Since its publication, Complex Adaptive Leadership has become a Gower bestseller that has been taught in corporate leadership programmes, business schools and universities around the world to high acclaim. In this updated paperback edition, Nick Obolensky argues that leadership should not be something only exercised by nominated leaders. It is a complex dynamic process involving all those engaged in a particular enterprise. The theoretical background to this lies in complexity science and chaos theory - spoken and written about in the context of leadership for the last 20 years, but still little understood. We all seem intuitively to know leadership 'isn't what it used to be' but we still cling to old assumptions which look anachronistic in changing and challenging times. Nick Obolensky has practised, researched and taught leadership in the public, private and voluntary sectors. In this exciting book he brings together his knowledge of theory, his own experience, and the results of 19 years of research involving 2,500 executives in 40 countries around the world. The main conclusion from that research is that the more complex things become, the less traditional directive leadership is needed. Those operating in the real world, nonetheless, need ways of coping. The book is focused on helping practitioners struggling to interpret and react to increasingly VUCA (Volatile, Uncertain, Complex, Ambiguous) times. The book will particularly appeal to practitioners wishing to improve their leadership effectiveness as well as for students and researchers in the field of leadership.

In times of constant change, adaptive leadership is critical. This Harvard Business Review collection brings together the seminal ideas on how to adapt and thrive in challenging environments, from leading thinkers on the topic—most notably Ronald A. Heifetz of the Harvard Kennedy School and Cambridge Leadership Associates. The Heifetz Collection includes two classic books: Leadership on the Line, by Ron Heifetz and Marty Linsky, and The Practice of Adaptive Leadership, by Heifetz, Linsky, and Alexander Grashow. Also included is the popular Harvard Business Review article, “Leadership in a (Permanent) Crisis,” written by all three authors. Available together for the first time, this collection includes full digital editions of each work. Adaptive leadership is a practical framework for dealing with today’s mix of urgency, high stakes, and uncertainty. It has been used by individuals, organizations, businesses, and governments worldwide. In a world of challenging environments, adaptive leadership serves as a guide to distinguishing the essential from the expendable, beginning the meaningful process of adaption, and changing the status quo. Ronald A. Heifetz is a cofounder of the international leadership and consulting practice Cambridge Leadership Associates (CLA) and the founding director of the Center for Public Leadership at the Harvard Kennedy School. He is renowned worldwide for his innovative work on the practice and teaching of leadership. Marty Linsky is a cofounder of CLA and has taught at the Kennedy School for more than twenty-five years. Alexander Grashow is a Senior Advisor to CLA, having previously held the position of CEO.

A hands-on, practical guide, "Practice of Adaptive Leadership" contains stories, tools, diagrams, cases, and worksheets to help managers develop their skills as leaders who are able to take people outside their comfort zones and address the toughest challenges.

Rooted in the study of chaos and complexity, Adaptive Action introduces a simple, common sense process that will guide you and your organization into reflective action. This elegant method prompts readers to engage with three deceptively simple questions: What? So what? Now what? The first leads to careful observation. The second invites you to thoughtfully consider options and implications. The third ignites effective action. Together, these questions and the tools that support them produce a dynamic and creative dance with uncertainty. The road-tested steps of adaptive action can be used to devise solutions and improve performance across multiple challenges, and they have proven to be scalable from individuals to work groups, from organizations to communities. In addition to laying out the adaptive action framework and clear protocols to support it, Glenda H. Eoyang and Royce J. Holladay introduce best practices from exemplary professionals who have used adaptive action to meet personal, professional, and political challenges in leadership, consulting, Alzheimer's treatment, evaluation, education reform, political advocacy, and cultural engagement—readying readers to employ this new toolkit to meet their own goals with a sense of ingenuity and flexibility.

Most leadership assumptions are based on a deterministic view of the world. If you do X you should get Y, process can be employed for most things, and more complicated problems can be analysed to enable better decisions. Whilst these approaches suit the Simple and the Complicated, they do not work so well for the Complex. The Complex needs a different approach the core of which is to enable the organisation being led to be agile and self-organising. More for Less introduces a new paradigm for leadership, Leadership 4.0. Based on his previous book, Complex Adaptive Leadership, Nick Obolensky has created a simple and step by step approach to Leadership 4.0 whilst challenging and questioning the reader to be more effective and less busy. This book is an essential tool for the busy leader and manager and will appeal to practitioners wishing to improve their leadership effectiveness. It will also appeal to students and researchers in the field of leadership.

