1.2.7 Annotated Bibliography—Effective Leadership

Books

Bennis, W. G., & Townsend, R. (2005). Reinventing leadership: strategies to empower the organization. New York: Collins.

This collaboration by two well-known authors is written in an informal style and tackles head-on several of the most challenging issues in leadership. One of their primary themes is distinguishing between leadership and management. Their philosophy is that most people in upper management over-manage and under-lead. To remedy this, they advocate growing and empowering people in the organization. They also stress the importance of being action-oriented and cultivating the ability to prioritize workplace issues. This premise is illustrated by several real-life scenarios, in which the authors share their opinions in a question and answer format. The book concludes with a 21- day plan for the readers to self-assess and to improve their own leadership skills.

Bolman, L. G., & Deal, T. (2003). Reframing organizations: Artistry, choice, and leadership. San Francisco: Pfeiffer.

This book identifies four leadership “frames,” shows the characteristics of each leadership dimension, giving notable examples, and reflects on the strengths and challenges of each. The frames they identify are Structural—how to organize and structure groups and teams to get results; Human Relations—how to tailor organizations to satisfy human needs, improve human resource management, and build positive interpersonal and group dynamics; Political—how to cope with power and conflict, build coalitions, hone political skills, and deal with internal and external politics; and Symbolic—how to shape a culture that gives purpose and meaning to work, stage organizational drama for internal and external audiences, and build team spirit through ritual, ceremony and story. All leaders, they argue, will have skills and abilities which are characteristic of one or two dimensions and may be exceptional in those; however, the more dynamic and effective leaders move among the four domains and tap into those behaviors and perspectives with some ease as the situations demand.

Boyer, E. L. (1997). Scholarship reconsidered: Priorities of the professoriate. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

To redefine academic pursuits other than traditional research, this publication defines four types of scholarship. The first element, discovery, is that most closely aligned with traditional research. Integration, the second element, emphasizes making connections across disciplines. Application focuses on how emerging research and discoveries can be directly utilized to aid in societal problems. Teaching is considered the fourth type of scholarship. This approach has been used to expand the domain of concern of higher education institutions and to emphasize teaching/learning, assessment and more application-based faculty projects. It seeks to garner the same levels of prestige and recognition for faculty who engage in student or service research and defines “creativity contracts” as a mechanism for professional growth and planning, expanding on the limited focus of traditional tenure procedures.

Commission on Accountability in Higher Education. (2005). Accountability for better results: A national imperative for higher education. Boulder, CO: State Higher Education Executive Officers.

This comprehensive discussion of the current state of issues within higher education summarizes the need for a more data-based system of decision-making. The thirteen-member commission includes legislators, higher education leaders, governors, and private sector leaders from every area of the country. All have significant experience with policy related to higher education. This collection of topics overviews the critical need for reform as they perceive the growing importance of higher education and uncertainty concerning its adequacy and affordability for meeting current needs of the country. They identify the roles of an array of stakeholders in aligning institutional priorities with the goals of widespread student achievement, world-class research, and increased productivity. They emphasize the need to rigorously assess and to improve performance.

Covey, S. R. (2004). The 8th habit: From effectiveness to greatness. New York: Simon & Schuster.

The focus of this continuation of Covey’s best selling The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People is finding one’s voice. He reinforces his concept that leadership and clarity of one’s own identity is an “inside/out” process. As individuals move through the stages of dependence to independence and finally to interdependence, they become acutely aware of their own strengths and weaknesses and continue to build personal capacity by focusing on a set of habits. This book contains an entire section devoted to leadership and also contains a very thorough overview of leadership theories as an appendix. Essentially, Covey presents what he considers the four roles of leadership: modeling (walking the talk by providing authenticity), pathfinding (offering a compelling vision), empowering (providing the tools and authority for others to share in leading), and aligning (organizing policies, priorities and actions in a systemic fashion). Many exercises, examples, and practical applications are included.

Deming, W. E. (1982). Quality, productivity, and competitive position. Cambridge: Massachusetts Institute of Technology Press.

This book is the classic work by Deming, the father of the total quality movement. He argues that the responsibility for most quality and productivity issues in an organization lies within the design of the processes and systems and is not the fault of the workers. He proposes a new philosophy of leadership for upper management and challenges what he considers Western- style corporate thinking. His original presentation of the 14 points of management is still relevant to leaders today. In later publications, he addresses how to use these principles in the non-profit and educational systems, but this book presents his original conceptualization of how leaders should function within organizations. Deming advocates the systematic integration of assessment and processes throughout the entire organization. Leadership decisions should be data-based and not based on how business has been conducted in the past. He warns of the danger of ignoring the threat of global competition and highlights the success of organizations that have had the courage to completely redesign and tackle quality issues head-on.

Friedman, T. (2005). The world is flat: A brief history of the twenty-first century. New York: Farrar, Straus & Giroux.

Though this book is not a conventional book on the topic of leadership, it calls for all citizens of the United States who have an investment in the future to become enlightened about the many ways that the U.S. is at risk of losing its status as a world leader. He challenges educators, policymakers, and legislators, in particular, to heed the warnings as countries like China and India make great strides both in the production of engineers and scientists and in education. He contends that globalization initiatives from 1492-1800 were the result of efforts on the part of nations; from 1800-2000 private businesses were the source for international activity; since 2000 and the laying of transcontinental cables, globalization efforts can now be driven by individuals. The book is rich with data and studies to provide evidence of gaps that he identifies in sheer numbers of people available, in education, and in ambition. Friedman describes the ten forces contributing to flattening (technology creating a level playing field regardless of location). Because visioning is seen as a critical competency for leaders, and environmental scanning is an essential skill to foster good visioning, this best-seller book is required reading for those who aspire to be leaders.

