Whether you're a seasoned CEO, experienced corporate executive, aspiring leader or budding entrepreneur, you will find the information in this book valuable. It is 30 years of real life consulting experience in hundreds of corporations written as precisely as possible. It is deliberately short on theory and long on practicality. After reading this book you should have a sharper eye to size up potential leaders and a keener sense of what's behind the leadership behavior of both yourself and others. You should be able to understand, relate to and engage your colleagues and employees with greater insight, clarity and precision.
Leadership, Work, and the Dark Side of Personality uses an interpersonal psychological perspective to unite general theories of both personality and leadership. By focusing in on the interpersonal, the book characterizes social behaviors by their agency (how dominant they are) and by their communion (how relational and nurturing they are). It argues that these interpersonal dimensions align closely with the traditional structure of leader behaviors—both task-related and relationship oriented behaviors—and uses those frameworks to orient trait theory for both normal-range personality traits and subclinical (dark side) traits. After overviewing the history of leadership theory, reviewing normal range personality traits (Extraversion, Neuroticism, Conscientiousness, Agreeableness and Openness) and subclinical traits, such as the Dark Triad (Narcissism, Machiavellianism and Psychopathy), the book moves on to thoroughly bring the perspective of interpersonal psychology to bear on questions of personality and leadership, and ends by narrowing in on how the dark side of personality affects the leadership process—for better and for worse. Discusses the role of personality in job performance and satisfaction Critiques both historical and contemporary leadership approaches Includes lesser known approaches to leadership, such as paternalism and empowerment Narrows in on the dark side of personality and the role it plays in the leadership process Distinguishes between effective leaders and successful leaders
An Evidence-Based Approach to Personality and Leadership A leader’s bullying and constant dismissal of his team’s concerns nearly take down an entire company—and the global financial system. The U.S. Government has to provide a $182 billion bailout. A new CEO transforms a near-bankrupt auto company and its infamously competitive culture becomes more collaborative and thrives—making it the only auto manufacturer to not take bailout funds. These stories share a truth: Each leader’s personality set the course of their company’s future. We all know that IQ, education, knowledge, and technical skills are essential for professionals, but they alone are insufficient for effective leadership. Who you are as a person—your personality and character—drives leadership performance and determines who thrives and who fails. In Personality at Work, psychologist Ron Warren lays out the key personality traits that drive high performance—and the common traits that derail it. Warren clusters closely related traits into four dimensions of behavior: • Teamwork/Social Intelligence • Deference • Dominance • Grit/Task Mastery. Each cluster is broken down into personality traits—13 in all. Personality at Work draws from research using the renowned LMAP 360 with 20,000 leaders and 250,000 360-feedback raters. An assessment used at organizations around the world, LMAP 360 is used at Harvard Business School, Yale School of Management, Underwriter Laboratories, BearingPoint, Deloitte, Teach for America, Clayton Homes, and more than 35 hospital systems throughout the United States. Personality at Work integrates research on personality and performance, teamwork, communications, judgment, and decision-making. You will learn how to ... • Recognize your own personality patterns and those of colleagues • Understand the links between personality, leadership, and organizational effectiveness • Turn insights into action, leading with Grit and EQ to drive individual and team performance
If you only read one book on leadership this year, make it this one! Leadership experts David Pendleton and Adrian Furnham present an innovative model for leadership success in a turbulent world. When times are hard, leadership makes the greatest difference. This thoroughly updated second edition shows how to make the kind of difference that all organizations, both public and private sector, want and need. Early chapters show the powerful effect leadership can have on organizations; subsequent chapters present new ideas that are elegantly simple, conceptually coherent and radically different, based on the best research in the field. The ideas in this book have also been tested in major multinational organizations over recent years. The aim is to provide leaders and those who work with them with a practical guide to how to increase the effectiveness of leadership in any organization.
