Leading with Nothing to Lose: Training in the Exercise of Power: Training in the Exercise of Power: Undefended Leader Pt. 2 - Softcover

Simon P Walker

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1903689449 ISBN 13: 9781903689448

Publisher: Piquant Editions, 2007

Synopsis

The journey to undefended leadership doesn't stop at a personal discovery. Its practical outcome should be a new approach to the tasks of leadership. This book ventures into the territory of the pragmatic leader who has to make executive decisions, manage budgets, set targets, hire and fire, resolve conflict, improve performance, organize procedures and plan strategy. The author illustrates from history the strengths and weaknesses of eight different styles of exercising power (which he calls Foundational, Commanding, Affiliative, Serving, Pacesetting, Visionary, Consensual and Self-emptying), and explains why the ability to use not just one or two of these but all of them fluidly-and for the benefit of others, not ourselves-depends not simply on skill or training but (paradoxically) on the freedom to abandon our defences and attend to the needs of those around us. Indeed, as long as we are afraid of what we might lose, we remain unable to access the most radical and powerful of the leadership strategies: self-emptying. The Holy Grail of leadership-the ability to use each of the eight strategies as and when needed-is found only by those who, like Mahatma Gandhi or Martin Luther King, take the risk of 'leading with nothing to lose'.

About this title

Synopsis

Being undefended as a leader means being free to give yourself fully to the situation in hand - without being compromised by fears, doubts or the need for self-preservation. What makes a leader truly powerful? Simon Walker looks at the 'ecology' of power and defines eight signature power strategies, illustrated by case studies of how eight significant leaders - such as Lincoln, Roosevelt, Reagan, Mandela - acted to meet the particular challenges of their time. Walker notes that the use of weakness often proved to be more powerful than the use of strength. He concludes with practical guidelines for developing an effective, personal leadership signature for today. "Leading with Nothing to Lose" is part two of "The Undefended Leader" trilogy and the sequel to "Leading out of Who You Are". With an introduction to The Leadership Signatures[trademark] diagnostic profile.

Edition details

• Publisher: Piquant Editions
• Publication date: 2007
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1903689449
• ISBN 13: 9781903689448
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 176