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ILA Book Series

The Transforming Leader

The Transforming Leader bookcover

Editor: Carol S. Pearson

For an exam copy, to read an excerpt or to order, please visit https://www.bkconnection.com/books/title/the-transforming-leader.

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  • Outlines a new leadership approach tailored to the realities of the twenty-first century
  • Features chapters by such leading authors as Matthew Fox, Diana Whitney, and Alan Briskin
  • Edited and annotated by the author of the bestselling The Hero Within

The traditional model of the heroic leader single-handedly piloting the organization was always something of a myth, but it is especially unrealistic now. We live in a complex, fast-evolving, highly connected world. There is simply too much for a single person to keep track of or to address successfully. Leaders today must not only optimize all their own facultiesmind, body, and spiritthey must harvest the full capacities of those around them.

To discover what leadership models are working now, the prestigious Fetzer Institute, along with the University of Marylands School of Public Policy, and the International Leadership Association, brought together an impressive, interdisciplinary group of scholars and practitioners. The group drew on psychology, sociology, neuroscience, organizational change theory, myths and wisdom traditions, social networking theory, and the actual experiences of successful leaders to discover how leaders today achieve transformational results.

The first part of the book offers an overview of what transformational leadership is, how it works, and how it is evolving. The second part shows readers how to increase cognitive complexity, link up their conscious and unconscious minds, and lead in ways that connect mind, heart, and spirit. The third part describes ways of leading groups to harvest collective wisdom and promote coordinated performance in the service of transformational ends. The conclusion explores how transformational communication can anchor new learnings so that they become habitual.

About the Editor

Carol Pearson

Dr. Carol S. Pearson served most recently as President of Pacifica Graduate Institute. Previously, she was Professor of Leadership Studies in the School of Public Policy and the Director of the James MacGregor Burns Academy of Leadership at the University of Maryland. She is the author or co-author of The Hero Within, Awakening the Heroes Within, The Hero and the Outlaw (on branding), Mapping the Organizational Psyche, Persephone Rising, the Pearson-Marr Archetype Indicator®, and, most recently, What Stories are You Living– written to further narrative intelligence (NQ), authenticity, situational flexibility, and cognitive complexity.

What Leaders Are Saying About The Transforming Leader

“A book for people who want to develop their potential as transformative leaders, full of stories that show what wonderful things happen when one’s inner life merges with an outward mission and how just such a development is necessary to meet the challenges of the 21st century.”
Bill Bradleyformer US Senator
“An important and persuasive alternative view of leadership. Carol Pearson has brought together an impressive range of contributions into a coherent and highly readable account that is deeply relevant to today’s world.”
Michael WaltonLecturer in International Development, Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University, and former Chief Economist, The World Bank
“A comprehensive guide to the latest thinking in leadership communications that explores new ways of thinking about leadership, building charisma, and entering rich interactive relationships with listeners.”
Steve Denningformer Program Director, Knowledge Management, The World Bank, and author of The Leader’s Guide to Radical Management, The Secret Language of Leadership, and The Leader’s Guide to Storytelling
“The challenges the world faces in the 21st century can’t be addressed with traditional policy and management practices…Pearson has assembled some of the best minds in the field to examine how transformational leadership models can help us update the structures of our thinking, optimize innovative capacity, and harvest the wisdom of groups we lead.”
Kenneth S. ApfelProfessor of the Practice and Director, Management, Finance, and Leadership Program, University of Maryland, and former Commissioner, Social Security Administration
“If you’ve wondered how to successfully transform leadership to meet the emerging issues of today, look no more. Pearson and her colleagues have imbued each chapter with inspiration and examples that offer hope and simultaneously demand the heavy lifting required to transform leaders. Leading is rocket science, a science that is growing and changing. This book is a must-read for all who aspire to the work.”
JoAn Knight Herrenformer Chief of Training and Technical Assistance, Office of Head Start, US Department of Health and Human Services
“We are reminded daily that leadership strategies that worked in the past are generally inadequate for 21st-century challenges. The Transforming Leader offers leaders—and those who develop and support them—new insights about personal and organizational leadership approaches and pathways to achieving positive and lasting change.”
Shelly WilseyDirector, International Leadership Association
“The Transforming Leader is an important book. It is brilliant and insightful and speaks to our future. I highly recommend it to my friends, associates, and others who want to engage in crafting a new and better world.”
Harvey BottelsenChairman of the Board, James S. Bower Foundation
“Ours is an age of cascading threshold crossings. The Transforming Leader is the field guide to this kaleidoscope landscape, where leadership emerges as a property of our interdependence.”
Matthew J. RezacDirector of Rural Community Partnerships, Sherwood Foundation
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What Leadership Educators Are Saying About The Transforming Leader

