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Leadership Agility
Leadership is about influencing others to move in a certain direction and there are many ways of achieving this influence. Each of these leadership styles has its inherent qualities and pitfalls, and will be more suited to specific people and different circumstances. The more leaders understand their preferred leadership styles and are able to flexibly switch to the most suitable style given the situation, the more effective they will be. This book maps out ten sets of opposite leadership styles, giving readers the possibility to understand the strengths and weaknesses of both sides, and to identify their own current preference. The ten leadership style dimensions cover the full range of leadership roles, from the leader as coach (interpersonal leadership), to the leader as organizer (organizational leadership), as strategist (strategic leadership), as sense-maker (leadership and mission) and as role model (leadership and self). Readers are invited to draw up their own leadership development plans, which is supported by an interactive App. Readers are also challenged to reflect on how they would approach a number of cases, after which they can go to an interactive web-forum to read how others have responded and engage in a discussion with them. Leadership Agility is a useful tool for practitioners in the corporate world as well as business students and emerging leaders.
290 pages, Paperback
Published September 27, 2017
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
December 3, 2017
Let me first say that I was provided with a complimentary copy of this book so that I could review it. I accepted writing this review since I’m interested in deeper generative organizing. The dance between leadership and followership is part of this dynamic. So, here is my summary of the book together with some impressions.
The core of Leadership Agility: Developing Your Repertoire of Leadership Styles by Ron Meyer and Ronald Meijers consists of ten opposite pairs of leadership styles.[1] These ten dimensions represent many of the balancing acts leaders are faced with.[2] Each dimension deals with a different leadership task, and each task differs in nature and scope.[3] The focus is on understanding the qualities and pitfalls of each leadership style.[4]
The authors believe that leaders need to “have the capacity to switch between leadership styles, and adaptively master new ones, in rapid response to the specific needs of the people and situation they want to influence.”[5] Keywords here are flexibility, adaptability, and responsiveness. Leadership agility is, in short, sensing into what is required in the situation, while attuning to people’s needs.
The authors explore the various leadership styles throughout the book. They also clarify what they believe is the essence of leadership,[6] for example:
- Leadership is about engagement instead of enforcement.[7]
- Leadership can be exercised by anyone at any time depending on the situation.[8]
- Leadership is helping people to make sense of the situation and themselves.[9]
- Leadership is helping people to find their own meaning in what they do.[10]
As soon as we want to influence people to move in a certain direction, we are leading. We are, in fact, leading all the time. [11] This also means that leading is relational, involving two or more willful beings. The authors point out that getting people to follow requires more than key performance indicators. You can manage things, but people have a heart and mind of their own.[12]
All this sounds like music in my ears. The authors, furthermore, emphasize that formulating a "leadership script" is useless and misleading. There are simply too many variables that need to be taken into account in order to arrive at a simple leadership formula.[13]
There are many ways of being an effective leader. You have to figure out yourself what works for you under what circumstances.[14] This book may help you to expand your leadership style repertoire, but moving outside of your comfort zone is something you have to do yourself. You have to experiment and see what works for you.
The authors end the book with a few words on the “paradox of leadership and followership.”[15] People are leaders and followers—at the same time. The ultimate test of leadership agility is combining leadership and followership.[16]
There are thousands of books on leadership, and agility has become a buzzword, so I was a bit skeptical when I first heard about the book. But it's a great book. The focus is more on leadership styles than leadership agility. I particularly appreciate that the authors avoid formulating leadership scripts or formulas. I also share the human values expressed in the book. People are living beings and not things to be managed.
Notes:
[1] Ibid., pp. xx, 18, 21.
[2] Ibid., p. 17.
[3] Ibid., p. 19.
[4] Ibid., p. 227.
[5] Ibid., pp. xvi--xvii.
[6] Ibid., p. 3.
[7] Ibid., p. 7.
[8] Ibid..
[9] Ibid., p. 11.
[10] Ibid..
[11] Ibid., p. 13.
[12] Ibid., p. 14.
[13] Ibid., p. 16.
[14] Ibid., p. 17.
[15] Ibid., p. 258.
[16] Ibid., p. 259.
The core of Leadership Agility: Developing Your Repertoire of Leadership Styles by Ron Meyer and Ronald Meijers consists of ten opposite pairs of leadership styles.[1] These ten dimensions represent many of the balancing acts leaders are faced with.[2] Each dimension deals with a different leadership task, and each task differs in nature and scope.[3] The focus is on understanding the qualities and pitfalls of each leadership style.[4]
The authors believe that leaders need to “have the capacity to switch between leadership styles, and adaptively master new ones, in rapid response to the specific needs of the people and situation they want to influence.”[5] Keywords here are flexibility, adaptability, and responsiveness. Leadership agility is, in short, sensing into what is required in the situation, while attuning to people’s needs.
The authors explore the various leadership styles throughout the book. They also clarify what they believe is the essence of leadership,[6] for example:
- Leadership is about engagement instead of enforcement.[7]
- Leadership can be exercised by anyone at any time depending on the situation.[8]
- Leadership is helping people to make sense of the situation and themselves.[9]
- Leadership is helping people to find their own meaning in what they do.[10]
As soon as we want to influence people to move in a certain direction, we are leading. We are, in fact, leading all the time. [11] This also means that leading is relational, involving two or more willful beings. The authors point out that getting people to follow requires more than key performance indicators. You can manage things, but people have a heart and mind of their own.[12]
All this sounds like music in my ears. The authors, furthermore, emphasize that formulating a "leadership script" is useless and misleading. There are simply too many variables that need to be taken into account in order to arrive at a simple leadership formula.[13]
There are many ways of being an effective leader. You have to figure out yourself what works for you under what circumstances.[14] This book may help you to expand your leadership style repertoire, but moving outside of your comfort zone is something you have to do yourself. You have to experiment and see what works for you.
The authors end the book with a few words on the “paradox of leadership and followership.”[15] People are leaders and followers—at the same time. The ultimate test of leadership agility is combining leadership and followership.[16]
There are thousands of books on leadership, and agility has become a buzzword, so I was a bit skeptical when I first heard about the book. But it's a great book. The focus is more on leadership styles than leadership agility. I particularly appreciate that the authors avoid formulating leadership scripts or formulas. I also share the human values expressed in the book. People are living beings and not things to be managed.
Notes:
[1] Ibid., pp. xx, 18, 21.
[2] Ibid., p. 17.
[3] Ibid., p. 19.
[4] Ibid., p. 227.
[5] Ibid., pp. xvi--xvii.
[6] Ibid., p. 3.
[7] Ibid., p. 7.
[8] Ibid..
[9] Ibid., p. 11.
[10] Ibid..
[11] Ibid., p. 13.
[12] Ibid., p. 14.
[13] Ibid., p. 16.
[14] Ibid., p. 17.
[15] Ibid., p. 258.
[16] Ibid., p. 259.
May 31, 2019
Very well written and insightful book. Beautifully captivates the dilemma's of leadership and challenges you to reinvent your own view on leadership.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews