The Leadership Gap

Do people see you as the kind of leader you want to be? Are your strongest leadership qualities getting in the way of your greatness? After decades of advising and inspiring some of the most eminent chief executives in the world, Lolly Daskal has uncovered a startling pattern: within each leader are powerful abilities that are also hidden impediments to greatness. She’s witnessed many highly driven, overachieving leaders rise to prominence fueled by well-honed skill sets, only to falter when the shadow sides of the same skills emerge. Now Daskal reveals her proven system, which leaders at any level can apply to dramatically improve their results. It begins with identifying your distinctive leadership archetype and recognizing its shadow: ■ The Rebel, driven by confidence, becomes the Imposter, plagued by self-doubt. ■ The Explorer, fueled by intuition, becomes the Exploiter, master of manipulation. ■ The Truth Teller, who embraces candor, becomes the Deceiver, who creates suspicion. ■ The Hero, embodying courage, becomes the Bystander, an outright coward. ■ The Inventor, brimming with integrity, becomes the Destroyer, who is morally corrupt. ■ The Navigator, trusts and is trusted, becomes the Fixer, endlessly arrogant. ■ The Knight, for whom loyalty is everything, becomes the Mercenary, who is perpetually self-serving. Using psychology, philosophy, and her own experience, Daskal offers a breakthrough perspective on leadership. She’ll take you inside some of the most cloistered boardrooms, let you in on deeply personal conversations with industry leaders, and introduce you to luminaries who’ve changed the world. Her insights will help you rethink everything you know to become the leader you truly want to be.

Studies consistently show that quality leadership development programs pay off for companies -- in the form of shareholder returns, market share growth, and sales. However, many companies have inadequate leadership development programs. This book challenges traditional views of leadership development with a perspective that focuses on recognizing leadership as a source of competitive advantage. If you're a manager or an HR leader, The Leadership Gap offers the practical, effective strategies you need to close the leadership gap in your organizations, unleashing leadership potential for better business results and a sustainable competitive advantage.

Gender, Communication, and the Leadership Gap is the sixth volume in the Women and Leadership: Research, Theory, and Practice series. This cross-disciplinary series, from the International Leadership Association, enhances leadership knowledge and improves leadership development of women around the world. The purpose of this volume is to highlight connections between the fields of communication and leadership to help address the problem of underrepresentation of women in leadership. Readers will profit from the accessible writing style as they encounter cutting-edge scholarship on gender and leadership. Chapters of note cover microaggressions, authentic leadership, courageous leadership, inclusive leadership, implicit bias, career barriers and levers, impression management, and the visual rhetoric of famous women leaders. Because women in leadership positions occupy a contested landscape, one goal of this collection is to clarify the contradictory communication dynamics that occur in everyday interactions, in national and international contexts, and when leadership is digital. Another goal is to illuminate the complexities of leadership identity, intersectionality, and perceptions that become obstacles on the path to leadership. The renowned thinkers and scholars in this volume hail from both Leadership and Communication disciplines. The book begins with Sally Helgesen and Brenda J. Allen. Helgesen, co-author of The Female Vision: Women’s Real Power at Work, discusses the two-fold challenge women face as they struggle to articulate their visions. Her chapter offers six practices women can use to relieve this struggle. Allen, author of the groundbreaking book, Difference Matters: Communicating Social Identity, discusses the implications of how inclusive leadership matters to women and what it means to think about women as people who embody both dominant and non-dominant social identity categories. She then offers practical communication strategies and an intersectional ethic to the six signature traits of highly inclusive leaders. Each chapter includes practical solutions from a communication and leadership perspective that all readers can employ to advance the work of equality. Some solutions will be of use in organizational contexts, such as leadership development and training initiatives, or tools to change organizational culture. Some solutions will be of use to individuals, such as how to identify and respond productively to micro-aggressions or how to be cautious rather than optimistic about practicing authentic leadership. The writing in this volume also reflects a range of styles, from in-depth scholarship that produces new knowledge to shorter forums that feature interesting ideas worth considering.

Whether you are a pastor, a church employee, a volunteer, or a congregation member, The Leadership Gap is filled with solid, practical advice that you can use in your ministry. Curtis Wallace shares from his vast experience in both the business and church worlds, sharing valuable advice with anyone involved in their church on any level. This book will help ministries and the people who run them become more effective in their work, thereby fulfill their calling and becoming closer to God. Curtis Wallace conveys priceless wisdom in this accessible book—a must-read for all church leaders! You will learn: How to fill in the gaps in your ministry team How to address your organization’s weaknesses Tools for interacting with other members of your ministry team What to prioritize in a successful ministry How to set ministry goals How to reach your full potential, individually and corporately!

Every leader values integrity, but far too few live it out. The founders of Living Wholehearted, Jeff and Terra Mattson, find that most high-capacity leaders have experienced childhood trauma and use leadership as a way to cope. In Shrinking the Integrity Gap, the Mattsons remind readers that integrity is a way of being and not a one-time event. Providing long-term solutions rooted in grace, they explore the following: The symptoms and systemic impact of the integrity gap How a leader’s unresolved story impacts their influence Ways to overcome the loneliness and effects of leadership Healthy leadership habits for wholehearted leadership Integrating biblical truth, clinical research, relational wisdom, and real stories, Shrinking the Integrity Gap equips readers to become the kind of leader anyone would want to follow.

Based on the popular Developing Leadership Talent program offered by the acclaimed Center for Creative Leadership, this important resource offers a nuts-and-bolts framework for putting in place a leadership development system that will attract and retain the best and brightest talent. Step by step, the authors explain how alignment with strategic goals and organizational purpose and effective developmental experiences are the backbone of a successful leadership program. An authoritative and useful book, Developing Leadership Talent is an essential tool for any leadership program.

The market for business knowledge is booming as companies looking to improve their performance pour millions of pounds into training programmes, consultants, and executive education. Why then, are there so many gaps between what firms know they should do and waht they actual do? This volume confronts the challenge of turning knowledge about how to improve performance into actions that produce measurable results. The authors identify the causes of this gap and explain how to close it.

First Published in 2008. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.