Rethinking Leadership

The models of leadership we have inherited are broken. Though deeply embedded in our psyches, superhero models of leadership are destructive: both for leaders who try to live up to them, and for followers seeking cost free change. - Rethinking Leadership, 2017

Rethinking Leadership has been written for people work in the midst of complexity and are seeking to make a positive difference. It is written for teams that are unsatisfied with simplistic solutions and leaving it up to superhero leaders. For organisations committed to growing a working culture that is agile and collaborative.

The transition away from classical notions of leadership isn't an easy one to make, especially within structures that were designed for maintaining the status quo. Offering leadership that is authentic, sustainable and has a lasting impact requires tackling many challenges. This book is intended to be a companion on the journey, providing a robust theoretical foundation for how we got here, and why we need to change. As well as practical insights that can be implemented by individuals and teams as they make the shift.

No matter who you are, an individual or a team, beginning the work of Rethinking Leadership, is an essential task which will unlock latent capacity, focus your energy and increase the resources we all have to face the challenges ahead.

Regardless of where you sit in your organisation: frontline delivery, middle management or executive responsibility, your creativity and perspective is essential in this process. The task is two-fold, to discover a fresh vision for effective leadership and to build the capacity of everyone to live it out.

Rethinking Leadership provides a sound platform for doing this work, by taking readers through four key questions:

1. What are the challenges we face?
2. How can we build effective leadership for complex times?
3. How can we develop agility with ongoing change?
4. How can we each contribute authentically and sustainably?

For teams and organisations committed
to growing more agile and effective practices that can unlock innovation and real change, doing the work of Rethinking Leadership can be a game-changing choice.

The models of leadership we have inherited are broken. Though deeply embedded in our psyches, superhero models of leadership are destructive: both for leaders who try to live up to them, and for followers seeking cost free change. - Rethinking Leadership, 2017

Rethinking Leadership has been written for people work in the midst of complexity and are seeking to make a positive difference. It is written for teams that are unsatisfied with simplistic solutions and leaving it up to superhero leaders. For organisations committed to growing a working culture that is agile and collaborative.

The transition away from classical notions of leadership isn’t an easy one to make, especially within structures that were designed for maintaining the status quo. Offering leadership that is authentic, sustainable and has a lasting impact requires tackling many challenges. This book is intended to be a companion on the journey, providing a robust theoretical foundation for how we got here, and why we need to change. As well as practical insights that can be implemented by individuals and teams as they make the shift.

No matter who you are, an individual or a team, beginning the work of Rethinking Leadership, is an essential task which will unlock latent capacity, focus your energy and increase the resources we all have to face the challenges ahead.

Regardless of where you sit in your organisation: frontline delivery, middle management or executive responsibility, your creativity and perspective is essential in this process. The task is two-fold, to discover a fresh vision for effective leadership and to build the capacity of everyone to live it out.

Rethinking Leadership provides a sound platform for doing this work, by taking readers through four key questions:

1. What are the challenges we face?
2. How can we build effective leadership for complex times?
3. How can we develop agility with ongoing change?
4. How can we each contribute authentically and sustainably?

For teams and organisations committed
to growing more agile and effective practices that can unlock innovation and real change, doing the work of Rethinking Leadership can be a game-changing choice.

Table Contents

Introduction .................................................................................................................. 1

Part 1: The Challenges We Face...............................................................................11

Chapter one: The times we are in ............................................................................. 15
Chapter two: Responding to complexity .................................................................... 27
Chapter three: Beyond superheroes ......................................................................... 37
Epilogue: Surviving shipwrecks: Looking deeply at the challenges we face ............. 47

Part 2: Rethinking Leadership For Complex Times ..............................................51

Chapter four: Separating ‘leadership’ from ‘leaders’ .................................................. 57
Chapter five: The leadership mosaic .......................................................................... 67
Chapter six: Leadership: It’s a collective effort ........................................................... 85
Epilogue: Surviving shipwrecks: Leadership in complexity ........................................ 97

Part 3: Developing Agility With Ongoing Change .................................................105

Chapter seven: Rethinking change............................................................................ 109
Chapter eight: Moving through personal uncertainty ................................................. 119
Chapter nine: Navigating in unknown territory ........................................................... 127
Chapter ten: Engaging unpredictable situations ........................................................ 137
Chapter eleven: Embedding agile practices ............................................................... 149
Epilogue: Surviving shipwrecks: Agile engagement with change ............................... 161

Part 4: Contributing Leadership That Makes A Difference ....................................167

Chapter twelve: Discovering our leadership strengths ............................................... 171
Chapter thirteen: Living out leadership ....................................................................... 179
Chapter fourteen: Building our personal foundations ................................................. 187
Chapter fifteen: Self-awareness: the lifelong journey ................................................. 197
Epilogue: Surviving shipwrecks: Who we are matters ................................................ 211

Conclusion: Building capacity for positive change ............................................... 215
Appendix 1: About NCLS Research ............................................................................ 223
References .................................................................................................................. 227
Notes ........................................................................................................................... 241