The idea of hierarchy is breaking down everywhere, from politics to religion to social relationships-why should leadership be any different?

• Shows that a radically decentralized approach can revolutionize leadership just as it has revolutionized computer networking
• Turns leadership on its head-the job of the leader is not to tell followers what to do but to create, enable, and facilitate a network of peer leaders
• Features examples of what some organizations are doing and what all organizations can do to implement and benefit from this new approach

Our leadership models are still stuck in a top-down, command-and-control, Industrial Age mentality. But our globalized, data-drenched, 24/7 world is just too complex, with too much information coming from too many different directions, for any single person or group of people to stay on top of it. The idea of hierarchy is breaking down everywhere, from politics to religion to social relationships-why should leadership be any different?

Mila Baker's inspiration for a new way to lead is the peer-to-peer model of computing, which is also mirrored in social networking and crowdsource technologies. She shows that a network with "equipotent" nodes of power-think peer leaders-is infinitely more powerful than a "client-server" (leader-follower) network.

In organizations of equipotent nodes, leadership isn't fixed or siloed-it shifts based on the particular strengths of individuals and the particular needs of a situation. Rather than being guided into narrow predetermined channels, information flows freely so those who need it can find it easily and are empowered to act on it immediately. Constant change is built into the very structure of these organizations, and giving feedback is no longer a separate (and often dreaded and ineffective) process but becomes an organic part of the workflow, enabling rapid course corrections.

Baker still advocates the need for top-level executives and senior leaders, but their job is to optimize the health of the network rather than issue commands. Companies such as Gore and Herman Miller practice these principles and have achieved long-term success-Baker provides a structure for this approach that any organization can adapt to build flexibility, resiliency, and accountability.

Over the next decade, today's connected world will be explosively more connected. Anything that can be distributed will be distributed: workforces, organizations, supply webs, and more. The tired practices of centralized organizations will become brittle in a future where authority is radically decentralized. Rigid hierarchies will give way to liquid structures. Most leaders—and most organizations—aren't ready for this future. Are you?

It's too late to catch up, but it's a great time to leapfrog. Noted futurist Bob Johansen goes beyond skills and competencies to propose five new leadership literacies—combinations of disciplines, practices, and worldviews—that will be needed to thrive in a VUCA world of increasing volatility, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity. This book shows how to (1) forecast likely futures so you can “look back” and make sure you're prepared now for the changes to come, (2) use low-risk gaming spaces to work through your concerns about the future and hone your leadership skills, (3) lead shape-shifting organizations where you can't just tell people what to do, (4) be a dynamic presence even when you're not there in person, and (5) keep your personal energy high and transmit that energy throughout your organization.

This visionary book provides a vivid description of the ideal talent profile for future leaders. It is written for current, rising star, and aspiring leaders; talent scouts searching for leaders; and executive coaches seeking a fresh view of how leaders will need to prepare. To get ready for this future, we will all need new leadership literacies.

United Parcel Service (UPS) is a household name that customers and investors alike hold in high regard. Who hasn't been delighted by a right-on-time delivery, one of the 18 million UPS makes every day? Founded over a hundred years ago, UPS has moved steadily up the Fortune 500 while so many other corporations have disappeared. What's the company's secret?

Just ask a driver!

Ron Wallace was a UPS delivery driver for six years before he began rising through the ranks, ultimately becoming president of UPS International. In other companies, that might be extraordinary, but at UPS it's par for the course. UPS has a unique corporate culture. It's like a family. Package loaders call executives by their first names and vice versa. The company almost always promotes from within. Lifetime employment is common. Most employees own UPS stock. Wallace credits the company's success—and his own—to its culture of “we, not me.” As he puts it, working at UPS gave him a PhD in teamwork.

Instead of writing a typical business memoir that celebrates the leader as celebrity, Wallace shares vivid stories that focus on the people he worked with, the challenges they overcame, and the simple principles and practices that make up the UPS way. He exhorts his readers to grow their people, not just their business plans. The leadership style described in this book is simple and direct—and it works. The straightforward and easy-to-understand lessons provide a blueprint for an individual or company to build on past successes and adapt to future challenges. This is a must-read for anyone aspiring to become a great leader.

Outlines a new leadership approach tailored to the realities of the 21st Century.

