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Anonymous
Posted January 6, 2006
This is an excellent book. Very readable and informative. I am currently a student in a Graduate program and was introduced to this book by my professor of the leadership course I am in. I highly recommend this book. It discusses all aspects of leadership from cultural to why and how matters turn out the way they do in the leadership world. Applicable in all fields.
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More About This Textbook
Overview
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A text for students of leadership, including advanced undergraduate and graduate students and managers, presenting a broad overview and looking at leadership in contexts such as business organizations, nonprofit organizations, and educational institutions. Subjects include attributes related to leadership, major leadership theories, participation and teams, upper echelon leadership, and cross-cultural issues. Includes chapter summaries, discussion questions, attitude self-assessments, and exercises. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)Product Details
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Table of Contents
Introduction
Leading people effectively is a tremendous challenge, a great opportunity, and a serious responsibility. Today's organizations, more than ever, need effective leaders who understand the complexities of our ever-changing global environment; who have the intelligence, sensitivity, and ability to empathize with others; and who can motivate their followers to strive for excellence. We always have been interested in leadership. All civilizations throughout history have focused on their leaders, revering or reviling them. Leaders and followers have existed since humans first organized into groups to accomplish a task. Throughout history, the fate of millions has depended on the leadership qualities of kings and queens and on their battles for succession. Children all over the world learn early, through listening to fairy tales, that the happiness and misery of people depend on the goodness (or evilness) of leaders.
We are truly fascinated by those who lead us. To some, leadership is a magical process. Indeed, when we read about historical figures or meet some of the leaders of our times, we can be transfixed by their seemingly magical exploits. They move armies, create new countries, and destroy whole civilizations through what often appears to be the sheer strength of their will. They affect our very existence on this planet. Although our leaders are the ones who dazzle us, we sometimes fail to consider that leaders alone can accomplish nothing. It is the strength of their followers that moves history. It is the hard work of employees that turns a profit in a faltering company It is the initiative of volunteers that achieves an institution's goals. We also must rememberthat many extraordinary leaders have found themselves shunned and rejected by the people who once admired them. President Charles de Gaulle's road to the leadership of France was long, tortuous, and fraught with failure: After coming to office as a hero after World War II, he was forced out of office twice. Winston Churchill was removed from office twice, too, and faced long periods in his life during which his leadership was neither valued nor wanted. Julius Caesar experienced many ups and downs in his battles with the Roman senate. More recently, Margaret Thatcher saw her fortunes come and go with the mood of the British public and the economic upheaval in Europe. Henry Cisneros, once mayor of San Antonio and secretary of housing and urban development under President Clinton, fell into disfavor with the electorate before he regained his popularity. Benazir Butho of Pakistan has moved. from national hero to national villain several times. Lee Iaccoca of Chrysler was not always the hero that some consider him to be today. George Watson Jr. was booted out of office after successfully leading IBM for many years. Jack Welch, recently retired from the leadership of General Electric and considered by many to be one of the most successful U.S. CEOs, was nicknamed Neutron Jack in his early days at GE for decimating the company workforce through layoffs. If the powers of these leaders are truly magical, why do they wax and wane? Why are they not effective all the time? This question, along with many others, will be addressed in this book.
For our organizations to be effective and for our society to function successfully, we must be able to select the right leaders and help them succeed. This book presents a broad review and analysis of the field of leadership with application to business and other organizations because the processes of leading others to achieve organizational goals are applicable in any institutional setting. Our current research has done much to demystify leadership and teach it to the rest of us mortals. Although we still come across some leaders whose performance and behavior escape the bounds of scientific explanation, by and large we know a good deal about leadership and how to train people to be leaders. The cornerstone of our new knowledge is that most of us can learn to become better leaders. Maybe only a few of us will someday shape human civilization, but most people are capable of improving their leadership skills and shaping their own organizations and communities.
Despite all the knowledge that various disciplines have accumulated about leadership over the past 70 to 80 years, deep divisions are present in the field. Few scholars and practitioners even agree on how to define leadership and its key elements. Much debate occurs about whether a leader's personality or behavior should be the focus of our inquiry. In addition, the role of followers and their characteristics are the subject of much discussion. These differences and disagreements also are explored in this book, along with a focus on distilling knowledge that can be useful to students and practitioners of leadership.
SOMETHING OLD: KEEPING THE GOOD
The third edition of this book builds on the strengths of the first two editions and introduces new emphases and features. The many debates and controversies within the field of leadership are presented in this edition as they were in the first two. I continue to emphasize integration of the concepts and to distill useful and practical concepts from each theory while taking a cross-cultural perspective. The guiding philosophy and assumption remain the same:
Most of us are not trying to change civilizations, although maybe we should be. Instead, we are trying to move our teams, departments, and organizations toward higher levels of effectiveness and efficiency. We want better decision making, more satisfied employees, better-quality products and services, and more satisfied constituencies and customers. These outcomes are difficult to obtain, but no magic is involved in achieving them. We can use the many existing leadership theories to achieve these goals.
SOMETHING NEW: INTRODUCING NEW FOCUS AND NEW FEATURES
Several new themes and features have been added to this third edition, including the following changes:
WHO SHOULD READ THIS BOOK?
This book is targeted to students of leadership—whether they are advanced undergraduate and graduate students or managers who continue to learn and grow. It is written for those who want not only to understand the various theories and research in the field, but also to apply that knowledge to becoming leaders and to improving the leadership of their organizations. The examples and cases used are from different types of industries and from the private and public sectors. Although the theories often are developed and tested by psychology and management researchers, they have broad applicability to all students of organizational functioning and leadership.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
I would like to thank Marty Chemers for putting the leadership bug in my ear when I was a graduate student, and Irv Altman, who taught me to look at any issues from many different perspectives. I owe Carol Werner many thanks for teaching me to organize my thoughts. My research assistant Toncho Keranov's research was invaluable in finding new material for this edition. Many thanks also are owed to my partners at Prentice Hall—Jeff Shelstad, Jennifer Glennon, Kevin Glynn, and Kelly Warsak—as well as Jennifer Welsch of BookMasters, Inc. I also would like to acknowledge Janet Pascal, DeVry Institute of Technology, Kansas City; Dr. Rajnandini Pillai, California State University, San Marcos; Dr. Dong I. Jung, San Diego State University; Dr. Antoinette Phillips, Southeastern Louisiana University; Jennie Carter Thomas, Belmont University; and Kelli J. Schutte, Calvin College for their thoughtful comments in reviewing the book.