of people and the building of a community. Reflections on Leadership demonstrates the scope of Greenleaf's impact on contemporary management theory and offers key essays by Greenleaf and his leading business and intellectual disciples. They include such influential thinkers as M. Scott Peck, author of The Road Less Traveled, and Peter Senge, author of The Fifth Discipline. "Despite all the buzz about modern leadership techniques, no one knows better than Greenleaf what really matters." —Working Woman magazine Reflections on Leadership opens with two remarkable essays by Greenleaf himself. One of them, "Reflections from Experience," published here for the first time, presents Greenleaf's prophetic observations on the use of executive power in an organization. In "Life's Choices and Markers," Greenleaf recounts five significant influences that led him to develop his revolutionary ideas on the nature of leadership. "Servant-leadership deals with the reality of power in everyday life—its legitimacy, the ethical restraints upon it and the beneficial results that can be attained through the appropriate use of power." —The New York Times In Reflections on Leadership, a host of notable management thinkers explore the implications of the servant-leadership concept in such areas as: Business ethics Team-building and servant-leadership Corporate risk-taking Spirit in the workplace Becoming a servant-leader The future of leadership For those who have already benefited from Greenleaf's ideas and wish to deepen their understanding, this is an essential book. It is also the ideal introduction for those eager to draw on a source of wisdom that has inspired so many others.

Reflections on Character and Leadership is the first of the three books in the Manfred kets de Vries on the Couch series. Here, Kets de Vries looks at entrepreneurship, the pathology of leadership, and the personality of the leader. The reader will visit the disturbed inner worlds of leaders like Alexander the Great, Shaka Zulu and Robert Maxwell, discover how to distinguish between a cold fish and a live volcano, and identify impostors, despots, organizational fools and global leaders. The book highlights the basic principles of the clinical paradigm—the process of putting organizations and the individuals who lead them on the psychoanalyst’s couch. It includes studies of personality archetypes and the effects they have on organizational life and culture—and the effects that organizations have on them. Referring frequently to key management concepts, Kets de Vries looks not only at what happens when things go wrong, but also at how to create the psychological and organizational space to make sure that things go right. About the series: The series offers an overview of Kets de Vries’s work spanning four decades, a period in which he has established himself as the leading figure in the clinical study of organizational leadership. The books in this series contain a representative selection of Kets de Vries’ writings about leadership from a wide variety of published sources and cover character and leadership in a global context, career development and leadership in organizations. The original essays were all written or published between 1976 and 2008. Updated where appropriate and revised by the author, they present a digest of the work of one of the most influential management thinkers of the present day.

Views from the interface of psychoanalysis and organizational life In the books in this series Manfred Kets de Vries failed engineer, entrepreneur manqué, reluctant economist, international management guru, psychoanalyst, wit, and outdoorsman offers an overview of his work spanning four decades, a period in which he has established himself as the leading figure in the clinical study of organizational leadership. At a key point in his career, working as he puts it, "in the twilight zone of economics, management, and psychoanalysis," he decided to strike out on a little-trodden path and "bring the person back into the organization." Now Kets de Vries occupies a unique position in the academic business world, putting leaders and companies of the couch and working at the often intimate interface where the inner theater of the individual meets the outer world of the organization. The second book in this series, Reflections on Leadership and Career Development, takes different perspectives on the intimate connection between the personality or "inner theater" of individuals and the organizational context in which they work how different personality types, in positions of leadership or as members of management teams, affect the functioning and success of organizations. Kets de Vries looks at the way basic psychological processes operate on individual and corporate performance and analyzes them in the context of case studies of leaders and organizations. He examines narcissism, dysfunctional collusion between leaders and followers, some new leadership archetypes, and the roles that "organizational therapists" (coaches or consultants) can play in their interventions. The book includes a lengthy study of Vladimir Putin, as "CEO of Russia, Inc.," an assessment of the former Russian president's performance as an organizational leader. The final part of the book examines the career life cycle and how executives cope (or fail to cope) with rites de passage like succession and retirement. "For the first time this book provides a glimpse of Manfred Kets de Vries' own 'inner theater' as the wellspring of his success as psychoanalyst, mentor and inspiration to a generation of leaders. Reflections on Leadership and Career Development offers a rare opportunity to observe Manfred on his own legendary couch, a personal perspective not to be missed." Paul McMorran, HR Director, TNK-BP

Christian Reflections on The Leadership Challenge is a faith-based companion to the best-selling leadership book of all time--The Leadership Challenge. Grounded in Jim and Barry’s time-tested research, Christian Reflections on The Leadership Challenge describes their Five Practices of Exemplary Leadership ® --Model the Way, Inspire a Shared Vision, Challenge the Process, Enable Others to Act, and Encourage the Heart—and offers practical guidance and inspiring examples about how Christian leaders can have a powerful impact in their workplaces, communities, and congregations by bringing their faith into their leadership. In addition to Jim and Barry’s foundational wisdom, the book brings together five leaders who reflect on the Five Practices from a Christian perspective. John C. Maxwell, David McAllister-Wilson, Patrick Lencioni, Nancy Ortberg, and Ken Blanchard share insights and stories culled from personal experience and the lives of other Christian leaders who have accomplished extraordinary things in churches, communities, classrooms, and corporations. Their thoughtful reflections on the role of faith in leadership will propel leaders and aspiring leaders

