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For continuing professional development, research material and just information, this was an easy informative read.
It's not unusual for well-intended efforts to create and lead change to end up as a failure - institutions and colleagues have been known to chew up those efforts (and the person leading them) and spit them out.So, what's a leader to do. Heifetz and Linsky give a number of compelling examples of good intentions gone wrong and what can be learned from those examples. This book can help leaders to increase their awareness of where their efforts may fall apart or be challenged and what they can do about it.Leadership on the Line is easy to read and filled with practical ideas for improving leadership and change management effectiveness. I frequently recommend this book to my leadership coaching clients.
If it is possible, I will never buy again with you unless other distribution company (diferent of UPS) make the service. So, I should have been at home during 20 days without going out, only wainting for them.
I paid an extra to get it as soon as posible (3 days) but it arrived to me 20 days later with a extra cost of the customs. Very disappointed.
The worst thing in this buying was the transport. They never call before delivering.
An what is worst, they tried to give the product to me several times, because I was not at home. The reason.
I called UPS, and this is what they said. It wa a nigthmare.My rate for transport is minus 5 (-5)
Rather, this is a book of leadership wisdom. When the heat is on, as well as when accolades are flowing, we need to distinguish between our person and role. On the dance floor, we constantly interact with people. Adaptive change always is resisted because it incurs loss and a sense of disloyalty to those we love and admire who taught us the values we now hold. The task of the leader is to raise the temperature of dialogue to the point that people are willing to face the issues that inhibit progress while monitoring the heat to avoid permanent damage or withdrawal.
The dance floor is offered as a metaphor for the leadership environment, whether corporate, community, or family. Leadership, the authors suggest, is the work of leading people through difficult change. Because adaptive change is resisted, leadership is dangerous. We also are advised not to confuse allies and confidants; allies who truly share our values make poor confidants because they fail to bring a detached perspective. It is not the standard leadership book that sets forth winning skills and practices, nor is it a report of leadership research.
However personally attacks or praise may be framed, it is one's role as leader that raises people's angst, anger, and appreciation, not one's person. When people are willing to face the need for change, however, it is important to give the work back to the group. Leaders often are called to act beyond their authorization because people prefer "work avoidance strategies" to engaging adaptive change. The book looks at the dangers inherent in leadership and ways to protect ourselves as we lead.
It is important, the authors tell us, periodically to get up to the balcony--to reflect with some detachment about what is happening on the dance floor, including our own movements there. The book is Leadership On the Line, by Ronald Heifetz and Marty Linsky. This is a book about leadership. Our temptation as leaders is to do the necessary work for the group, but that creates dependency and never effects the needed change--the issue we thought was resolved will crop up again in different form. Furthermore, focus is shifted from the issue to the leader; this may be temporarily satisfying when one is acclaimed a hero, but it also assures that unprocessed emotions will be directed against the leader when the issue reemerges. We are advised to keep the opposition close at hand because we need their insights. Beside the dance floor and the balcony, leaders also need a sanctuary--a place where reflection is focused on restoring one's own soul and on reestablishing perspective. Heifetz and Linsky teach at the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard.
They distinguish between "technical change"--the kind that can be resolved by doing what everyone knows is necessary--and "adaptive change"--the kind that requires us to reconsider our values, our traditions, and our habits. Heifetz was trained as a psychiatrist and is a master musician; Linsky's background also is music and government. We don't stay in the balcony, however; going to the balcony enables us more intentionally to re-engage in the dance. Once a week, we are told, is not enough; leaders need time in their sanctuary daily. Allies who share strategic interests with us also may betray confidences. I hope others will find this book as helpful as I have.
I needed the book for class. It was much cheaper on Amazon and got here quickly.
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