When Leadership Fails

When Leadership Fails is a critical examination of the worst workplace experiences for the purpose of individual, group and organizational learning. Professionals from various industries unpack personal encounters associated with a range of toxic leadership behaviors, using theory, these examples are turned into critical lessons.

The belief that desegregation in the public schools has been a failed and costly policy is widespread. Educational standards suffer and public support declines, it is said, when the schools are used as agencies of social reform. In this study of school desegregation in San Francisco, Doris Fine argues that although the schools' difficulties are real, they are due not to the policy of desegregation but to deficiencies of leadership and organization within the schools. Fine's central concern is institutional integrity and the demoralization that sets in when integrity is undermined. Some of the questions she considers are: How did San Francisco's public schools become a central arena for community conflict over issues of civil rights? What options did school leaders have? What happened when the political and educational controversy was brought to federal court? Did court orders help or hinder institutional reform? Most importantly, what adjustments in the leadership and internal dynamics of public schools were necessary for change to be effective? This study of social policy and institutional dynamics documents a painful episode in the history of public schools. It sheds light both on the nature of social change and on the critical role leadership plays in the reform of organizations.

When Leadership Fails is a critical examination of the worst workplace experiences for the purpose of individual, group and organizational learning. Professionals from various industries unpack personal encounters associated with a range of toxic leadership behaviors, using theory, these examples are turned into critical lessons.

In Why Leaders Fail and What it Teaches Us About Leadership Willem Fourie helps us make sense of leaders’ failures and why our expectation of leadership infallibility is misguided Whereas some leadership failures can be rectified, others lead to the failure of teams, organisations or institutions. Using cutting-edge research and reflective practices, Fourie explores leaders’ failure at these personal, interpersonal, group, organisational levels and beyond. He explores five factors that cause leaders to fail: Ignorance of personal weaknesses Overconfidence in their influence over others Destructive bias Bad fit in their organisation Misjudged risk The author shows that our heroic bias – the expectation that leaders should be exceptional, charismatic individuals with a higher level of agency than other people – in many contexts increases the chances of leaders failing. The book offers readers with the tools to understand and respond to leader failure, distilled into seven lessons for post-heroic leaders. This is an ideal book for students and researchers in leadership, leadership development and management as well as professionals seeking to enhance their leadership skills.

From the ill-fated dot-com bubble to unprecedented merger and acquisition activity to scandal, greed, and, ultimately, recession -- we've learned that widespread and difficult change is no longer the exception. By outlining the process organizations have used to achieve transformational goals and by identifying where and how even top performers derail during the change process, Kotter provides a practical resource for leaders and managers charged with making change initiatives work.

Essay from the year 2010 in the subject Business economics - Business Management, Corporate Governance, grade: A, James Cook University, language: English, abstract: Poor leadership is undoubtedly one of the main potential factor that can lead an organization to fail. In this paper, the causes of poor leadership are discussed. The resulting impact on employees and the organization itself is also evaluated. Three case studies of great startup companies, namely Atari, Commodore and Motorola are used as examples to describe how poor leadership has been the leading factor to their organizational failures.

Price brings a multi-disciplinary approach to an understanding of why leaders fail ethically.

The "how-not-to" leadership book There is a paradox in leadership: we can only succeed by knowing failure. Every accomplished leader knows there are minefields of failures that need to be navigated in order to succeed. Wouldn't it be great to have the insights to help you prevent from making avoidable mistakes? Unfortunately, in business talking about mistakes can be taboo, and, at a certain level, learning from failure is not an option. Weinzimmer and McConoughey speak frankly about the things that are difficult to talk about – the unvarnished truths necessary to become a successful leader. Based on a groundbreaking 7-year study of what almost 1000 managers across 21 industries really think about lessons from failures Includes exclusive interview material from CEOs at a wide range of organizations, including major firms such as Caterpillar, Priceline.com, and Allstate; startups; and entrepreneurial small businesses Drills down into failure to uncover the strategies that aspiring leaders need in order to avoid the most damning leadership mistakes: unbalanced orchestration, drama management, and reckless vanity Learning from the mistakes of others is a necessary part of the journey of effective leadership, and this book offers an indispensable guide to learning these powerful lessons—without paying the price of failure.