Flexible leadership for a reality-based world.
This book by a Harvard University faculty member moves leadership beyond the familiar visionary and motivator ideal propagated by many management guides. "Real leadership gets people to face reality," writes Dean Williams. "Real leadership is not about having strong convictions and imposing them on the group. Nor is it about amassing followers and showing the way forward."
For an organization to face reality in a complex and dynamic world, its leader has to analyze and diagnose the specific challenge in its path, choose the right strategy to address the problem, use leadership creatively and flexibly, and recognize the responsibility that accompanies power. This book describes how to handle each of these four important tasks in a style that is engaging, straightforward, and sprinkled with historical and contemporary references.
Williams sums up with a short essay on T. E. Lawrence—better known as the legendary Lawrence of Arabia. Lawrence was a bookish scholar who reluctantly shouldered practical responsibilities in the Middle East at the behest of his government and ended up playing the roles of soldier, statesman, and diplomat with amazing dexterity. "His story allows us to see someone who could move in and out of the different challenges, provide context appropriate leadership, and, for the most part, succeed," explains Williams.
Williams teaches at Harvard's Kennedy School of Government and is a member of the university's Center for Public Leadership. He also consults to governments, corporations, and tribal groups.