“From helping the reader to think through what transformational leadership is in its many forms, to integrating psychological, spiritual, cultural, and scientific perspectives about our deepest sense of being and purpose, to discussing the art of applying leadership from individuals to societies, this valuable book expands the territory of transformation and what it means for leaders to deeply engage in leadership for our interdependent world.”
John B. McGuireSenior Faculty Member, Center for Creative Leadership, and coauthor of Transforming Your Leadership Culture
“Steeped in nature, poetry, and music, the gatherings in the beautiful, wooded Fetzer Institute provided a perfect setting for the germination of ideas on the transforming leader in this book. It reads like a symphony. Read it. Enjoy it. Live it and become the transforming leader.”
Cynthia CherreyVice President for Campus Life, Princeton University, and President, International Leadership Association
“A must-read for individuals or groups starting or deepening their inner journey to the authenticity that becomes leadership that transforms. Reading this book is a gift to your head, heart, soul, and spirit.”
Susan R. KomivesProfessor of Student Affairs, University of Maryland, and former President, American College Personnel Association
“The Transforming Leader illuminates, transcends, provokes, and enhances much of what has been said, written, and thought about leadership. Dr. Pearson and her colleagues provide a way to see leadership from the inside out—building on the ever-increasing understanding of what it means to be leaders who are aware and mindful not only of the skills, knowledge, and experience they need but also of the sense of purpose and meaning they need to bring to their worldview. It is a must-read for all who are, plan to be, and have been leaders of their time.”
Donna Shavlikformer Director, Office of Women in Higher Education, American Council on Education, and board member, National Council for Research on Women
“The Transforming Leader should be required reading for every leader, leadership scholar, and leadership consultant because of its scope and depth. The many brilliant contributors help us think anew about models of transforming leadership, as well as plumb the depths of our own consciousness as leaders. Then, if that weren’t incredible enough, they show us how to use this powerful ‘inner/ outer dynamic’ to transform the world.”
Jean Lipman-BlumenThornton F. Bradshaw Professor of Public Policy and Professor of Organizational Behavior, Claremont Graduate University, Peter F. Drucker and Masatoshi Ito Graduate School of Management, and author of Connective Leadership and The Allure of Toxic Leaders
“Packed full of the latest research and ancient wisdom, The Transforming Leader honors the past while creating great vision. It is simultaneously scientific and spiritual, full of intuition and deeply practical!”
Valerie ShangreauxDirector of Leadership, Blandin Foundation
“I wish I had this book to read for my first experience as a leader—and each one thereafter! Fortunately, Carol Pearson and her colleagues have provided this remarkable set of essays in time to help current and future leaders in organizations and in the classroom transform their inner thoughts and emotions into powerful leadership actions in the service of others.”
Robert J. ThomasProfessor of Marketing and former Dean, School of Continuing Studies, Georgetown University
“The current leadership discourse seems to agree that a big change, a transformation, is required for 21st-century leaders. This refreshing book brings together creative thought and artistic science to offer a hopeful model for the leaders of the future.”
Eliat AramPhD, CEO, The Tavistock Institute of Human Relations
“The Transforming Leader is a comprehensive and elegantly integrated guide to the latest thinking in the study of leadership. It offers opportunities for deep exploration within a clear, accessible structure and can be used by leaders to deepen their humanity while developing their efficacy.”
Hélène SmitProgram Director, National Diploma in Facilitation, South African College of Applied Psychology, and author of Beneath
“Carol Pearson and her colleagues give us the inspiration, the confidence, and the tools to bring our leadership visions and skills to the fore. These essays are so insightful and imaginative that readers will want to turn to them again and again to inform their leadership practice as it evolves in new contexts and with new challenges.”
Julie L. RamseyEdD, Vice President for College Life and Dean of Students, Gettysburg College
“There has been much discussion on transformational leadership since Jim Burns wrote his tome in the 1970s. Much of it is structural and theoretical with little application to ordinary businesses and people’s lives. This book changes that. If you are serious about transforming your business or yourself…read this work.”
Mark GrandstaffPhD, co-editor of Strategic Leadership and former Clinton appointee to the leadership team, Commission on National Service
“Carol Pearson has assembled a collection of innovative thinkers and writers who present new, refreshing, and challenging ideas about leadership. Engaging and actionable—this is not your ‘flavor of the month’ volume.”
Hile RutledgePresident, Otto Kroeger Associates
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What Psychologists Are Saying About The Transforming Leader

