The Unknown Leader


Book Description

Our world has many obvious leaders: captains of industry, high-achieving academics, CEOs, statesmen, champion athletes. But we also depend on leaders whose work is usually not so visible. They are all around us, filling crucial roles at every level of society, in all kinds of organizations and in our communities, enriching the lives of those around them and making the world a better place. The Unknown Leader celebrates these leaders among us and invites you to join them. Hussein A. Al-Banawi shares the inspiring stories of some of today's Unknown Leaders and shows how they discovered their hidden talents through hard work, reflection and continual learning. He also recounts his own lifelong journey toward leadership and the invaluable lessons he gained from unusual friendships, daunting challenges, tough decisions, victories and defeats. And Al-Banawi explains the six crucial qualities every aspiring leader must develop, with specific advice about how to enhance these qualities in yourself. Whether you are a student, a mid-career professional, an entrepreneur, or anyone seeking a richer and fulfilling life, The Unknown Leader will be a powerful guide and companion in your own lifelong journey.




Into the Unknown


Book Description

If life is an adventure, no one will ever live it more fully than Meriwether Lewis and William Clark. Commissioned by President Thomas Jefferson to explore the rumored Northwest Passage, Lewis and Clark instead discovered a seemingly endless land whose very existence foretold a future America infinitely different from what had been imagined. May 2004 marks the beginning of a two-and-a-half year bicentennial celebration of their incredible journey and its significance to the history of America. Against staggering odds, these unique men inspired such absolute loyalty in each other and in their group that they are still widely regarded as the most successful leadership team in American history. Today's leadership adventures unfold in the rugged terrain of business, and who better than Lewis and Clark to lead us through its toughest challenges? Their story resonates with business leaders of our time because they had to: * Think strategically * Make tough and timely decisions * Surround themselves with good people * Manage resources * Motivate the team * Deal with different cultures * Assimilate information from many sources * Balance long-term goals against short-term realities * Learn from their mistakes * Try new approaches Most importantly, they had to persevere and change course in the face of adversity. Their lessons will inspire business leaders to take their teams to new adventures of great discovery.




From Bud to Boss


Book Description

Practical advice for making the shift to your first leadership position The number of people who will become first-time supervisors will likely grow in the next 10 years, as Baby Boomers retire. Perhaps the most challenging leadership experience anyone will face isn't one at the top, but their first promotion to leadership. They must deal with the change and uncertainty that comes with a new job, requiring new skills, and they've been promoted from peer to leader. While the book addresses the needs of any manager, supervisor, or leader, it pulls from the best leadership and management thinking, and puts the focus on the difficulties that new leaders experience. Includes practical information for new managers who must supervise friends and former peers Authors are expert consultants who work with leaders at all levels Shows how to adopt the mindset of a leader, including: communicating change, giving feedback, coaching employees, leading productive teams, and achieving goals This much-needed book can help new leaders get beyond the stress and fear to focus on becoming the most effective leader they can be-starting right now.




A Light in the Darkness


Book Description

Some people lead because of their position, while others have an innate ability to inspire action regardless of the most adverse conditions. However, a universal disconnect remains - current leadership practices are exclusively focused on how the leader interacts with their people, not the people's ultimate output.A Light in the Darkness supports everyone to both lead and develop at their own pace; harnessing each individual's unique capacity while mitigating ineffective learned behaviors. Rather than a "How To" book, we challenge the reader to usher in a new era of leadership, bespoke in nature.A Light in the Darkness introduces practices that were initially found to work in the life or death situations afforded by 20 years of Military Service. We're excited to find that they work equally well from the boardroom to the classroom. The reader's art becomes adapting them for what you do, who you are, and an uncertain future - ultimately identifying the optimal process for everyone in their constellation.




Leadership on the Line, With a New Preface


Book Description

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.




The Handbook for Teaching Leadership


Book Description

Supports the growing demand for courses in leadership and ensures that such courses and instruction are developed with multiple considerations and best practices in mind.




A Leadership Guide to Navigating the Unknown in Education


Book Description

Recognizing that education systems have been temporarily paralyzed in the past and likely will in the future—whether it’s because of a natural disaster or a pandemic—this important volume offers critical insights about how schools can effectively carry forward the mission of educating all children even in the face of system turbulence and disruption. Featuring Narratives from expert leaders in urban, rural, and suburban school systems, this book explores important questions about the "new normal" such as the ways in which students can and should learn, how educators can teach and lead effectively, and how schools can carry out important functions beyond their instructional mission. Chapters present inspiring stories of leaders and teachers who have rallied, rebuilt, and problem-solved in face of the pandemic and amid adversity, ultimately providing a roadmap for how it’s possible to rebuild and adjust while preserving the fundamental core of education. Full of takeaways and first-hand insights into how systems and their schools faced turbulence, disruption, and adaptation, this book is a must-read for today’s educators committed to making a positive impact on the students they have the duty to serve.




Lift


Book Description

Just as the Wright Brothers combined science and practice to finally realize the dream of flight, Ryan and Robert Quinn combine research and personal experience to demonstrate how to reach a psychological state that elevates us and those around us to greater heights of achievement, integrity, openness, and empathy. It's the psychological equivalent of aerodynamic lift, and it is the fundamental state of leadership. This book draws on recent advances in positive psychology and organizational science to describe four questions that, when asked in any situation, will help us experience the fundamental state of leadership. Engaging personal stories illustrate how the Quinns and others have applied these concepts at work, at home, and in the community. --




The Great Leader


Book Description

Literary legend Jim Harrison gives us a brilliant new work that finds him writing at the height of his powers, and in fresh and audacious new directions. The Great Leader is the story of Detective Sunderson, a northern Michigan police detective who has recently retired and has one case he can’t quite shake -- the investigation of a cult leader whom he eventually pursues to Arizona and further afield. Harrison gives readers a unique take on the culture of “Yoopers” (what folks from the rest of Michigan and the Midwest call people from the Upper Peninsula) and cops, in a novel that is wonderfully clever, powerful, and slyly redemptive.