Are current concepts of leadership appropriate for today's organizations? What will tomorrow's leadership need to be like? Is there a best approach to leadership? With a huge range of definitions and theories of leadership available, the field has become confusing for both students and practitioners alike. This text provides a framework for making sense of the field. In Part One, Gayle C Avery integrates a fragmented field into four broad paradigms or forms of leadership, helping to simplify and clarify the ill-defined field of leadership. The second part provides 10 case studies from leading organizations across Europe, Australia and the United States to illustrate how diverse leadership can be in successful organizations. At the end of each case, specific questions guide the reader in interpreting and analyzing the cases, connecting them to the leadership frameworks and theories in Part One. Written in simple language, Understanding Leadership can be used by readers with no prior knowledge of leadership. With its overview of major theories in the field and presentation of a simple and effective framework for analyzing these theories, the book will be essential reading for advanced undergraduate and MBA students.Click here to access a set of powerpoint slides that the author has created to accompany the book.

The Leadership Scene

The leadership scene

Key Points

  • Concepts of leadership
  • Definitions and ideas of leadership
  • Leadership in context
  • Leading in changing situations
  • Aligning leadership and followership
  • Organizational performance and leadership

Leadership has long been a topic of interest in complex civilizations, dating back at least to the beginning of written knowledge. For example, in The Republic, Plato distinguished between leaders as men of ‘gold’, and those not intended to lead as men of ‘bronze’. Leadership ...

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