Preface

This book is designed to develop “leaderful practice,” a new paradigm of leadership for our organizations. Leaderful practice directly challenges the conventional view of leadership as “being out in front.” In the twenty-first-century organization, we need to establish communities where everyone shares the experience of serving as a leader, not sequentially, but concurrently and collectively. In other words, leaders co-exist at the same time and all together. In addition, we expect each member of a community to make a unique contribution to the growth of that community, both independently and interdependently with others. In this sense, our leaders are inherently collaborative, which in turn they derive from their compassion toward other human beings. Their well-developed sense of self permits them to develop a deep consideration of others.

It may be somewhat ambitious to suggest that one book can produce an entirely new paradigm of leadership. However, I am convinced that when the audience of practicing managers fully reflects upon the significance of becoming “leaderful,” they will join together in this quest to transform leadership practice as we know it. The turbulent world that characterizes our organizations today, staffed by increasingly diverse and skillful people, can no longer be pulled together by bureaucratic authority nor by charismatic personality. The only possible way to lead ourselves out of trouble in management is to become mutual and to share our leadership.

Why should we call our new paradigm “leaderful?” Can you recall working with a team that hummed along, almost like a single unit? The experience was a joy. Team members each had a particular functional role but seemed implicitly able to support each other when warranted. Any one of the team members could speak for the entire team. On occasion, you might have heard someone refer to this team as “leaderless.” Let’s not call it leaderless. Let me rather introduce you to the revolutionary concept of leaderful practice.

As a prospective reader, you might wonder if this book applies to you. If you work with others in any capacity, you are capable of exerting leadership. You don’t have to be the CEO or top gun. Managers and employees who work in teams and organizations might find this account especially useful. Why? We’ve entered an age of lean operations, of doing more with less. Managers may feel overwhelmed by technology or by contractors out to replace them. Meanwhile, employees don’t find life any easier. They’re given assignments that seem nearly impossible to accomplish in a specified time by supervisors who have far less understanding of the problem than they do.

It seems that leadership may be the most desperate problem we face in organizational life today. Yet, conceived in a different way, it may also represent the very solution to the ills of work in our turbulent times.

I invite you to read on about a form of leadership that can respond to our seemingly chaotic world in the only way that can bring out the best of the human condition. I’m not talking about leaders consulting with their followers. I’m not even advocating that leaders learn to step aside to let others take the reins. I’m talking about a true mutual model that incorporates everyone in leadership, that transforms leadership from an individual property into a leaderful practice.

The book is divided into two parts. Part I introduces the new paradigm of leaderful practice. Part II uncovers the traditions and applications that underlie the four C’s of leaderful practice. The four C’s represent a transformation from the conventional to the leaderful approach; hence, leadership’s former serial quality becomes concurrent, its individual focus becomes collective, its controlling orientation becomes collaborative, and its dispassionate nature changes to compassionate. The account in both parts will introduce you not only to new ideas that seek to reanimate your thinking about leadership but also to new tools that will help you try out explicit leaderful behaviors.

In chapter 1, I begin by illustrating how leaderful practice contrasts with conventional leadership and how it can accomplish the critical processes of leadership as, or more, effectively. Readers will first be introduced to the four C’s in this chapter and will be apprised of the rationale for calling for a new paradigm of leadership in our era.

In chapter 2, I anticipate some of the maxims that may well be disturbed by the new paradigm; in particular, what is to become of such standard precepts as authority, bureaucracy, followership, and management itself? Chapter 3 takes up additional challenges that need to be addressed if leaderful practice is to succeed as a viable leadership approach. In particular, since people and groups are not necessarily standing around ready to adopt leaderful practice in their organizations immediately, it addresses how to prepare for it, how to distribute leadership roles, and how to respond to resistant employees. Learning how to develop individuals to assume leaderful practice becomes the objective of chapter 4, which acknowledges that it takes time, commitment, and skill to become leaderful. In chapter 5, I reveal the benefits of adopting the leaderful approach, both in terms of its contribution to the bottom line and its appeal to important democratic, human instincts. Leaderful practice ignites the natural talent of people to contribute to the growth of their communities while allowing them to remain genuine among themselves so that they can bring their whole selves to work.

Part II of the book provides full detail on the four C’s of leaderful practice. Concurrent leadership, covered in chapter 6, incorporates the traditions of situational management and team facilitation. You can’t easily become leaderful unless you’re willing to have others in your team step forward to provide leadership as the situation warrants. Collective leadership, elaborated in chapter 7, relies upon stewardship and meaning-making and also requires leaders to be learners. Leaders ultimately provide service to their organizations, which might also have them speak in a collective voice. This might entail probing below the surface to uncover the assumptions underlying the team’s values. Collaborative leaders, meanwhile—as chapter 8 reveals—seek affirmative changes for their communities, often facilitated through dialogue on well-considered points of view. They engage in mutual influence processes, encouraging all parties to affect the flow of decision making. Leaderful leaders are also compassionate. As chapter 9 shows, they have a profound respect for the dignity of every human being. They’re not interested in holding others in awe, as a charismatic would; rather, they seek to establish sustainable relationships with stakeholders that honor such values as humility, participation, and trust.

Finally, in chapter 10, I challenge readers to begin their own quest to transform their leadership. Since employees as well as managers can be leaderful, I offer suggestions to both parties on how to get started on this quest. It is one thing to talk about leaderful practice; it is quite another to change your behavior. After reading this book, I hope everyone will realize his or her leaderful capability.