Rethinking Leadership

Donna Ladkin, Professor of Inclusive Leadership, Birmingham Business School, University of Birmingham, UK

‘Books about leadership abound, often generalizing from a heroic leader’s own experiences or reflecting the latest incremental advances in scholarly theorizing. Rethinking Leadership is different in that Ladkin questions the key questions of leadership thinking and thus arrives at a radically different conception of leadership. It is a welcome conception that recognizes the embodied, sensual, felt nature of leadership as an ongoing process involving leaders and followers within a particular context. For the complex and challenging times we live in, we need complex and challenging conceptions of leadership and Donna Ladkin has given us an excellent starting place.’

• Contents: Preface 1. Why Study Leadership from a Philosophical Perspective? 2. Why are There so Many Different Theories of Leadership? 3. Why is it so Difficult to Study Leadership? 4. What Goes on in the Relationship between Leaders and Followers? 5. What is Charismatic Leadership? 6. What is so Important About the ‘Vision-Thing’? 7. How do Leaders Lead Change? Co-authored with Martin Wood and John Pillay 8. How Can Individuals Take Up the Leader Role Wisely? 9. What Has it Meant to Rethink Leadership? Bibliography Index