The Leadership Challenge: How to Make Extraordinary Things Happen in Organizations - Hardcover

by James M. Kouzes (Author), Barry Z. Posner (Author)

The latest edition of the gold-standard guide for leadership development

In the new seventh edition of The Leadership Challenge: How to Make Extraordinary Things Happen in Organizations, best-selling leadership authors and business scholars James Kouzes and Barry Posner deliver an essential strategic playbook for effective leadership. The book's actionable advice is grounded in robust research and deep insights into the complex interpersonal dynamics of the workplace.

Premier authorities in the field, the authors frame leadership as both a skill to be learned and as a relationship to be nurtured. They demonstrate how to achieve extraordinary results in the face of contemporary business challenges with engaging stories, current case studies, and straightforward frameworks for those who seek continuous, incremental improvement.

The book also offers:

• Incisive commentary on the shift toward team-oriented and hybrid work relationships
• Key insights into how to break through a new and pervasive level of cynicism amongst the modern workforce
• Strategies for leveraging the electronic global village to deliver better results within your team, in your department, and across your organization

Perfect for every practicing and aspiring leader who wants to stay current, relevant, and effective in a rapidly evolving business environment, The Leadership Challenge will help you remain impactful and capable of inspiring and motivating your constituents at every level.

Front Jacket

In the Seventh Edition of The Leadership Challenge, renowned leadership researchers and educators James Kouzes and Barry Posner deliver a practical and straightforward discussion of exemplary leadership. Grounded in research and written by premier authorities in the field, this book offers insightful commentary on the complex interpersonal dynamics of the workplace. It positions leadership as both a skill to be learned and a relationship to be nurtured.

Exemplary leaders aspire to achieve more and inspire their followers to be their best. The latest edition of this leadership classic demonstrates how contemporary leaders can do exactly that while bridging the gap between getting things done and making extraordinary things happen. It also includes many new real-world leadership examples and anecdotes from international sources and maintains a laser focus on key workplace issues.

Readers will learn about leaders' critical roles in developing and maintaining organizational health and understand the modern shift toward team-oriented work relationships. They'll discover how to break through the cynicism that pervades much of the contemporary workforce and leverage the electronic global village to deliver optimal results.

As the world of business continues to evolve and transform at increasingly rapid rates, the most effective leaders will keep pace with the changes while the merely average will fall behind. The Leadership Challenge, Seventh Edition, explains how to lead and manage employees who work differently, are motivated differently, and have different expectations than they did a decade ago. It is your roadmap to staying current, relevant, and effective in the modern workplace.

Back Jacket

PRAISE FOR THE LEADERSHIP CHALLENGE, SEVENTH EDITION

"Did we really need a Seventh Edition of The Leadership Challenge? The answer is a resounding yes. This seminal book-series is more important than ever, far more important. The world is a mess. And the best way out, as I see it, is to better our organizations and the lives of their employees. The Five Practices that are the keystone of the book can without doubt trigger an internal revolution of organizational excellence--which can, collectively, give one hope, on a global scale, for a brighter future."

--TOM PETERS, bestselling business author and speaker

"Kouzes and Posner have quite literally written the book on leadership. Not only that, but they're also generous and thorough enough to keep updating it, as our tumultuous times demand. This Seventh Edition of The Leadership Challenge is a masterpiece--informative, practical, and engaging. If you take these ideas to heart and apply the book's Five Practices assiduously, you will be well on your way to becoming a better leader."

-- AMY C. EDMONDSON, Professor, Harvard Business School; author of The Fearless Organization

"This is a classic--one of the few books on leadership that's actually worth reading. The Leadership Challenge is more relevant than ever: a practical, evidence-based resource on how to mobilize people around a common goal."

-- ADAM GRANT, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Think Again and host of the TED podcast WorkLife

"The U.S. Coast Guard Academy has relied upon the foundational principles set forth in The Leadership Challenge to develop the next generation of leaders of character who will serve the people of the United States. This exciting Seventh Edition draws upon conclusive research and is bursting with compelling, real-life examples to learn from and by which to lead. If you want to learn how to earn trust and respect as a leader others yearn to follow, let this book serve as your proven field guide."

-- SANDRA STOSZ, Vice Admiral, USCG (ret.), trustee for the U.S. Coast Guard Academy James M. Loy Institute for Leadership, and author of Breaking Ice & Breaking Glass: Leading in Uncharted Waters

"I've been a student of leadership derived from my time in the military and a practitioner of the Five Practices of The Leadership Challenge for nearly thirty years. I have found that The Leadership Challenge is a call to action for any individual that wants to lead through inspiration and accomplish only what others dream of achieving. It's required reading for my leadership team and has been a foundational training platform for my management teams over the years."

--MARK LEPOSKY, Executive Vice President, Global Operations, Topgolf Callaway Brands

Author Biography

JAMES KOUZES is a fellow at the Doerr Institute for New Leaders at Rice University and formerly the Dean's Executive Fellow of Leadership, Leavey School of Business at Santa Clara University.

BARRY POSNER holds the Michael J. Accolti, S.J., Chair at Santa Clara University and is Professor of Leadership with the Leavey School of Business. He is Chair of the Department of Management and Entrepreneurship and previously served as Associate Dean for Graduate Programs, as well as Executive Education, and as Dean of the Leavey School.