Antidote to the Crisis of Leadership: Opportunity in Complexity

Leadership is in crisis. Scandals are commonplace, only 20% of employees claim they trust their leaders, two in three think politicians are only motivated by self-interest, three-quarters of firms say they don’t have the leadership bench that they need today, and major societal problems are not being resolved. In the context of this scenario, this book answers two important questions: What skills do you need to be successful as a leader today that are different from those required previously? How can you develop these differentiating skills and mindsets? The antidote to the crisis of leadership lies in four attributes: Aspire: Make clear personal choices of what purpose to pursue, what values to resolutely promote and which stakeholder interests to represent. Ally: Form mutually respectful, supportive relationships with others within and beyond the organisation. Adapt: Navigate through turbulence, flexing the enterprise and flowing resources to the priority issues. Accelerate: Continually learn to remain relevant and heighten impact. Antidote to the Crisis of Leadership is replete with quotes, vignettes and encouragement contributed by over 50 leaders from a broad variety of backgrounds, sectors, and countries. Each chapter includes commentary, draws on the most relevant theory and reference texts and concludes with suggested exercises to increase your impact.

Stephen Wyatt is Professor (of Practice) in Leadership & Strategy at the University of Bath. He is also founding partner of Corporate Rebirth, a consultancy supporting management and leadership teams transform for and thrive in the 4^th Industrial Revolution. Previously he was Regional Managing Partner at the Monitor Group (Monitor Deloitte) and a partner in the Leadership Consultancy practice of Heidrick & Struggles.