Environmental Leadership Equals Essential Leadership: Redefining Who Leads and How

The important new approach to leadership that John Gordon and Joyce Berry explain in this book is built upon the experiences of environmental and natural resource organizations as they contend with complex, long-term problems. But the lessons learned apply beyond these groups--to all modern organizations, for-profit and non-profit, that are dealing with the complicated conditions of the twenty-first century.

Leadership is a learned skill and can be acquired by anyone willing to make the effort, say the authors. And, through case studies of a variety of organizations, they emphasize that all members of productive groups must be ready to take the lead when their specific skills are most relevant to the problem at hand. The authors analyze how organizations and individuals can adopt this new leadership mode, and they discuss the results of a recent survey of leadership ideas and attitudes among active environmental leaders. Shifting emphasis away from celebrated leaders on the world stage, Gordon and Berry focus on “essential” leadership—the kind that engages each member of an organization on an everyday basis.

John C. Gordon is Pinchot Professor of Forestry and Environmental Studies Emeritus, Yale University School of Forestry and Environmental Studies; chairman, Interforest LLC; and chairman, The Candlewood Timber Group. Joyce K. Berry is dean of the College of Natural Resources, Colorado State University.