The Art and Science of Leadership - Softcover

Afsaneh Nahavandi

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0130860980 ISBN 13: 9780130860989

Publisher: Prentice Hall, 1999

Synopsis

For undergraduate and graduate courses in Leadership.This text offers a broad review and analysis of the field of leadership, complete with its many debates and controversies. Strong theoretical coverage still allows the book to be applications-oriented-to business and other organizations-on the guiding philosophy and assumption that we can all learn to become better leaders. A strong cross-cultural perspective, focus on leaders' personalities, behavior and leadership situations, and discussion of the role and characteristics of followers complete this treatment.

About this title

From the Back Cover:

Leading people effectively is a tremendous challenge, a rest opportunity, and a serious responsibility.

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. Because the processes of leading others to achieve organizational goals are applicable in any institutional setting, this book presents a broad review and analysis of the field of leadership with application to business and other organizations.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.:

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 remember that 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:

• We all can learn to become better leaders. For some of us, the learning will come easier in certain areas than in others, but with practice and support from our organizations, we all can improve our leadership capabilities. Like many readers, I occasionally have come across incredibly charismatic leaders who seem to have special talents at moving others. Although it is tempting to attribute to them a special leadership "gift" that defies systematic explanation, with some effort and critical thinking, one can analyze their style and the situations in which they are effective in an objective manner. Such analysis demystifies their performance. Although it is not easy to teach others to perform the same way, the charismatic leader's actions lose their magical qualities and become understandable and predictable upon analysis.
  
  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.



• Application focus. Along with strong theoretical coverage and analysis, the book continues to be application focused.



• Cross-cultural focus Leadership is not a culture-free process. It occurs within the context of a culture. The styles and behaviors that are considered key to effectiveness differ from one culture to the next. Some common threads do run through different cultures though. Few of the leadership theories presented in this book fully consider the cultural context, either globally or internally within the United States. Issues of race and gender also are rarely addressed. One goal for this book is to include cross-cultural, racial, and gender-based analyses of leadership as a regular part of the discourse about leadership effectiveness. The changing demographics within the United States and the globalization of our economy make such analysis essential.



• Looking at the future. I continue to keep an eye on the future by addressing the dramatic changes that organizations are undergoing. Businesses and not-for-profit organizations are being challenged continuously to be more effective. They are reorganizing and redefining the role of leaders. The reliance on teams is a mainstay of our institutions. Quality and customer focus have moved from the academic domain to the everyday language of our organizations. These structural changes and redefinitions of our institutions' focus on their internal and external customers require a new look at the role and functions of leadership. Our old theories do not explain all the current changes adequately. Throughout the chapters, I establish the link between the old and the new and attempt to present how what we have known and used can help the reader deal with the current and future trends in leadership, particularly the focus on teams and nonhierarchical organizations.



• Exercises and self-assessments. The end-of-chapter exercises and self-assessments are included again but with some revisions and additions.



• Three features. Each chapter continues to include three features from the second edition, although all present new research and examples. "Leadership on the Cutting Edge" presents current empirical or theoretical research studies. "Leading Change" highlights examples of innovative practices in organizations "Leadership in Action Case" at the end of every chapter presents a short case study of a real-life leader. Four of the cases are new and the others are updated.

SOMETHING NEW: INTRODUCING NEW FOCUS AND NEW FEATURES

Several new themes and features have been added to this third edition, including the following changes:

• Three New Features:
1. "What Does This Mean for Me?" highlights a managerial application of the concepts presented in each chapter. This feature is intended to provide clear application for students.
2. "Managerial Challenge" at the end of each chapter has replaced the "Ethical Dilemmas" of the second edition. This feature focuses students' attention on the challenging decisions that leaders face by providing a brief scenario to draw out student reactions and discussion.
3. "Surfing the Internet" sources at the end of every chapter allow students to explore the wealth of leadership-related materials available through the World Wide Web.

About this edition

• Publisher: Prentice Hall
• Publication date: 1999
• ISBN 10: 0130860980
• ISBN 13: 9780130860989
• Binding: Paperback