How Great Leaders Think

The proven model that offers powerful and elegant strategies for leaders How Great Leaders Think: the Art of Reframing uses compelling, contemporary examples to show how more complex thinking is the key to better leadership. Leaders who understand what's going on around them see what they need to do to achieve the results they want. Bolman and Deal's influential four-frame model of leadership and organizations developed in their bestselling book, Reframing Organizations: Artistry Choice and Leadership offers leaders an accessible guide for understanding four major aspects of organizational life: structure, people, politics, and culture. Tapping into the complexity enables leaders to decode the messy world in which they live, see more options, tell better stories, and find strategies that are more effective. Case examples of leaders like Jeff Bezos at Amazon, Howard Schultz at Starbucks, Tony Hsieh at Zappos, Ursula Burns at Xerox, and the late Steve Jobs at Apple provide concrete lessons that readers can put to use in their own leadership. The book's lessons include: How to use structural tools to organize teams and organizations for better results How to build motivation and morale by aligning organizations and people How to map the terrain and build a power base to navigate the political dynamics in organizations How to develop a leadership story that shapes culture, provides direction, and inspires commitment to excellence

The proven model that offers powerful and elegant strategies forleadersHow Great Leaders Think: the Art of Reframing usescompelling, contemporary examples to show how more complex thinkingis the key to better leadership. Leaders who understand what'sgoing on around them see what they need to do to achieve theresults they want. Bolman and Deal's influential four-frame modelof leadership and organizations--developed in theirbestselling book, Reframing Organizations: Artistry Choice andLeadership--offers leaders an accessible guide forunderstanding four major aspects of organizational life: structurepeople, politics, and culture. Tapping into the complexity enablesleaders to decode the messy world in which they live, see moreoptions, tell better stories, and find strategies that are moreeffective. Case examples of leaders like Jeff Bezos at AmazonHoward Schultz at Starbucks, Tony Hsieh at Zappos, Ursula Burns atXerox, and the late Steve Jobs at Apple provide concrete lessonsthat readers can put to use in their own leadership. The book'slessons include:* How to use structural tools to organize teams and organizationsfor better results* How to build motivation and morale by aligning organizationsand people* How to map the terrain and build a power base to navigate thepolitical dynamics in organizations* How to develop a leadership story that shapes culture, providesdirection, and inspires commitment to excellence

Preface viiAcknowledgments ixPart 1 Leadership in Four Dimensions 11 Introduction: The Power of Reframing 3Part 2 Structural Leadership 212 Getting Organized 233 Organizing Groups and Teams 37Part 3 Human Resource Leadership 494 Leading People 515 Seeing Ourselves as Others See Us 63Part 4 Political Leadership 776 The Leader as Politician 797 The Leader as Warrior and Peacemaker 91Part 5 Symbolic Leadership 1058 The Leader as Magician 1079 Seeking Soul in Teams 119Part 6 Improving Leadership Practice 12910 Reframing in Action 13111 Images of Leadership: Can Crooked Kites Fly? 14512 Leadership and Change 15913 Searching for Soul: Leadership Ethics 17514 Great Leaders, Great Stories 187Appendix: Leadership Orientations 195Notes 201The Authors 213Index 215