This book is primarily concerned with how people come together to achieve a productive purpose. Human survival has always depended upon our ability to form and sustain social organisations. People have a deep need to be creative and to belong. By creating positive organisations we can fulfil these needs and build a worthwhile society. Such organisations do not occur by chance; a positive organisation is created by the hard work of leaders and members and influenced by the way the organisation is designed, especially its systems. All this needs to be based on an understanding of sound, general principles of behaviour. This book outlines that work; how to build a positive organisation in terms of general principles and practical examples. Understanding and applying this work requires discipline (not dogma) and creativity. The authors show the significant positive results that can be achieved and detail a range of case studies. Unlike some books which are based on goals, objectives or visions this book concentrates on how this can be achieved. The authors observed and engaged with what good leaders and members actually do and have endeavoured to distil the essence of productive relationships based on core, human values Contents List of Figures Acknowledgments Preface Introduction: Systems Leadership: what use is theory? PART I: PRINCIPLES OF BEHAVIOUR 1. Principles of Behaviour PART II: THE NATURE OF WORK AND ORGANISATIONS 2. What is work? 3. Human capability. 4. Meritocracy. 5. Associations and employment hierarchies. 6. The work of the board with the executive team. 7. Leadership, Power and authority. 8. Levels of work. PART III: SYSTEMS LEADERSHIP 9. The work of leadership: creating a culture. 10.Leadership, policy and systems. 11.Task formulation and assignment. 12.Authorities and role relationships. 13.Key systems. 14.Teams and teamwork. PART IV: MAKING CHANGE HAPPEN- PUTTING THEORY INTO PRACTICE 15.The Process of successful change - how it is achieved? 16.Systems and Symbols Audits-organisational health check 17.How to design systems. 18.Creating high performance teams. 19.So what? What difference has this made? 20.Implementation - discipline or dogma. 21.Who is there to guard the guards? Essentials of a positive organisation 22.Complementary theories and practices. Conclusion Bibliography Index. About the Authors Dr Ian Macdonald is founder and director of Macdonald Associates, an international organisational development consultancy. Dr Catherine Burke is Professor at the School of Policy Planning and Development, University of Southern California, USA. Karl Stewart has held various management roles including Managing Director of Comalco Smelting (now Rio Tinto).

Complex Adaptive Leadership argues leadership should not be something only exercised by nominated leaders. It is a complex dynamic process involving all those engaged in a particular enterprise. This book is focused on helping practitioners struggling to interpret and react to increasingly complex events. To that end, it is arranged in four manageable parts and provides a number of exercise, tools and models that will help the reader to understand: - why the context for leadership has changed, and why complexities in organisations have emerged - what complexity is and what lessons can be drawn from this emergent area of scientific study - how Complex Adaptive Leadership can be exercised in a very practical way at two levels: organisationally and individually, and how to get more for less - the actions that can be taken when Complex Adaptive Leadership is applied. Contents: List of Figures Acknowledgements Preface: what's this all about? Part I The Context: A journey of discovery The world wide context - a flow towards polyarchy The organisational context - evolve or die Finita la comedia - stop playing charades A quick breather between Parts I and II. Part II Chaos and Complexity: Order in chaos, simplicity in complexity - the deeper paradox Getting to grips with chaos and complexity Getting chaos and complexity to work A quick breather between Parts II and III. Part III The Leadership Angle: What is leadership anyway? What about the followers? Complex adaptive leadership in action A final breather between Parts III and IV. Part IV Looking Forward and Other Interests: Beyond this book - the choices you have… Appendices Bibliography Index. About the Author: Nick Obolensky has enjoyed a successful career in a number of roles, in the military, third sector, academia and in business, including those of Associate Director of a FTSE 100 firm, and CEO and Chairman of entrepreneurial start-ups. He is a Chartered Management Consultant and was an Executive Strategy Consultant at Ernst and Young, where he also led the Research Associate Practice. He has been a Fellow at the London Business School and was a Founder Fellow at The Centre for Leadership Studies at the University of Exeter in the UK, Professor of Leadership at Nyenrode University in the Netherlands and a Visiting Professor at INSEAD in France. His work has been published by Kogan Page around the world as well as under the auspices of the University of Exeter Centre for Leadership Studies and the RSA.

Leaders across the world are facing huge and increasing challenges, including a number of urgent global issues. John Rayment and Jonathan Smith argue that many current leadership styles and approaches that are evident in business, education and governments are inappropriate for these challenges. Through and analysis of current approaches they have uncovered the Misleadership phenomenon. Here they critique exiting approaches to leadership in terms of the four main types of misLeadership identified - Missing, Misguided, Misinformed and Machiavellian. Each of these has a corollary in one of four elements of the holistic leadership the authors advocate - capacity for effective decision making; adoption of a global perspective; move to a new business paradigm; and commitment to a contemporary mission. The authors’ passionate but reasoned argument provides insight into the prevalence and causes of misleadership and the ways in which it can be identified and overcome. Illustrations, examples and case studies relate the concepts to practice, demonstrating that many contemporary decision making models don’t focus on what is most important. The global perspective emphasized by the authors applies in the geographical sense and to the need to consider all aspects of humanity –the physical, mental and spiritual strength, stamina and suppleness of individuals, groups and societies, in the context of a 'Global Fitness Framework'. All is presented in a practical and approachable style that introduce a new approach to management thinking, in a way that encourage and empower individuals to think on a different scale, challenge assumptions and lead effectively . 'We are in the midst of a leadership crisis that extends to all spheres of society. The lack of trustworthiness amongst leaders has contributed to the erosion of trust amongst the general public. With its fresh thinking and practical wisdom, this book will help arrest the crisis and inspire us to become the leaders we have it within us to be.' Peter S. Heslam, Transforming Business, University of Cambridge, UK Contents List of figures List of Tables Abbreviations About the Author Introduction Missing leadership and the need for effective decision-making Misguided leadership and the need for a global approach Misinformed leadership and the need for a new paradigm Machiavellian leadership and the need for a contemporary mission Misleadership and the need for a globally fit leadership Case studies Implementation strategies Index.