• Outlines a new leadership approach tailored to the realities of the twenty-first century

• Features chapters by such leading authors as Matthew Fox, Diana Whitney, and Alan Briskin

• Edited and annotated by the author of the bestselling The Hero Within

The traditional model of the heroic leader single-handedly piloting the organization was always something of a myth, but it is especially unrealistic now. We live in a complex, fast-evolving, highly connected world. There is simply too much for a single person to keep track of or to address successfully. Leaders today must not only optimize all their own faculties-mind, body, and spirit-they must harvest the full capacities of those around them.

To discover what leadership models are working now, the prestigious Fetzer Institute, along with the University of Maryland's School of Public Policy, and the International Leadership Association, brought together an impressive, interdisciplinary group of scholars and practitioners. The group drew on psychology, sociology, neuroscience, organizational change theory, myths and wisdom traditions, social networking theory, and the actual experiences of successful leaders to discover how leaders today achieve transformational results.

The first part of the book offers an overview of what transformational leadership is, how it works, and how it is evolving. The second part shows readers how to increase cognitive complexity, link up their conscious and unconscious minds, and lead in ways that connect mind, heart, and spirit. The third part describes ways of leading groups to harvest collective wisdom and promote coordinated performance in the service of transformational ends. The conclusion explores how transformational communication can anchor new learnings so that they become habitual.

Overall, The Transforming Leader reframes the challenge of leading in today's interdependent, unpredictable world. Its message is that if we update our thinking, enhance the quality of our being, deepen our sense of relatedness with the ecology of our natural and social worlds, and practice transformational communication, things no longer have to be so hard.

• Outlines a new leadership approach tailored to the realities of the twenty-first century

• Features chapters by such leading authors as Matthew Fox, Diana Whitney, and Alan Briskin

• Edited and annotated by the author of the bestselling The Hero Within

 

The traditional model of the heroic leader single-handedly piloting the organization was always something of a myth, but it is especially unrealistic now. We live in a complex, fast-evolving, highly connected world. There is simply too much for a single person to keep track of or to address successfully. Leaders today must not only optimize all their own facultiesmind, body, and spiritthey must harvest the full capacities of those around them.

To discover what leadership models are working now, the prestigious Fetzer Institute, along with the University of Marylands School of Public Policy, and the International Leadership Association, brought together an impressive, interdisciplinary group of scholars and practitioners. The group drew on psychology, sociology, neuroscience, organizational change theory, myths and wisdom traditions, social networking theory, and the actual experiences of successful leaders to discover how leaders today achieve transformational results.

The first part of the book offers an overview of what transformational leadership is, how it works, and how it is evolving. The second part shows readers how to increase cognitive complexity, link up their conscious and unconscious minds, and lead in ways that connect mind, heart, and spirit. The third part describes ways of leading groups to harvest collective wisdom and promote coordinated performance in the service of transformational ends. The conclusion explores how transformational communication can anchor new learnings so that they become habitual.

Overall, The Transforming Leader reframes the challenge of leading in todays interdependent, unpredictable world. Its message is that if we update our thinking, enhance the quality of our being, deepen our sense of relatedness with the ecology of our natural and social worlds, and practice transformational communication, things no longer have to be so hard. 

This book shatters leadership myths to reveal a new understanding of how exceptional leaders grow from adversity.

• Offers proven strategies and tactics to help guide leaders through difficult or challenging situations
• Features powerful first-person stories from leaders who have mastered the art of struggle
• Written by an experienced leader and executive coach who worked directly with Bill Gates at Microsoft in its early years
• Read the press release here; for media review copies contact [email protected]m

Leadership and the Art of Struggle shatters leadership myths to reveal a new understanding of how exceptional leaders grow from adversity. The image that effective leaders guide their organizations on perpetually smooth journeys quite simply defies reality. Leadership is often a struggle, and yet strong taboos keep us from talking openly and honestly about our struggles for fear of looking weak and seeming to lack confidence.

Exceptional leaders intuitively understand the paradox. They know it's precisely struggle that unlocks the potential for the greatest growth. Instead of denying struggle, these leaders embrace struggle as an opportunity for learning, as an art to be mastered.

Leadership and the Art of Struggle paints a realistic portrait of how great leaders navigate intense challenges for personal growth and organizational success. Through 150 stories of leadership struggle drawn from nearly 100 interviews, as well as from his experiences as an early executive at Microsoft, a CEO of a public company, and an executive coach, Steven Snyder derives mastery strategies for welcoming struggle as an integral part of your leadership journey. To help you implement each of these strategies, he offers a host of unique tools and specific, hands-on practices. You'll learn how to cultivate the best mindset for confronting challenges, explore multiple tactics for dealing with struggle, and keep your energy high so you can continue to learn and grow.