Packed with powerful, fast-acting behaviour management strategies for the classroom - including a novel routine to get any group quiet in 15 seconds or less - Take Control of the Noisy Class by Rob Plevin provides teachers with a highly effective, step-by-step plan for successfully managing challenging groups and students in today’s toughest schools. Drawing on his experience working in both mainstream and special education, teacher-trainer Rob Plevin presents hundreds of proven, practical ideas and interventions to help you connect and succeed with defiant or reluctant learners. Relevant to teachers of all age groups, you’ll find useable strategies for establishing classroom routines, gaining respect, making lessons engaging and creating a positive classroom environment as well as in-depth instruction on what Rob considers to be the ‘number one secret to effective behaviour management’. Take Control of the Noisy Class provides teachers with a proven system for dealing with disruptive, inappropriate behaviour in the classroom, enabling them to create calm, positive learning environments and trusting bonds with hard-to-reach students. Discover: effective behaviour management strategies, the power of routines, instructions and consequences, the importance of relationships, tips and tricks for tackling misbehaviour, proven techniques for getting a rowdy class’s attention, strategies for maintaining lesson flow and effective classroom management strategies which curb misbehaviour and prevent it from escalating to the stage of involving the senior leadership team and school behaviour policy. As well as a complete step-by-step lesson plan for succeeding with very challenging groups, Take Control of the Noisy Class also includes a comprehensive suite of downloadable teacher resources including video tutorials, classroom management tools and engaging lesson activities. Learn Rob's super-effective classroom management strategies for today’s toughest classrooms. Relevant to teachers of all subjects and age groups - across primary and secondary schools - the book is ideal for individual teachers and leaders or as the basis of whole-school INSET. If you’re worn out and fed up with students who ignore you, and have had enough of disruption and defiance, read Take Control of the Noisy Class and apply Rob’s easy-to-follow behaviour management methods. You’ll be able to take immediate control in your classroom, get the most from your students and enjoy stress-free teaching. Get your copy now.

Do you feel stuck in your leadership journey? Are you just going through the motions and calling it leadership? Does chaos seem to follow you, and even know your address? In Reflections on Leadership, leadership consultant Dennis Mossburg talks straight about how history's leaders developed teams and served their followers. A leader who has led teams in high stress conditions and been deployed to natural disasters as part of an award winning Incident Management Team, Dennis tells his lessons from building teams to mentoring others and building morale. Through quotes, humor, and dozens of practical tips, he shows the way to anyone who has lost their leadership and is trying to figure out why. In these pages you'll discover: § How to identify and end your toxic relationships § How to run your one on ones § How to give actionable feedback § How to build relationships with your followers § How to mentor your followers in minutes a week Your leadership is your creation, but only if you know how. If you are a leader who wants to get the best out of your team but don't know how, this book is for you. Dennis Mossburg has a Master of Science in Management and Leadership, is a leadership consultant who specializes in helping first-time leaders. He can be reached through his email at [email protected] or found on Facebook at Grey Moose Leadership Group.

A Multidimensional Approach to Leadership Top-down, one-dimensional leadership models are hopelessly outmoded in today's rapidly changing world, and they waste the leadership ability that is present throughout an organization. In this visionary book, Karen and Henry Kimsey-House provide a model that harnesses the possibility of many rather than relying on the power of one. Their revolutionary five-dimensional approach recognizes that leadership has to be fluid and flexible and that the roles leaders and followers play must shift to suit the situation. Co-Active Leadership invites all of us to share our expertise and allows collaborative solutions to emerge that would never have been possible otherwise.

In an increasingly dynamic and competitive world, organizations of all kinds are continually looking for leaders who can most effectively inspire others to improve productivity and performance. Yet, meeting goals and objectives is no longer enough. Leaders who exceed expectations will be in the best position to emerge as the superstars of their generation. General Looney reflects upon his most formidable experiences during a 40-year career and articulates his leadership philosophy, which is built around a very simple notion -- the greatest leaders are those who not only "exceed expectations," but also inspire others to do the same. Reviews Over the years, I've learned that people at every level of experience and responsibility learn about leadership best from stories which resonate with their own lives. Through a variety of stories, Bill Looney has captured the importance leaders play in creating the right environment to allow organizations to exceed expectations. His reflections on leadership provide a wealth of lessons learned. Well done! Richard B. Myers, Former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Whether you are leading military forces or a corporate entity, success is all about exceeding expectations. Bill Looney has it right, and his leadership approach works--I use it in my company! This is a must read for all leaders and those who aspire to leadership positions. Andrew C. Taylor, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Enterprise Rent-A-Car There is a dire need for effective leadership in American enterprise today and General Bill Looney's book offers an excellent how-to perspective. As you read it, ask yourself, "How can I apply these common sense techniques to exceed expectations?" Believe me, they will work for you! Bob Gaylor, 5th Chief Master Sergeant of the US Air Force About the Author General Bill Looney retired from the United States Air Force as a general having served on active-duty for forty years. He graduated from the US Air Force Academy in 1966 where was the Cadet Wing Commander and continued to exceed expectations from that point forward. General Looney eventually commanded more organizations than any other Air Force general officer in history with each organization he led achieving demonstrable higher levels of performance and productivity. He is a highly-decorated officer with over 4,200 flying hours. He and his wife, Marilyn, have two daughters, two son-in-laws (both Air Force officers and pilots) and two grandchildren.