Connective Leadership

Connective Leadership describes a new leadership model that the author feels is essential for coping with the competing trends of global interdependence and increasing diversity which are rendering all leadership styles obsolete. Connective leadership emphasises collaboration over authoritarianism, and the creation of short term coalitions instead of long-term political and business alliances. Using extensive research analysing the leadership styles of more than 5,000 leaders and managers world-wide, Lipman-Blumen has developed an innovative nine-part strategy for flourishing within the demands of interorganisational relationships.

Toxic leaders, both political, like Slobodan Milosevic, and corporate, like Enron's Ken Lay, have always been with us, and many books have been written to explain what makes them tick. Here leadership scholar Jean Lipman-Blumen explains what makes the followers tick, exploring why people will tolerate--and remain loyal to--leaders who are destructive to their organizations, their employees, or their nations. Why do we knowingly follow, seldom unseat, frequently prefer, and sometimes even create toxic leaders? Lipman-Blumen argues that these leaders appeal to our deepest needs, playing on our anxieties and fears, on our yearnings for security, high self-esteem, and significance, and on our desire for noble enterprises and immortality. She also explores how followers inadvertently keep themselves in line by a set of insidious control myths that they internalize. For example, the belief that the leader must necessarily be in a position to "know more" than the followers often stills their objections. In addition, outside forces--such as economic depressions, political upheavals, or a crisis in a company--can increase our anxiety and our longing for charismatic leaders. Lipman-Blumen shows how followers can learn critical lessons for the future and survive in the meantime. She discusses how to confront, reform, undermine, blow the whistle on, or oust a toxic leader. And she suggests how we can diminish our need for strong leaders, identify "reluctant leaders" among competent followers, and even nurture the leader within ourselves. Toxic leaders charm, manipulate, mistreat, weaken, and ultimately devastate their followers. The Allure of Toxic Leaders tells us how to recognize these leaders before it's too late.

Leadership Agility is the master competency needed for sustained success in today’s complex, fast-paced business environment. Richly illustrated with stories based on original research and decades of work with clients, this groundbreaking book identifies five levels that leaders move through in developing their agility. Significantly, only 10% have mastered the level of agility needed for consistent effectiveness in our turbulent era of global competition. Written in an engaging, down-to-earth style, this book not only provides a map that guides readers in identifying their current level of agility. It also provides practical advice and concrete examples that show managers and leadership development professionals how they can bring greater agility to the initiatives they take every day.

Respected organizational sociologist and feminist scholar Jean Lipman-Blumen takes a radical new look at leadership, citing examples from Wall Street to the Warsaw Pact, from Gorbachev to Cuomo, to show the power of relationship-building. Her nine-fold spectrum of strategies demonstrates how leaders can move beyond competition and collaboration to confront the future.

The Fourth Industrial Revolution signals a sea change in the way we lead our organisations. Moving away from relational leadership and horizontal, organisationally-led development, it is imperative that business leaders are able to adapt to more networked organisations and shift away from dated assumptions of positional power. Constructing Leadership 4.0 breaks new ground by explaining the urgent challenges facing managers and business leaders. It will teach you how to: Approach leadership development as a system rather than a programme Develop an organisational ecosystem to support leadership 4.0 Build collaborative networks Cultivate a responsive mindset through sensemaking Use non-classroom based learning methodologies for educating leaders Rooted in leadership development methodology and underpinned by cutting-edge research, this book calls for businesses to cultivate responsive leaders through a theory of connectivism and swarm intelligence that reflects the coming cybernetic revolution.

While women in the United States account for nearly half the workforce, they continue to encounter unique personal, social, and structural dynamics as leaders. Authors Lisa DeFrank Cole and Sherylle J. Tan explore these dynamics and more in Women and Leadership: Journey Towards Equity. Grounded in leadership theory and research, this text delves into the barriers and challenges women face on their leadership journeys, including stereotypes, bias, inequality, discrimination, and domestic responsibilities. The text includes several chapters devoted to strategies and tools for overcoming obstacles, creating structural change, and moving towards greater equity.

An interdisciplinary survey text on leadership theory grounded using critical perspectives Leadership Theory is designed specifically for use in undergraduate or graduate classrooms providing a comprehensive overview of essential theories informing the leadership studies knowledgebase. The text infuses critical perspectives in a developmental manner that guides readers through increasingly complex ways in which theory can be deconstructed and reconstructed to enhance practice and advance social justice. The book uses compelling examples, critically reflective questions, and multiple approaches to concept illustration to cultivate readers' abilities to engage as critical learners. At the heart of this are powerful counter-narratives offering a range of insights on the challenges and rewards of leadership. Narratives represent accomplished leaders from across a broad range of fields including Eboo Patel, Mary Morten, Felice Gorordo, and more. The facilitator's guide and instructor's website supplement this with case studies, sample syllabi, structured dialogues, and learning activities tied to each chapter. Leadership texts tend to limit application of theory to a singular disciplinary context, omit important ways in which research evolves the understanding of theory, and/or lack critical evaluation of theories which diminishes the ability to translate theory to practice. This book provides a much-needed solution to these issues. Learn the nature, origin, and evolution of specific theories Understand and apply leadership theories using critical perspectives Consider the influences of ethics and justice, social location, and globalization The rapid expansion of leadership programs has thrown the dearth of suitable primary texts into sharp relief. Instructors forced to cobble together course materials from multiple piecemeal sources will find their much-needed solution in Leadership Theory.

Deeper Learning in Leadership is a resource that is designed to show how leadership potential can be both broadened and deepened in our colleges and universities. Author Dennis Roberts proposes a new approach to learning about leadership development in higher education that recognizes innovative strategies are needed for the increasingly complex issues we face, both in higher education and in the broader landscape beyond the campus. He advocates that fostering deeper leadership will require educators to take a critical look at the organizational models and processes that characterize most contemporary colleges and universities. Roberts includes new models of learning and leadership, and provides summaries of widely used leadership theories as well as theories that are not as well known. He proposes a new perspective of leadership and a process of discovering leadership potential principles that educators can use to deepen students’ experiences.

"If our best thinking comes by making connections and building patterns, then what would these patterns look like, and what might they be based on?"--Ask the authors. Most importantly, how could they be used? Developing Connective Leadership shows you how Thinking Maps[R] are an efficient and eloquent language that can be used to explore and reveal ideas, thought processes, and intentions. By creating visual representations of thought, leaders create shared understandings and foster connections among staff. Explore how schools have used the Thinking Maps[R] process to create strong collaborative bonds and facilitate shared leadership. As staff members collaborate to construct a shared frame of reference, they are empowered to execute and sustain the school's vision. Benefits include: (1) Offers real-life experiences from school leaders using Thinking Maps[R] for professional development; (2) Identifies eight Thinking Maps[R] used to build connective leadership practices; (3) Suggests how Thinking Maps[R] can be used to reformulate and reconstruct negative or damaging frames of reference; and (4) Discusses how Thinking Maps[R] can energize and inspire insight and solutions.