Ruthlessly Caring: And Other Paradoxical Mindsets Leaders Need to be Future-Fit 9781394177172, 9781394187058, 9781394187041, 1394177178

Table of contents :
Cover
Title Page
Copyright Page
Contents
Acknowledgements
Preface
Chapter 1 Megatrends That Are Reshaping the World
The Megatrends Shaping the Current and Future Leadership Context
A Washing-Machine Effect: Interactions and Tensions
Paradoxes Are Endemic in the Megatrend Context
Becoming Future-Fit: A Paradoxical Environment Calls for a Paradoxical Leader
Notes
Chapter 2 The Five Paradoxical Mindsets ofFuture-Fit Leadership
The Five Mindsets: High-Level Summary
What Exactly Is a Paradox?
Embracing Paradoxes: Why Bother?
What Makes Paradoxical Thinking So Difficult?
Identity Bucketing: How Leaders Polarise Themselves and Their Approach
Paradoxical Thinking: Preferences and Pendulums
Consequence 1: The Paradox Pendulum Swing
Consequence 2: Stuck in a Preference
Unfreezing Your Leadership Identity: Old Habits and Current Assumptions
Building Self-Awareness
Notes
Chapter 3 Ruthlessly Caring
What Is a ‘Ruthlessly Caring’ Mindset?
Why Embracing a ‘Ruthlessly Caring’ Mindset Matters Amidst the Megatrends
Increasing Pressure on Business Leaders to Show You Care
Increasing Pressure on Business Leaders to Sustain Performance and Deliver Results
Leading Ruthlessly: Making Tough Performance-Focused Decisions
1) Having a Performance Focus
2) Making Tough Decisions
The Ruthless Leadership Continuum: How to Stay on Track
Leading with Care: Staying Compassionate No Matter What
The Caring Leadership Continuum: How to Stay on Track
Notes
Chapter 4 Ambitiously Appreciative
What Is an ‘Ambitiously Appreciative’ Mindset?
Why Being Ambitiously Appreciative Matters Amidst Megatrends
Traditional ‘Profit-Only’ Thinking Distorts the Boundaries of What Is Expected and Rewarded
Advancing Technology: Making It Possible to Be ‘Always-On’
Social Media: Ramping Up the Expectations We Have of Ourselves
Burnout: The Price Being Paid
Leading Ambitiously: The Relentless Drive to Achieve
Developing Harmonious Passion
The Ambitious Leadership Continuum: How to Stay on Track
Leading with Appreciation: Keeping Goals and Work in Perspective
Learning to Appreciate What You Have
Getting a Sense of Perspective
The Appreciative Leadership Continuum: How to Stay on Track
Notes
Chapter 5 Politically Virtuous
What Is a ‘Politically Virtuous’ Mindset?
Why a Politically Virtuous Mindset Matters Amidst the Megatrends
Leading Politically: Being Savvy in the Circumstances
The Five Key Ingredients of Politically Savvy Leadership
Ingredient 1. Benevolent Motivation
Ingredients 2–5. The skills of politically savvy leaders
The Political Leadership Continuum: How to Stay on Track
Leading Virtuously: Doing ‘the Right Thing’ at the First Opportunity
1. Identifying Ethical Issues Early On
Fishbowl Thinking
Ethical Fading
2. Acting with Moral Courage
The Virtuous Leadership Continuum: How to Stay on Track
Notes
Chapter 6 Confidently Humble
What Is a ‘Confidently Humble’ Mindset?
Why Confidence and Humility Matter Amidst the Megatrends
Leading Confidently: Trusting Yourself and Inspiring Others to Trust You
Three Confidence Habits to Get Into
Habit 1. Separating Feelings from Action
Habit 2. Committing to Practice
Habit 3. Exercise Task-Focused Attention
The Confident Leadership Continuum: How to Stay on Track
Leading with Humility: Harnessing the Knowledge and Skills of Those Around You
How to Develop Intellectual Humility
The Humble Leadership Continuum: How to Stay on Track
Notes
Chapter 7 Responsibly Daring
What Is a ‘Responsibly Daring’ Mindset?
Why Leading in a Responsibly Daring Way Matters Amidst the Megatrends
The Requirement to Continuously Transform
Shifting Expectations Towards Long-Term Value Creation
Leading Responsibly: Making a Difference and Safeguarding the Organisation
1. Internalised responsibility: the call for leaders to take responsibility (not blame)
2. Forward-facing responsibility: embracing control and being accountable to future generations
Safeguarding the business and ‘keeping the lights on’
Five key skills required to lead responsibly
The Responsible Leader Continuum: How to Stay on Track
Leading Daringly: Being Willing to Take Risks and Push Boundaries
The Five Ingredients of a Daring Mindset
The Daring Leadership Continuum: How to Stay on Track
Notes
Chapter 8 Developing and Expanding Your Leadership Identity
Why Identity Is Important in Relation to Paradoxical Mindsets
What Identity Refers To
The Troublesome Myth of ‘True Self’
The Ability to Integrate Multiple Identities Is a Predictor of Leadership Success
Identity Is Not Fixed, but Continuously Created, Shaped, and Spotlighted
Narratives: How Identity Is Built Through the Stories We Tell
Quick Recap
Embracing All Five Mindsets: How to Develop and Expand Your Leadership Identity
Step 1: Find a Coach: start building insight into your current narratives and ‘possible selves’
Step 2: Identity undoing: shake it up, let it go, experiment
Step 3: Repeat the Process
Concluding Remarks: The Challenge of Being Adaptably Authentic
Notes
Index
EULA