Leading in Times of Crisis: Navigating Through Complexity, Diversity, and Uncertainty to Save Your Business

Leading in Times of Crisis: Navigating Through Complexity, Diversity, and Uncertainty to Save Your Business

by David L. Dotlich, Peter C. Cairo, Stephen H. Rhinesmith
Released April 2009
Publisher(s): Jossey-Bass
ISBN: 9780470471425

Read it now on the O’Reilly learning platform with a 10-day free trial.

O’Reilly members get unlimited access to books, live events, courses curated by job role, and more from O’Reilly and nearly 200 top publishers.

Start your free trial

Book description

Praise for Leading in Times of Crisis

"Building on the solid base of their book Head, Heart, and Guts, Dotlich, Cairo, and Rhinesmith lay out the ways to become the kind of leader needed to navigate through today's complexities and uncertainties. Leading in Times of Crisis is a necessary guidebook to survive and thrive in the global perfect storm."

—John Naisbitt, author, Megatrends and Megatrends 2000

"The risks and opportunities that confront today's leader have never been greater. Leading in Times of Crisis provides unique and valuable insights, along with straightforward principles, that will help point the way in an increasingly diverse and rapidly changing environment."

—Ken Frazier, president, global human health, Merck & Co., Inc.

"This book blends practical business solutions with useful insights about leading people. It should help anyone looking for new ideas to deal with the uncertainty and complexityfacing leaders everywhere today."

—Mindy Grossman, CEO of HSN (formerly Home Shopping Network)

"The main message of this provocative book is that leadership as we have known it ischanging rapidly and dramatically. Moreover, research shows that well over half of people in leadership positions fail. The challenge for leaders today is daunting. But a carefulreading of what Dotlich, Cairo, and Rhinesmith have to say from their extensive experiences will help to reduce significantly this troublesome failure rate."

—W. Warner Burke, Edward Lee Thorndike Professor of Psychology and Education; chair, Department of Organization and Leadership, Teachers College, Columbia University

"Research demonstrates that the #1 leadership competency in shortest supply is 'dealing with ambiguity and complexity.' Dotlich, Cairo, and Rhinesmith give you the real-world tools to actually do it. This book helps us to reach deep inside ourselves, our organizations, and our markets to achieve dynamic, sustainable success. Get this book to effectively navigate change, inside and out!"

—Kevin Cashman, senior partner, Korn/Ferry Leadership & Talent Consulting, and best-selling author, Leadership From the Inside Out