Complex Adaptive Leadership, a Gower bestseller, has been taught in corporate leadership programmes, business schools and universities around the world to high acclaim. In this updated paperback edition, the author argues that leadership is a complex dynamic process and should involve all those engaged in a particular enterprise. Nick Obolensky has practised, researched and taught leadership in the public, private and voluntary sectors, and in this exciting book he brings together his knowledge of theory, his own experience, and the results of 19 years of research involving 2,500 executives in 40 countries around the world.

The economy uncertain, education in decline, cities under siege, crime and poverty spiraling upward, international relations roiling: we look to leaders for solutions, and when they don’t deliver, we simply add their failure to our list of woes. In doing do, we do them and ourselves a grave disservice. We are indeed facing an unprecedented crisis of leadership, Ronald Heifetz avows, but it stems as much from our demands and expectations as from any leader’s inability to meet them. His book gets at both of these problems, offering a practical approach to leadership for those who lead as well as those who look to them for answers. Fitting the theory and practice of leadership to our extraordinary times, the book promotes a new social contract, a revitalization of our civic life just when we most need it. Drawing on a dozen years of research among managers, officers, and politicians in the public realm and the private sector, among the nonprofits, and in teaching, Heifetz presents clear, concrete prescriptions for anyone who needs to take the lead in almost any situation, under almost any organizational conditions, no matter who is in charge, His strategy applies not only to people at the top but also to those who must lead without authority—activists as well as presidents, managers as well as workers on the front line.

Written by leading experts in the field, this volume seeks to provide new insights and tools that have only recently become apparent through advances in complexity science.

The dangerous work of leading change--somebody has to do it. Will you put yourself on the line? To lead is to live dangerously. It's romantic and exciting to think of leadership as all inspiration, decisive action, and rich rewards, but leading requires taking risks that can jeopardize your career and your personal life. It requires putting yourself on the line, disrupting the status quo, and surfacing hidden conflict. And when people resist and push back, there's a strong temptation to play it safe. Those who choose to lead plunge in, take the risks, and sometimes get burned. But it doesn't have to be that way say renowned leadership experts Ronald Heifetz and Marty Linsky. In Leadership on the Line, they show how it's possible to make a difference without getting "taken out" or pushed aside. They present everyday tools that give equal weight to the dangerous work of leading change and the critical importance of personal survival. Through vivid stories from all walks of life, the authors present straightforward strategies for navigating the perilous straits of leadership. Whether you're a parent or a politician, a CEO or a community activist, this practical book shows how you can exercise leadership and survive and thrive to enjoy the fruits of your labor.

Adaption-Innovation is a timely and comprehensive text written for anyone who wants to know more about dealing with problem solving, thinking style, creativity and team dynamics. In an age when teams have become critical to successful problem solving, Adaption-Innovation (A-I) theory is a model in this field, which aims to increase collaboration and reduce conflict within groups. A-I Theory and associated inventory (KAI) have been extensively researched and are increasingly used to assist teambuilding and personnel management. In the context of the management of diversity and change, Dr Kirton outlines the central concepts of the theory, including the processes of problem solving, decision making and creativity as well as explanatory concepts such as the paradox of structure; coping behaviour; the distinction between how teams collaborate on the common task and how teams manage their own diversity. In addition, Dr Kirton focuses on the positive side of managing a wide diversity within teams that has the potential to lead to the highest levels of problem solving, creativity and effective management of change. The book offers practical information for those helping diverse teams succeed in today's demanding climate. In this fresh context, leadership theory is explored, suggesting a new and interesting approach in use of different styles. For those working with diverse, problem solving teams managing complex change, this is a must have book. It will appeal to a broad range of people, from practitioners such as human resource managers, psychologists, business consultants, and group trainers, to academics studying and doing research in disciplines such as psychology, business, management, sociology, education and politics and the practical use of the hard sciences. *This reprint contains some new insights by Dr. Kirton into the theory. A small number of critical key changes have been made: a new diagram showing the difference between decision making and problem solving; some tightening of some sentences to show that leadership style should be treated as roles; the addition of the Glossary of Terms.