Competing Values Leadership

by Kim S. Cameron, Robert E. Quinn, Jeff Degraff

This third edition of Competing Values Leadership serves as the key source for understanding and using the Competing Values Framework, one of the most widely used and highly cited frameworks in the world for understanding human behavior, leadership, and organizations. The authors of the framework, who have been at the foundation of developing, applying, and studying this framework for more than four decades, explain how it helps foster successful leadership, innovation, culture change, financial performance, organizational effectiveness, and value creation.

In addition to explaining why the Competing Values Framework is among the most important frameworks in the history of business, this edition addresses some criticisms of the framework and provides empirical evidence for its validity, reliability, and usefulness. The authors also provide practical tools and actions that can assist any organization in improving its performance.

This book is widely applicable to several fields, including financial strategy, culture change, human resource management, leadership roles, and organizational change. Both academics and business leaders will find it to be an illuminating and useful tool and reference. It has also proven to be a valuable resource in executive education programs.

Genres: Business, Leadership

232 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2006

Reviews

[Jason Carter · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book builds upon the ideas presented in The Four Colors of Business Growth by Anjan Thakor, reviewed previously, by expounding upon the ways in which a leader can apply the four colors.

The quadrants are presented in a modestly different, though consistent, way as the previous book. They are Clan, Adhocracy, Market, and Hierarchy, rather than Collaborate, Create, Compete, and Control, respectively.

A fair amount of time is spent discussing the tensions along the diagonals, including (in my opinion) the most helpful chapter in the book: Chapter 5, Creating Value through New Leadership Behaviors. In this chapter, the authors describe four leadership archetypes that effectively hold opposites in tension: Autonomous Engagement, Practical Vision, Teachable Confidence, and Caring Confrontation. This chapter alone is worth the price of the book.

Recommended, but probably only after reading and appreciating Thakor's aforementioned tome.

[Denis · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found the idea and structure itself very useful(4*+). That is why I would rather recommend to read the book.
But the text style and content were well below the expected level. A LOT of self-praising, almost advertisement-style text (only a simple phone number was missing to complete the picture of a cheap commercial). Some statements/paragraphs, it feels, were added to add volume, not sense.
I guess this is a scholar papers style, but when you do a book, I it’s worth reworking it to a different, better standard.

[Daniel Lambauer · Rating 4 out of 5]

While at times a bit too academically and scientifically written - and therefore a bit repetitive- a classic leadership book where a lot rings true. My main takeaway is that leaders need to be able to resolve competing tensions and cultures in any organisation and be adaptable in their styles in doing so. I am also attracted by their change approach based on the model.

[Stacey · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read this one for school, so while parts were interesting, there was still some rather dull parts as well.

[Nick Whiteley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great new lens to look at organisational culture. A must read.