The Nature Of Organizational Leadership

The quality of an organization's top leaders is a critical influence on its overall effectiveness and continuing adaptability. Yet, little current research examines leadership within the context of organizational structure, such as how leaders influence organizational performance in those key moments when an executive's action is critical to driving the organization forward. This book represents a significant contribution to the literature of leadership, combining a contextual approach to organizational leadership with an in-depth treatment of the cognitive, social, and affective dynamics underlying that leadership. The Nature of Organizational Leadership, using an interdisciplinary approach that draws from the work of scholars in both management and psychology, provides a much-need organizational perspective on the problems to confronted by top executive leaders and the requisite behaviors, attributes, and outcomes necessary to lead organizations effectively.

In The Science of Leadership, Julian Barling takes an evidenced-based approach, relying primarily on the knowledge generated from research on organizational leadership conducted around the world and personal reflections based on two decades of involvement in leadership research and leadership development with executives. While leadership has been studied within all the major social sciences, Barling mainly focuses on findings from psychological research. The first part of the book explains the nature of organizational leadership, responds to the question of whether leaders "matter," and explains how leadership works. A longstanding issue is whether leadership can be taught. Barling explores the debate over whether leadership is "born or made" as well as the effectiveness of leadership development interventions in organizations. He gives consideration to what can be learned from leadership in other contexts such as sports, the political arena, and schools, and devotes individual chapters to topics that include gender and leadership, destructive leadership, and followership.

Written by a team of leading experts in leadership studies, The Nature of Leadership provides compelling answers to the most vexing questions surrounding leadership: Is leadership measurable? Are there traits that reliably distinguish leaders from nonleaders? Does the situation matter? Are there differences in women′s and men′s leadership styles? Is ethical leadership effective leadership? Are elements of leadership culturally bounded whereas other elements are universal? Does vision really matter? Can leadership be developed? The new volume includes 16 chapters divided into five parts: Introduction, Leadership: Science, Nature, and Nurture; The Major Schools of Leadership; Special Topics in Leadership; and Conclusion. Topical coverage within these parts include research methods, leader and leadership development, evolutionary and biological perspectives of leadership, individual differences, situational and contingency theories, transformational, charismatic, and shared leadership, followership, gender, identity, culture, and ethics.

Organizational Leadership provides an accessible, critical and engaging analysis of what constitutes ‘leadership’ today. Demonstrating leadership as an interconnected process between leaders, followers and context, the book ensures a rounded understanding of theory and practice to support students throughout their course and future career. Part 1: Contextualising Leadership examines the internal and external forces influencing leadership, addressing issues such as ethics, power, culture and innovation. Part 2: Leadership Theories reviews and analyses traditional and contemporary theories of leadership. Part 3: Managing People and Leadership builds on the idea of leadership as a human process and considers how complementary aspects of HRM can inform leadership practice and its outcomes on employees and organizational performance. Part 4: Contemporary Leadership considers topical issues including the shift of leadership studies towards followership, gender and leadership and pro-environmental leadership. Bringing complex theories and concepts to life through a range of case studies and examples, the book is further supported by a series of fascinating expert video conversations with those in leadership roles. From small social businesses to major multi-nationals, from the NHS to the frontline military teams, the videos offer a unique insight into the diverse reality of leadership in practice today.

More than ever before, leadership is seen as critical for the proper functioning of societies and social institutions. Written by a team of leading experts, The Nature of Leadership will provide compelling answers to the most vexing questions surrounding leadership: Is leadership measurable? Are there traits that reliably distinguish leaders from nonleaders? Does the situation matter? Are there differences in women's and men's leadership styles? Is ethical leadership effective leadership? Are elements of leadership culturally bounded whereas other elements are universal? Does vision really matter? Can leadership be developed? --COVER.

In this volume, research on the skills, knowledge, abilities and other characteristics that define effectiveness of senior executives is examined. This integrated framework can be used to develop ways of assessing, selecting, training, developing and coaching executives.

Regarded as one of the most influential management books of all time, this fourth edition of Leadership and Organizational Culture transforms the abstract concept of culture into a tool that can be used to better shape the dynamics of organization and change. This updated edition focuses on today's business realities. Edgar Schein draws on a wide range of contemporary research to redefine culture and demonstrate the crucial role leaders play in successfully applying the principles of culture to achieve their organizational goals.

This is a story of reinvention. Jim Whitehurst, celebrated president and CEO of one of the world's most revolutionary software companies, tells first-hand his journey from traditional manager (Delta Air Lines, Boston Consulting Group) and “chief” problem solver to CEO of one of the most open organizational environments he'd ever encountered. This challenging transition, and what Whitehurst learned in the interim, has paved the way for a new way of managing—one this modern leader sees as the only way companies will successfully function in the future. Whitehurst says beyond embracing the technology that has so far disrupted entire industries, companies must now adapt their management and organizational design to better fit the Information Age. His mantra? “Adapt or die.” Indeed, the successful company Whitehurst leads—the open source giant Red Hat—has become the organizational poster child for how to reboot, redesign, and reinvent an organization for a decentralized, digital age. Based on open source principles of transparency, participation, and collaboration, “open management” challenges conventional business ideas about what companies are, how they run, and how they make money. This book provides the blueprint for putting it into practice in your own firm. He covers challenges that have been missing from the conversation to date, among them: how to scale engagement; how to have healthy debates that net progress; and how to attract and keep the “Social Generation” of workers. Through a mix of vibrant stories, candid lessons, and tested processes, Whitehurst shows how Red Hat has blown the traditional operating model to pieces by emerging out of a pure bottom up culture and learning how to execute it at scale. And he explains what other companies are, and need to be doing to bring this open style into all facets of the organization. By showing how to apply open source methods to everything from structure, management, and strategy to a firm's customer and partner relationships, leaders and teams will now have the tools needed to reach a new level of work. And with that new level of work comes unparalleled success. The Open Organization is your new resource for doing business differently. Get ready to make traditional management thinking obsolete.