Leadership and the Art of Struggle begins a new conversation about leadership. The very striving to make important human values real and effective is core to the practice of leadership. By mastering the art of struggle, leaders meet life's challenges and adversities, focusing their energies on what matters most.

• Offers proven strategies and tactics to help guide leaders through difficult or challenging situations
• Features powerful first-person stories from leaders who have mastered the art of struggle
• Written by an experienced leader and executive coach who worked directly with Bill Gates at Microsoft in its early years
• Read the press release here; for media review copies contact [email protected]m

 

Leadership and the Art of Struggle shatters leadership myths to reveal a new understanding of how exceptional leaders grow from adversity. The image that effective leaders guide their organizations on perpetually smooth journeys quite simply defies reality. Leadership is often a struggle, and yet strong taboos keep us from talking openly and honestly about our struggles for fear of looking weak and seeming to lack confidence.

Exceptional leaders intuitively understand the paradox. They know its precisely struggle that unlocks the potential for the greatest growth. Instead of denying struggle, these leaders embrace struggle as an opportunity for learning, as an art to be mastered.

Leadership and the Art of Struggle paints a realistic portrait of how great leaders navigate intense challenges for personal growth and organizational success. Through 150 stories of leadership struggle drawn from nearly 100 interviews, as well as from his experiences as an early executive at Microsoft, a CEO of a public company, and an executive coach, Steven Snyder derives mastery strategies for welcoming struggle as an integral part of your leadership journey. To help you implement each of these strategies, he offers a host of unique tools and specific, hands-on practices. Youll learn how to cultivate the best mindset for confronting challenges, explore multiple tactics for dealing with struggle, and keep your energy high so you can continue to learn and grow.

Leadership and the Art of Struggle begins a new conversation about leadership. The very striving to make important human values real and effective is core to the practice of leadership. By mastering the art of struggle, leaders meet lifes challenges and adversities, focusing their energies on what matters most.

NEW EDITION, REVISED AND UPDATED A much-needed revised edition of the only book that presents a multicultural leadership model integrating eight practices from African-American, American Indian, and Latino communities—an alternative to the heavily or exclusively Anglo-American based concepts of leadership presented by most leadership books. The first edition has sold 20,000 copies, was the winner of the International Latino Book Award, Best Business Book, and was on the Rocky Mountain News Bestseller list.NEW EDITION, REVISED AND UPDATED One of America’s historic strengths is the ability to incorporate aspects from many different cultures to create a stronger whole. Our music, literature, sports, architecture, food, and fashion have all benefitted. But current leadership approaches are overwhelmingly written by White males and remain distressingly Eurocentric. Juana Bordas has set out to change this. In this influential book, she shows how incorporating Latino, Black, and American Indian approaches can enrich leadership and offers a more viable model for our expanding multicultural society.

• Identifies nine core leadership principles common to Latino, African American, and American Indian cultures

• Incorporates these principles into a multicultural leadership model that is uniquely suited to our changing demographics

• Combines personal reflections, interviews with community leaders, historical background, and contemporary case examples

One of America's historic strengths has been our ability to incorporate aspects from many different cultures to create a stronger whole. Our music, literature, language, architecture, food, fashion, and more have all benefitted. But leadership approaches have remained distressingly Eurocentric.

Juana Bordas set out to change this in the first edition of this influential book. She showed that incorporating Latino, African American, and American Indian approaches to leadership into the mainstream can strengthen leadership practices and better inspire today's ethnically rich workforce.

This message has only become more urgent. The 2010 census revealed that in four decades minorities will constitute over 50 percent of the populationand in one decade a majority of Americans under age eighteen will be nonwhite. More than ever we need a leadership model htat resonates with our country's growing diversity. Bordas incorporates this latest census data into this second edition, which now identifies ninerather than the previous edition's eightcore leadership principles common to all three cultures. The new principle deals with intergenerational leadership, of vital importance now that many organiziations will have four generations working side by side.

Using a lively blend of personal reflections, interviews with leaders from each community, historical background, and insightful analysis, Bordas illustrates the creative ways these principles have been put into practice in communities of color. The multicultural leadership model developed in this book offers a more flexible and inclusive way to lead and a new vision of the role of the leader in organizations and in our increasingly multicultural world.