Powerful Leadership: How to Unleash the Potential in Others and Simplify Your Own Life - Softcover

Stephan, Eric G.; Pace, R. Wayne

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0130668362 ISBN 13: 9780130668363

Publisher: Ft Pr, 2002

Synopsis

The more you manage your employees, the more dependent they become-and the tougher your life becomes. It's the key paradox of management-and Powerful Leadership helps you cut right through it. This book distills seven powerful leadership principles into a natural, efficient, complete approach to unleashing your employees' potential - and your own. These principles simplify your life, reduce your stress, and transform management into an opportunity for unprecedented personal growth.

About this title

About the Author

ERIC STEPHAN is Professor of Organizational Leadership and Strategy in the Marriott School of Management, Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah. He has researched, taught, and consulted on effective leadership techniques for over 20 years. His books include The Complete Speaker and The Perfect Leader. Dr. Stephan holds a Ph.D. from the University of Utah.

R. WAYNE PACE is Professor Emeritus of Organizational Leadership in the Marriott School of Management, Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah, and adjunct scholar in the Workplace Research, Learning, and Development (WoRLD) Institute of the School of Social and Workplace Development, Southern Cross University, Lismore, NSW, Australia. A specialist in human resource development, organizational communication, and individual and organizational change, his Prentice Hall books include Organizational Communication, Third Edition and Human Resource Development: The Field. He serves as corporate advisor to QuicKnowledge.com and Anchor Point Institute, leading firms in the training and development industry. Dr. Pace holds a Ph.D. from Purdue University and an MS from Brigham Young University.

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Preface

Powerful Leadership embodies a new paradigm of leadership that respects and unleashes the potential of people. This is anything but a Pollyanna approach to a serious issue in organizations around the world. The development of more powerful leadership has been and continues to be one of the most concrete goals of society. In fact, having powerful leaders is a must for the survival of companies, institutions, governments, and even countries. Leadership development is a global issue.

This book identifies seven essential changes that elevate leadership and unleashes the latent potential of people in organizations. Leading people in new and invigorating ways must be the paramount objective in fulfilling the vision of the new economy.

We do not intend to survey all the literature on leadership or incorporate all of the current perspectives on leadership in this book. We have, however, included references and insights derived from the extant literature that supplements our perspective in a special section at the end of the book. Please study through those insights for additional ways of thinking about powerful leadership principles. The speeches in Appendix A are primarily examples of the thinking of contemporary individuals who have succeeded in leadership positions, and they deserve your careful reading.

We have avoided putting traditional reference symbols in the body of the book, such as names with dates in parentheses, but we have included publication data in the section on references. We have included some sayings and observations between paragraphs to provide further insights and to occasionally provide humorous interludes. In some cases the sayings are part of the folklore of the American culture and do not have specific authors.

This book was written to be read by individuals who serve in leadership positions at all levels in the organization, from chief executives to supervisors, as well as by leaders in the community who serve as administrators and board members of volunteer groups and organizations. Government leaders, business leaders, religious leaders, community leaders, educational leaders, and leaders in sports and entertainment will all find a new way to work with their cohorts if they follow the essentials described in this book.

Although the chapters of this book tend to follow in a logical sequence, the basic themes appear in every chapter. Themes like free people to take the lead, enable them to contribute more to the organization, help them grow and develop as well as enjoy their work, and keep yourself strong enough to withstand some of the frustrations and anxieties that come as you serve in leadership roles can be found in variations throughout the book.

The content overlaps in certain ways, resulting in positive repetition of the ideas right when you need the reinforcement. Though each chapter can be studied separately and will assist you in making some improvements in the way you lead, the full impact of these seven essential changes occurs when all of the topics are implemented simultaneously. Consider how difficult it is to encourage trust, risk taking, creativity, and innovation when you appear cool and aloof to workers. An awful clash occurs when you try to free people to take the lead but come down on them with criticism and fail to applaud their accomplishments. Occasional standing ovations thrill even the most staid workers and support them in making changes to improve the workplace or work process.

Leaders who free their cohorts to look at processes and systems more innovatively increase the effectiveness of their quality improvement programs. At the same time, working with fewer restrictions, cohorts implement quality improvement efforts more smoothly. When the structure of a work system is changed to introduce teams, cohorts will work more collaboratively and energetically.

Tensions in all parts of the world seek to undermine our confidence in leaders. Misdeeds and deliberate attacks on both our workplaces and our sensitivities shake the confidence we feel in anyoneÕs ability to lead. This should encourage all of us to examine the mindsets that we bring into leadership positions. We know that much can be done to develop, improve, advance, and make progress in the way in which we lead. The seven changes proposed in this book restore trust, unleash the power of workers, and uncomplicate the lives of leaders.

Edition details

• Publisher: Ft Pr
• Publication date: 2002
• ISBN 10: 0130668362
• ISBN 13: 9780130668363
• Binding: Paperback
• Language: English
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 258