The Wiley-Blackwell Handbook of the Psychology of Leadership, Change and Organizational Development

Foreword

Skipton Leonard, Rachel Lewis, Arthur Freedman, and Jonathan Passmore—all known well-known internationally as scholar-practitioners—have pulled together a remarkably timely and insightful book, with a prescient cast of contributors, dealing with the most pressing perennial issues facing organizations: leadership, change, and organizational development. There are many books and countless articles on these topics. That is true. But this book is different. This book provides real insight based on real science, which gives the reader tangible and fundamental tools that they can put into action.

The list of contributors is impressive and their perspectives vary, which is the hallmark of true scholarship: to provide intellectual fodder for the formation of informed opinions. Debate and discussion are the grounds from which ideas flourish. As such, the book also provides fertile soil for future research in the area, which will catalyze a virtuous cycle of additional knowledge creation.

The chapters of this book, unlike those of most books, paint a landscape from a worldly perspective. This is not easy, but it is an imperative, as our world is ever shrinking in terms of connectivity. It is this very connectivity that oft results in intellectual imperialism: the pushing of ideas from one tradition on to those of another. In this book, however, the editors have thoughtfully captured the current thinking of worldly thought leaders.

I have been asked to write many forewords to books but ...