Gardner, H. (2004). Changing minds: The art and science of changing our own and other people’s minds. Boston: Harvard Business School Press.

Gardner, known for his descriptions of eight types of intelligences, expands his approach by applying these principles to leadership. He believes that the leader establishes his or her philosophically-based stance and artfully persuades others to follow in order to best accomplish changes within an institution. The leader needs to have completed true introspection within his or her psyche to be truly genuine. Rigorous self-assessment and equally thorough examination of the philosophy and mission of one’s institution best accomplish this introspection. Leadership is a process of continually assessing the primary role of one’s institution and carefully crafting a consistent message and approach. Gardner also describes how to conduct a detailed analysis of other key players in the organization and their personal styles. He suggests constructing balanced teams and fostering an environment that encourages debate. However, he stresses that the primary driver of the ultimate courses of action needs to be the leader of the organization.

Greenleaf, R. K. (2002). Servant leadership: A journey into the nature of legitimate power and greatness. Mahwah, NJ: Paulist Press.

Greenleaf lays down his foundational belief in the importance of a leader assuming a position of service to the organization and employees in order to be effective. The establishment of the stance of a “servant leader” sets the climate of the organization. The creation of this positive overall tone in an organization is conducive to productivity and creates an optimal climate for all members of the organization. When people feel valued, the impact of the organization increases exponentially. A more efficient, collegial organization is created by this proactive approach to leadership, elevating this from a perception of being a mere “manager” to that of being a true leader. Self-assessment and accurate gauging of personal and professional strengths and weaknesses is necessary to maximize and fully employ this style of leadership. The author presents a comprehensive methodology to guide leaders in their transformation.

Guiliani, R.W. (2002). Leadership. New York: Miramax.

Guiliani, speaking primarily from his experiences as a mayor and former prosecutor, champions a very hands-on style of management. Illustrated by his now famous “broken window” philosophy, he believes that if leaders attend to the smaller issues comprehensively, then the larger issues are reduced in magnitude. He believes that high visibility of the leader fosters respect by community members. He believes in a strong public presence and demeanor, and a very structured approach to problem solving. One of his credos is to “perform your best when it matters the most.” He also describes how he assembles a team of strong leaders to counterbalance his philosophical beliefs. He describes how he goes about developing the potential of this management team and the process he uses to delegate assignments after he conducts his own assessment of the situation.

Kouzes, J. M., & Posner, B. Z. (2002). The leadership challenge. (3^rd ed.). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Kouzes, J. M., & Posner, B. Z. (2003). The leadership challenge workbook. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

The authors believe that the “soft skills” of leaders are critical to optimizing the performance of all workers within the organization. Leaders need to work at planning genuine opportunities for success and catching people at all levels doing things well. They believe there is a positive correlation between involving employees in problem solving, giving feedback on performance, and helping them understand the “big picture, rationale.” Several self-assessment tools are presented to enhance the leader’s ability to encourage and support employees personally and professionally. These authors advocate the need to lead from the “heart” and not the head. Individualized strategies for different personality types are described, as are many case studies. They contend that leadership skills can be developed and that all individuals are capable of becoming leaders.

The workbook companion guide is a systematic tool that will guide the reader in a thorough self-assessment, with exercises designed to explore and encourage the development of effective leadership skills.

O’Banion, T. (1997). A learning college for the 21^st century. Phoenix, AZ: Oryx Press.

O’Banion offers a model for addressing transformation of community colleges to become more learning-centered and learner-centered. He contends that these higher education institutions need to change their focus from their long-standing image as “good teaching” colleges to that of “learning colleges.” He cites a myriad of reasons and studies calling for reform. He acknowledges the challenges of such transformation as higher education is steeped in tradition. The four primary areas of challenge are that colleges are time bound, place bound, role bound, and bureaucracy bound. A set of principles is offered to guide such transformation. He poses two questions as needing to be addressed with every decision made at the college: “Will this enhance learning? How do we know?” With these questions, he challenges leaders and organizations to continually measure that which they are doing and not to rely on anecdotal stories. He includes examples of a number of colleges that are some of the early pioneers in attempting to evolve as learning colleges.

Zichy, S. (2001). Women and the leadership Q. New York: McGraw-Hill.

Zichy presents her individualized techniques of enhancing working relationships through application of a system of her design, which utilizes Myers-Briggs types and her own research as a management consultant. A simple survey is included with easy scoring instructions. The results enable readers to place themselves and co-workers into categories to easily analyze and reflect on ways to optimize performance. She presents case studies of prominent women of each type, including interview information and their personal reflections. While her examples focus on women, her work is just as easily applied to men, and she states that her research actually supports the idea that most workplace issues have more to do with each person’s individual types than with gender. Self-assessment and the formulation of specific strategies for interacting effectively with others of different classifications are presented in detail. She advocates the value and strength each type of individual brings to the workplace and encourages the utilization of all in a well-balanced team, with tasks coordinated and assigned by the leader.

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