Extraordinary Leadership: Thinking Systems, Making a Difference

Today's leaders face increased individual and societal anxiety that affects their organizations. Unfortunately, their training has not provided them with any understanding or guidelines that show how to manage themselves in the emotional chaos and intensity. Bowen family systems theory provides the needed understanding. It has proven itself enormously effective not only in families, but also in non-family groups as businesses, institutions, and congregations. Extraordinary Leadership examines organizations as emotional systems through the lens of Bowen theory. The types of questions addressed include: What is an emotional system? How do leaders handle themselves in stirred up organizations? What are high-level and low-level leaders? Do organizations need principles? What about difficult people? What is a relationship master? As the subtitle suggests, Extraordinary Leadership teaches leaders how to think systems and how that makes a difference.

Dr. Roberta Gilbert is a psychiatrist in Falls Church, Virginia. She divides her time between teaching and directing at the Center for the Study of Human Systems, private practice, and faculty responsibilities of the Bowen Center for the Study of the Family at Georgetown in Washington DC. Dr. Gilbert's unusual ability to condense and clarify the concepts of Bowen theory shines forth in her other successful books: Extraordinary Relationships, Connecting With Our Children, and The Eight Concepts of Bowen Theory.