Table of contents

  1. Title Page
  2. Copyright Page
  3. Introduction
  4. PART ONE - The Challenge
    1. CHAPTER 1 - Navigating the Perfect Storm Complexity, Diversity, and Uncertainty
      1. TRANSLATING METAPHOR INTO META-CHALLENGES
      2. A VIEW FROM THE BRIDGE: WATCHING COMPLEXITY, DIVERSITY, AND UNCERTAINTY IN ACTION
      3. THE WHOLE LEADERSHIP IMPERATIVE
    2. CHAPTER 2 - What You’re Up Against as a Leader Today
      1. VIEWING COMPLEXITY THROUGH A DISTORTED LENS
      2. DIVERSITY AS A STRATEGIC IMPERATIVE
      3. UNCERTAINTY: ACTING WHEN NOTHING CAN BE FULLY KNOWN
      4. THE IMPLICATIONS: WHAT WE NEED TO KNOW AND DO
  5. PART TWO - Nine Ways to Navigate the Perfect Storm Through Whole Leadership
    1. Section One: Navigating the Wave of Complexity
    2. CHAPTER 3 - Destroy and Rebuild Your Business Model
      1. WHAT IS A BUSINESS MODEL, AND WHAT DOES CHANGE DO TO IT?
      2. A GREAT MODEL FOR A WORLD THAT NO LONGER EXISTS
      3. WHY IT’S WORSE TO DO NOTHING, BUT SEEMS TO BE BETTER
      4. IT’S NOT JUST ABOUT GUTS: A WHOLE LEADERSHIP APPROACH TO DESTROYING AND ...
    3. CHAPTER 4 - Focus, Simplify, and Network Your Organization
      1. COMPLEXITY OF ORGANIZATION SIZE AND SCOPE
      2. CENTRALIZATION AND DECENTRALIZATION
      3. MATRIX MANAGEMENT: A JOURNEY, NOT A DESTINATION
      4. WHOLE LEADERSHIP AND MATRIX MANAGEMENT: FOCUS, SIMPLIFY, AND NETWORK
    4. CHAPTER 5 - Build a Climate for Innovation
      1. A SIX-DIMENSIONAL APPROACH
      2. MANAGING THE PARADOX OF ORGANIZATIONAL CLIMATE
      3. WHOLE LEADERSHIP APPROACH TO BUILDING A CLIMATE FOR INNOVATION
      4. Section Two: Navigating the Wave of Diversity
    5. CHAPTER 6 - Differentiate and Integrate Your Markets
      1. COMMUNITIES OF INTEREST AND VALUE MIGRATION
      2. THE DANGERS OF BEING TOO DIFFERENTIATED
      3. WHOLE LEADERSHIP APPROACH TO DIVERSE MARKETS: DIFFERENTIATE AND INTEGRATE
    6. CHAPTER 7 - Learn to Lead Everyone
      1. BEYOND DIVERSITY
      2. LEVERAGING NATIONAL CULTURAL IDENTITY
      3. LEVERAGING DIFFERENCES IN THE SEARCH FOR MEANING
      4. THE MONEY-MEANING GAP
      5. LEARNING TO LEAD EVERYONE FOR COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE
      6. WHOLE LEADERSHIP AND LEARNING TO LEAD EVERYONE
    7. CHAPTER 8 - Become Stakeholder Savvy
      1. TURNING GREEN WITHOUT TURNING RED: THE ENVIRONMENTALIST AND THE SHAREHOLDER
      2. WHOLE LEADERSHIP AND BECOMING A STAKEHOLDER-SAVVY LEADER
      3. Section Three: Navigating the Wave of Uncertainty
    8. CHAPTER 9 - Redefine Risk and Uncertainty
      1. OPERATIONAL, STRATEGIC, AND PERSONAL RISK
      2. DEGREES OF UNCERTAINTY
      3. HOW TO TAKE RISKS WHEN UNCERTAINTY IS EVERYWHERE
      4. WHOLE LEADERSHIP APPROACH TO REDEFINING RISK AND UNCERTAINTY
    9. CHAPTER 10 - Balance Conflicting Priorities
      1. THE WAY YOU SEE THE FUTURE DEPENDS ON YOUR VANTAGE POINT
      2. BALANCING PRIORITIES OF ATTENTION
      3. BALANCING PRIORITIES OF CHOICE
      4. WHOLE LEADERSHIP APPROACH TO BALANCING CONFLICTING PRIORITIES
    10. CHAPTER 11 - Be Clear What You Have the Courage to Stand For
      1. PARTIAL LEADERS AND BELIEFS
      2. A WHOLE LEADERSHIP APPROACH TO BEING CLEAR ABOUT WHAT YOU HAVE THE COURAGE TO ...
  6. PART THREE - Developing Whole Leaders and Teams
    1. CHAPTER 12 - Aligning Your Company’s Talent to Navigate the Storm
      1. ENTERPRISE LEADERSHIP: A LARGER FOCUS
      2. BUILDING A TALENT STRATEGY
      3. OBSTACLES TO DEVELOPING WHOLE LEADERS
      4. DEVELOPING WHOLE LEADERS ACROSS AN ENTERPRISE
    2. CHAPTER 13 - Aligning Your Team Around Whole Leadership
      1. GETTING THE RIGHT PEOPLE ON THE TEAM
      2. CREATING VALUE TOGETHER
      3. DEVELOPING TRUST AND OPENNESS
    3. CHAPTER 14 - Developing Yourself as a Whole Leader
      1. UNDERSTANDING YOUR LEADERSHIP AGENDA
      2. UNDERSTANDING YOUR LIFE AGENDA
      3. UNDERSTANDING YOUR LEADERSHIP EFFECTIVENESS
      4. UNDERSTANDING YOUR IMPACT ON OTHERS
      5. UNDERSTANDING HOW YOU LEARN
      6. UNDERSTANDING AND MANAGING YOUR ENERGY
    4. CHAPTER 15 - Navigating the Perfect Storm A Final Thought: Why Whole Leaders ...
      1. TOO MUCH SPEED, TOO MANY SURPRISES, TOO LITTLE TIME TO DECIDE
      2. HOW WHOLE LEADERS CAN RESPOND: THREE WAYS TO MEET THE CHALLENGES OF THE PERFECT STORM
      3. CONTINUOUS ASSESSMENT FOR CONTINUOUS LEARNING
  7. Bibliography
  8. Acknowledgements
  9. About the Authors
  10. Index

Product information

  • Title: Leading in Times of Crisis: Navigating Through Complexity, Diversity, and Uncertainty to Save Your Business
  • Author(s): David L. Dotlich, Peter C. Cairo, Stephen H. Rhinesmith
  • Release date: April 2009
  • Publisher(s): Jossey-Bass
  • ISBN: 9780470471425