“This compelling recount of historical and contemporary narratives of transformative leaders will inspire, educate, and enlighten anyone who may seek to lead others through the valley of shadows and fears.”
Dexter FreemanDSW, LCSW, Director, Army–Fayetteville State University Master of Social Work Program
“The synthetic scope of this collection brings the spiritual and the scientific into dialogue in a manner that will carry us deeply into the 21st century. A must-read for all who recognize the importance of true leadership.”
Joseph Cambray,PhD, President, International Association for Analytical Psychology
“Carol Pearson, a leading light in fusing the psychological and the corporate, has once again done us all a favor. Gathered together in this insightful book is a wide array of authors who shed light on the complexities and nuances needed for leadership. Their insights are eagerly welcome at a time when we are hungry and searching for new leaders.”
Aryeh MaidenbaumPhD, Director, New York Center for Jungian Studies
“There are rare moments in time when truly pioneering spirits emerge. Through their work, insights, and the vastness of their vision and nature, we suddenly become aware of a world far greater than what we have previously experienced, and at such moments, a new paradigm is created. Such is the work, life, and influence of Carol Pearson.”
Michael ConfortiPhD, Jungian analyst and founder and Director, Assisi Institute
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Table of Contents

Foreword - Deborah Higgins

Preface: The Leadership for Transformation Project - Judy Brown and Michael Jones

Introduction: The Transforming Leader: New Needs for New Times

Setting the Context for Part One

Evolving Thinking about Transformational Leadership

  1. Transactional and Transformational Leadership: Their Foundations in Power and Influence – Michael J. Lovaglia, Jeffrey W. Lucas, and Amy Baxter
  2. Leadership in Action: Three Essential Energies – Betty Sue Flowers
  3. Leadership and Organizational Networks: A Relational Perspective – Philip Willburn and Michael Campbell
  4. Positive Power: Transforming Possibilities through Appreciative Leadership – Diana Whitney and Amanda Trosten-Bloom
  5. Dancing on a Slippery Floor: Transforming Systems, Transforming Leadership – Kathleen Allen
  6. On Mattering: Lessons from Ancient Wisdom, Literature, and the New Sciences – Barbara Mossberg

Setting the Context for Part Two

Deepening and Expanding Inner Capacities for Becoming the Change

  1. The New Basics: Inner Work for Adaptive Challenges – Katherine Tyler Scott
  2. Integral Leadership: Opening Space by Leading through the Heart – Jonathan Reams
  3. Mindful Leadership: Discovering Wisdom beyond Certainty – Susan Szpakowski
  4. Leadership as a Spiritual Practice: Vocation and Journey – Matthew Fox
  5. Transmuting Suffering: A Leadership and Advising Perspective – Arthur Colman and Éliane Ubalijoro
  6. Shapeshifter Leadership: Responding Creatively to the Challenges of a Complex World – Carol Burbank

Setting the Context for Part Three

Shifting Perspectives on Inner/Outer Connectivity

  1. Depth Entrepreneurship: Creating an Organization Out of Dream Space – Stephen Aizenstat
  2. Deep Dialogue: Harvesting Collective Wisdom – Alan Briskin
  3. New Approaches for Leadership: A Psychospiritual Model for Leadership Development – Karin Jironet and Murray Stein
  4. It’s All a Dream: Depth Approaches to Understanding and Withdrawing Projection – Jeremy Taylor
  5. Hearing the Music: Leadership and the Inner Work of Art – John J. Cimino and Robert B. Denhardt
  6. Unleashing Possibilities: Leadership and the Third Space – Zachary Green, Omowale Elson, and Anjet van Linge

Conclusion: Reinforcing Change through Transformational Communication

Appendix A Application Exercises
A: Applications for Th inking through What to Do
B: Applications for Becoming the Change You Wish to See
C: Applications for the Art of Transforming Groups
Conclusion: Creating a Connected Leadership Narrative and Plan

Appendix B Additional Resources
Organizations and Associations
Foundational Theory Sets
Leadership and Personal Development Instrumentation
Additional Communities of Practice

References
Leadership for Transformation Bibliography
Gratitudes
Index
About the Editor
About the Fetzer Institute
About the International Leadership Association
About Pacifica Graduate Institute

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