The Drama of Leadership

As a member of the board of directors of several majorinternational financial services corporations, Patricia Pitcher wasin a privileged position to observe the inner workings of thecorporate world. What she witnessed was a crisis of leadershiprooted in a misunderstanding of what leading is all about. Notcontent to simply offer an opinion-opinions come cheap-she embarkedon an eight-year research project to document the reasons for therapid collapse of a global giant. That collapse, she shows us,began with one critical succession error and was compounded by achronic failure to understand the importance of personality in theleadership equation. One wrong person at the helm turned a dreaminto a nightmare.

In The Drama of Leadership, Patricia Pitcher shares her findingsand, in the process, explodes a number of popular myths aboutleadership, including the one that leadership and vision arequalities that can be taught in management seminars. She refutesthe common belief that leaders are in short supply and proves thatthe corporate talent pool abounds with potential leaders whosetalents either go unrecognized or are tragically undervalued. Andshe explains why, at a time when vision, innovation, humanity, andpassion are so desperately needed, so many companies cast inleadership roles people who possess none of these qualities, andwho distrust anyone who does.

But who are the good and bad leaders, and how do you identify them?In answer to this question, Patricia Pitcher identifies three typesof leaders: Artists, who are people-oriented, open-minded,intuitive, and visionary; Craftsmen, to whom the adjectives"humane," "dedicated," and "wise" best apply; and Technocrats -brilliant and well-schooled in the latest theory, they aredetail-oriented, rigid, methodical, self-centered, and, when leftin control, pose a serious threat to corporate competitiveness. Thepower struggles between these types are dramas being played out incompanies everywhere. Whether the story has a happy or an unhappyending depends entirely upon which type gets top billing.

The author also offers her wise recommendations on what companiescan do to protect themselves against a technocratic hegemony andhow to cultivate the talents of Artists and Craftsmen. She alsotells you how to determine what type of leader you are and how tointeract with other types to achieve both personal and corporatesuccess.

The Drama of Leadership is an articulate, insightful, passionateappeal to develop the kind of leaders and organizations that cantake us into the twenty-first century.

This book title, The Drama of Leadership, ISBN: 9780471148432, by Patricia Pitcher, published by Wiley (January 14, 1997) is available in hardcover. Our minimum order quantity is 25 copies. All standard bulk book orders ship FREE in the continental USA and delivered in 4-10 business days.

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