Handbook of Leadership Theory and Practice

Handbook of Leadership Theory and Practice

by Nitin Nohria, Rakesh Khurana
Released January 2010
Publisher(s): Harvard Business Review Press
ISBN: 9781422157114

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Book description

Scores of books and articles have been written in the popular press and mainstream marketplace about leadership: who leaders are, what they do, and why they matter. Yet in academia, there is a dearth of rigorous research, journal articles, or doctoral programs focused on leadership as a discipline. Why do top business schools espouse mission statements that promise to "educate the leaders of the future"- yet fail to give leadership its intellectual due?

The Handbook of Leadership Theory and Practice seeks to bridge this disconnect. Based on the Harvard Business School Centennial Colloquium "Leadership: Advancing an Intellectual Discipline" and edited by HBS professors Nitin Nohria and Rakesh Khurana, this volume brings together the most important scholars from fields as diverse as psychology, sociology, economics, and history to take stock of what we know about leadership and to set an agenda for future research.

More than a means of getting ahead and gaining power, leadership must be understood as a serious professional and personal responsibility. Featuring the thinking of today's most renowned scholars, the Handbook of Leadership Theory and Practice will be a catalyst for elevating leadership to a higher intellectual plane - and help shape the research agenda for the next generation of leadership scholars.

Table of contents

  1. Title Page
  2. Copyright Page
  3. Dedication
  4. Table of Contents
  5. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
  6. SECTION ONE - THE IMPACT OF LEADERSHIP
    1. 1 - ADVANCING LEADERSHIP THEORY AND PRACTICE
      1. The Gap Between Purpose and Practice in Institutions That Aim to Develop Leaders
      2. The State of Research on Leadership
      3. A Brief History of Leadership in Organizational Behavior
      4. Section I. The Impact of Leadership: Performance and Meaning
      5. Section II. The Theory of Leadership: Personal Attributes, Functions, and Relationships
      6. Section III. The Variability of Leadership: What’s Core and Contingent
      7. Section IV. The Practice of Leadership: Agency and Constraint
      8. Section V. The Development of Leaders: Knowing, Doing, and Being
      9. References
    2. 2 - WHEN DOES LEADERSHIP MATTER?
      1. Introduction
      2. Leaders Versus Constraints
      3. A Contingent Opportunities View of Leadership
      4. Methods
      5. Results
      6. Discussion
      7. Conclusion
      8. References
      9. Notes
    3. 3 - REVISITING THE MEANING OF LEADERSHIP
      1. Introduction
      2. Leadership as Meaning-Making
      3. Decoupling the Joint Focus on Leadership and Meaning
      4. Defining Meaningful Action in Organizations
      5. Operationalizing Meaningful Action in Organizations
      6. Identifying the Scope of Leadership Activities
      7. The Relationship Between Meaning-Making and Economic Performance
      8. Conclusion
      9. References
      10. Notes
    4. 4 - WHAT IS THIS THING CALLED LEADERSHIP?
      1. Domain
      2. Criteria
      3. Functions
      4. Context
      5. Conditions
      6. It
  7. SECTION TWO - THE THEORY OF LEADERSHIP
    1. 5 - LEADERSHIP THROUGH AN ORGANIZATION BEHAVIOR LENS
      1. Historical Trajectory of OB Leadership Theories
      2. A Brief Survey of Empirical Research on Leadership
      3. From the Last Half-Century to the Next: A Research Agenda
      4. References
    2. 6 - PSYCHOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVES ON LEADERSHIP
      1. Developing as a Leader
      2. Leading Work Groups and Teams
      3. Leading Organizations
      4. Conclusion
      5. References
    3. 7 - A CLINICAL APPROACH TO THE DYNAMICS OF LEADERSHIP AND EXECUTIVE TRANSFORMATION
      1. Introduction
      2. The Clinical Paradigm
      3. The Psychodynamics of Leadership
      4. Leader Derailment
      5. Changing Leaders
      6. Facilitating the Process of Change
      7. References
    4. 8 - CLASSICAL SOCIOLOGICAL APPROACHES TO THE STUDY OF LEADERSHIP
      1. Introduction
      2. The Weberian Approach: The Three Ideal-Types of Authority
      3. The Institutional Approach: Leadership and Social Integration
      4. The Neo-Marxist Take on Leadership
      5. Social Networks and Leadership
      6. So, What Is Leadership, Sociologically Speaking?
      7. Note
      8. References
    5. 9 - ECONOMISTS’ PERSPECTIVES ON LEADERSHIP
      1. Introduction
      2. Control, Delegation, and Leadership
      3. First-Generation Models of Leadership
      4. Conceptual Framework
      5. Missing Pieces
      6. Conclusion
      7. Notes
      8. References
    6. 10 - AN ECONOMIC PERSPECTIVE ON LEADERSHIP
      1. Introduction
      2. The Prisoner’s Dilemma as Leader’s Opportunity
      3. The First Aspect of Leadership: Vision
      4. The Second Aspect of Leadership: Enrollment
      5. The Third Aspect of Leadership: Commitment
      6. The Fourth Aspect of Leadership: Integrity
      7. The Fifth Aspect of Leadership: Communication
