Understanding Leadership: An arts and humanities perspective

Lao Tzu, Marx, the Buddha, Ibsen, Machiavelli ― these are just a few of the world’s great thinkers who have weighed in on the subject of leadership over the centuries. Yet, the contemporary student of leadership often overlooks many of these names in favour of more recent theorists hailing from the social sciences. Understanding Leadership: An Arts and Humanities Perspective takes a different angle, employing the works of the great philosophers, authors and artists found in world civilization and presenting an arts and humanities perspective on the study of leadership.

The authors build their conceptual framework using The Five Components of Leadership Model, which recognizes the leader, the followers, the goal, the environmental context, and the cultural values and norms that make up the leadership process.

Supporting the text are a wealth of case studies which reflect on works such as Ayn Rand’s novella Anthem, Eugène Delacroix’s painting Liberty Leading the People, Charlie Chaplin’s film Modern Times, Athol Fugard’s play "Master Harold" . . . and the Boys, Lao Tzu’s poetic work Tao Te Ching, and Antonín Dvořák’s New World Symphony. The authors also introduce studies from various world cultures to particularly illustrate the role cultural values and norms play in leadership. This illuminating framework promotes the multidimensional thinking that is necessary for understanding and problem solving in a complex world.

Understanding Leadership: An Arts and Humanities Perspective will be a valuable textbook for both undergraduate and postgraduate leadership students, while leadership professionals will also appreciate the book’s unique liberal arts and cultural approach.

Robert M. McManus is the McCoy Associate Professor of Leadership Studies and Communication at the McDonough Leadership Center at Marietta College in Ohio. He co-edited Leading in Complex Worlds (Jossey-Bass) and has served as the Chair of the Leadership Education MIG for the International Leadership Association.

Gama Perruci is the Dean of the McDonough Leadership Center at Marietta College in Ohio. He also serves as a consultant for The New York Times (nytimesinleadership.com) and leadership session facilitator for Dartmouth College’s Rockefeller Center for Public Policy and the Social Sciences.