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"This book specifies why organizations fall into patterns of inertia and details the skills leaders need to regain organizational momentum. It includes case illustrations from technology, finance, banking, home entertainment, and retail business sectors. Illustrations are drawn from organizations such as Amazon, Apple, Borders, Merrill Lynch, Nintendo, Starbucks, and Unilever, among many others. The book says that organizational leaders need to continuously explore new opportunities and transfer insights into new products, processes, and directions. They also need to mobilize support for ideas, sustain and drive these ideas forward, and achieve results"--
List of contents
1. THE CHALLENGE OF INERTIA
Sluggish Organizations: Clunky and Myopic
The Inertia of the Clunky Tendency
Sprawling Expansion
The Inertia of the Myopic Tendency
The Blinder Traps
Reaching Potential: Leading for Discovery and Delivery
Robust Discovery
Contextual Competence: Leaders as Explorers
Ideational Competence: Leaders as Innovators
Focused Delivery
Political Competence: Leaders as Campaigners
Managerial Competence: Leaders as Sustainers
2. LEADING FOR ROBUST DISCOVERY
Explore the Context
Scan for Information
Read Weak and Strong Signals
Partner for Direction and Execution
Facilitate Ideation
Structure Information Flow
Frame the Challenge
Lead for Ideation
Maintain Hot Group Culture
3. LEADING FOR FOCUSED DELIVER
Campaign for Support
Create a Coalition Mind-Set
Anticipate Where Stakeholders Are Coming From
Overcome Resistance
Sustain Momentum
Monitor for Tight and Loose Execution
Maintain Commitment and Direction
CONCLUSION: PRAGMATIC LEADERSHIP AND THE COUCH-POTATO ORGANIZATION
About the author
Samuel B. Bacharach, the McKelvey-Grant Professor at Cornell University, is the cofounder of the Bacharach Leadership Group, providing the skills of pragmatic leadership to numerous organizations. He is the author or editor of more than twenty academic books, more than one hundred articles, and a number of popular practitioner-oriented books, including
The Agenda Mover. His leadership training material has been used by such corporations as Cisco, SunGard, PepsiAmericas, Starwood Hotels & Resorts, Citigroup, Chubb, and Gap, as well as Cornell University, Lehigh University, and the University of Virginia. He is a frequent speaker on the topic of pragmatic leadership and a regular columnist for
Inc.