      8. The Sixth Aspect of Leadership: Authenticity
      9. Summary and Conclusion
      10. Notes
      11. References
    7. 11 - LEADERSHIP AND HISTORY
      1. Introduction
      2. Redlich and the Research Center
      3. Revisiting Strategy and Structure
      4. Concluding Thoughts
      5. Notes
    8. 12 - POWER AND LEADERSHIP
      1. Defining Power
      2. Soft Power
      3. The Power of Followers
      4. The Mixture of Hard and Soft Power
      5. Power and Networks
      6. Political Skills
      7. Conclusion
      8. Notes
  8. SECTION THREE - THE VARIABILITY OF LEADERSHIP
    1. 13 - LEADERSHIP AND CULTURAL CONTEXT
      1. Introduction
      2. Leadership and Cultural Context
      3. Research Methodology
      4. Results
      5. Discussion
      6. Notes
      7. References
    2. 14 - WOMEN AND LEADERSHIP
      1. Barriers to Women’s Leadership
      2. Individual, Organizational, and Societal Consequences
      3. Identity, Gender, and the Development of Leadership Skills
      4. An Agenda for Future Research
      5. References
    3. 15 - A CONTINGENCY THEORY OF LEADERSHIP
      1. Leadership Defined
      2. The Value of a Contingency Theory of Leadership
      3. Selecting Contingent Variables
      4. Contingent Factors
      5. Summing Up
      6. Notes
  9. SECTION FOUR - THE PRACTICE OF LEADERSHIP
    1. 16 - WHAT IS LEADERSHIP? The CEO’s Role in Large, Complex Organizations
      1. The CEO and the Essence of Leadership
      2. The Realities of Being CEO
      3. The Importance of Indirect Influence
      4. Managing Presence
      5. Establishing Legitimacy
      6. Conclusion
      7. Appendix 16-1
      8. Note
      9. References
    2. 17 - WHAT MAKES TEAMS OF LEADERS LEADABLE?
      1. Leadership Teams
      2. Four Ironic Features of Leadership Teams
      3. Leading Teams of Leaders
      4. Conclusion: The Competencies of the Executive
      5. References
    3. 18 - DECISION MAKING AS LEADERSHIP FOUNDATION
      1. Why Good and Timely Leadership Decisions Matter
      2. Making Optimal Leadership Decisions
      3. The Value of Examining Leadership Decisions
      4. The Difference That Director Decisions Make
      5. Conclusion
      6. Notes
    4. 19 - LEADING CHANGE Leadership, Organization, and Social Movements
      1. Introduction
      2. Social Movement Leadership: Who Does It, Where Does It Come From, and Why?
      3. Leadership Practices: Relationship, Story, Strategy, Action
      4. Structuring Social Movements
      5. Leadership Development
      6. Conclusion
      7. Appendix 19-1
      8. Notes
    5. 20 - LEADERSHIP IN A GLOBALIZING WORLD
      1. The Context: Global Trends That Impact Leadership
      2. Deconstructing Macro-Trends: Organizational Challenges and the Work of Leaders
      3. Leading Under Uncertainty and Rapid Change: Institutional Work
      4. Leading Under Complexity: Integrative Work
      5. Leading Under Diversity: Identity Work
      6. Conclusion: Trends, Leadership Qualities, and Further Research
      7. Notes
    6. 21 - UNLOCKING THE SLICES OF GENIUS IN YOUR ORGANIZATION Leading for Innovation
      1. How Leaders of Innovation Think: Facing the Realities of Innovation
      2. Setting the Foundation for Innovation: Community Building
      3. Leadership Is About Creating a World to Which People Want to Belong
      4. What Leaders of Innovation Do: Managing the Paradoxes of Innovation
      5. Who These Leaders Are: Leading from Behind
      6. The Future Research Agenda
      7. Notes
  10. SECTION FIVE - THE DEVELOPMENT OF LEADERS
    1. 22 - IDENTITY-BASED LEADER DEVELOPMENT
      1. Identity Change in Transition to Leadership Roles
      2. Toward an Identity-Based View of Leader Development
      3. Conclusion
      4. Note
      5. References
    2. 23 - THE EXPERIENCE CONUNDRUM
      1. Introduction
      2. State of the Craft
      3. The Challenge for Practice
      4. The Challenge for Research
      5. Some Concluding Thoughts
      6. Notes
      7. References
    3. 24 - LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT INTERVENTIONS
      1. Leadership Development: How Far We Have Come
      2. A Typology of Formal Leadership Development Approaches
      3. Conclusion
      4. References
    4. 25 - PURSUING AUTHENTIC LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT
      1. Introduction
      2. The Time Is Propitious for Change
      3. The Origin of My Interest in Leadership
      4. The Roots of Genuine Development
      5. The Inevitable Born Versus Made Question
      6. Developmental Readiness
      7. Authentic Leadership Development
      8. Taking the Next Big Steps
      9. Envisioning the Future of Genuine Leadership Development
      10. Concluding Comments
      11. References
    5. 26 - ADULT DEVELOPMENT AND ORGANIZATIONAL LEADERSHIP
      1. The New View of Age and Mental Complexity
      2. Three Plateaus in Adult Mental Complexity
      3. Mental Complexity and Performance
      4. Notes
  11. INDEX
  12. ABOUT THE CONTRIBUTORS
  13. ABOUT THE EDITORS

Product information

  • Title: Handbook of Leadership Theory and Practice
  • Author(s): Nitin Nohria, Rakesh Khurana
  • Release date: January 2010
  • Publisher(s): Harvard Business Review Press
  • ISBN: 9781422157114