In his internationally acclaimed book, Smart Thinking, which examines the gap between innate intelligence and acquired mental skills, Art Markman presented a three-part formula to show readers how to develop “smart habits”, how to acquire high quality knowledge, and how to use that knowledge when it’s needed. Now, Markman takes his scientifically-based formula one step further to demonstrate the correlation between personality and habits, and the impact of personality and habits on leadership potential and innovation success. Habits of Leadership explores the "Big 5" personality characteristics -- Extroversion, Agreeableness, Conscientiousness, Openness, and Emotional Stability -- as well as other key variables such as person’s ability to acquire and use knowledge or the level of one’s tolerance to risk. Using a unique personality profiler, readers are able to determine their strengths and weaknesses and then apply this understanding to develop smart habits. Great leaders have key traits that influence their success. People who are Extroverts can serve as effective advocates for ideas. Those who are low in Agreeableness are willing to tell people things that they do not want to hear, and so facilitate open and honest lines of communication. People high in Conscientiousness get things done. They ensure that a project once started is completed.. Those who are high in Openness and are able to acquire and use knowledge through reasoning, intuition, or perception tend to be good change-makers. Their breadth of knowledge allows them to communicate ideas from a wide variety of sources to innovate and solve problems. And leaders possessed of emotional stability have the clear-mindedness and confidence to navigate through any storm. Individuals who demonstrate these traits and who have developed habits that serve them well, are extraordinary. Yet the potential for greatness is within everyone. Habits of Leadership will show anyone how to develop and use these exceptional gifts.
The Character-Based Leader is a must-read for anyone who realizes that leading from who you are (rather than your title) is the key to longevity and satisfaction in any leadership role. This well-written, easy read will leave you feeling inspired and ready to take ACTION! Marshall Goldsmith, recognized as the Thinkers 50 most-influential leadership thinker in the world, and author of the New York Times bestsellers MOJO and What Got You Here Won't Get You There A rich and comprehensive collection of compelling perspectives on the importance of character in the leadership equation. A very worthy read. Douglas R. Conant, Retired President and CEO, Campbell Soup Company, and author of the NY Times Bestseller TouchPoints What do you get when 21 deep-thinking leaders share their thoughts on Character-Based Leadership with the world? You get a book filled with actionable advice that can change the world one person at a time. Buy it. Read it. It will change how you see your leadership. It will change how you live your life. Liz Strauss, International Business Strategist, Author of Successful-Blog The Lead Change Group has hit it out of the park! The Character-Based Leader distills timeless lessons of virtuous, effective living-and applies them seamlessly to the daily demands and spectacular opportunities of the 21st century. Put this wonderful book to use today, transforming your life and work into a masterpiece of service. James Strock, businessman, speaker, citizen servant, and author of the award-winning business bestseller Serve to Lead The Lead Change Group is a nonprofit global community dedicated to instigating a leadership revolution that encourages, energizes and equips people to apply character-based leadership to lead change. Learn more at http: //leadchangegroup.com
As the leadership field continues to evolve, there are many reasons to be optimistic about the various theoretical and empirical contributions in better understanding leadership from a scholarly and scientific perspective. The Oxford Handbook of Leadership and Organizations brings together a collection of comprehensive, state-of-the-science reviews and perspectives on the most pressing historical and contemporary leadership issues - with a particular focus on theory and research - and looks to the future of the field. It provides a broad picture of the leadership field as well as detailed reviews and perspectives within the respective areas. Each chapter, authored by leading international authorities in the various leadership sub-disciplines, explores the history and background of leadership in organizations, examines important research issues in leadership from both quantitative and qualitative perspectives, and forges new directions in leadership research, practice, and education.
Winner of the University of San Diego Outstanding Leadership Book Award 2012! Shortlisted for the British Psychological Society Book Award 2011! Shortlisted for the CMI (Chartered Management Institute) Management Book of the Year Award 2011–2012! According to John Adair, the most important word in the leader's vocabulary is "we" and the least important word is "I". But if this is true, it raises one important question: why do psychological analyses of leadership always focus on the leader as an individual – as the great "I"? One answer is that theorists and practitioners have never properly understood the psychology of "we-ness". This book fills this gap by presenting a new psychology of leadership that is the result of two decades of research inspired by social identity and self-categorization theories. The book argues that to succeed, leaders need to create, champion, and embed a group identity in order to cultivate an understanding of 'us' of which they themselves are representative. It also shows how, by doing this, they can make a material difference to the groups, organizations, and societies that they lead. Written in an accessible and engaging style, the book examines a range of central theoretical and practical issues, including the nature of group identity, the basis of authority and legitimacy, the dynamics of justice and fairness, the determinants of followership and charisma, and the practice and politics of leadership. The book will appeal to academics, practitioners and students in social and organizational psychology, sociology, political science and anyone interested in leadership, influence and power.
