Creating Leaderful Organizations: How to Bring Out Leadership in Everyone

Rating:
Summary: A capable addition to a crowded field
Review: Creating Leaderful Organizations presents a paradigm of mutual - rather than heroic - leadership. It transforms leadership from an individual property to a collective responsibility. Raelin details how 'leaderful' practice can accomplish the critical processes of leadership more effectively than any existing approach. At the heart of the book is observation of success of self-organizing teams in which no one person appears to be exercising hierarchical control. Raelin argues that, so far from being 'leaderless', these teams or groups are 'leaderful', a term that he then overuses in an apparent attempt to give it wide currency.

Rating:
Summary: Excellent addition to any leadership library
Review: This is a very strong book on leadership that is much needed for our current challenges in the field. Current thought of what leadership means to organizations and leaders in most companies is no longer sufficient in our journey to become better social and organizational systems. Joe Raelin's book clearly identifies the necessary paradigm that we all need to be thinking about when we hear the word, "leadership." Leadership is for everyone - at all levels of the organization - and not just for those who lead at the top. Total cultural engagement, corporate citizenship, respectful and open communication, listening for others wisdom and truth, and collaboration define Joe's version of a leaderful organization, and it should be celebrated for years to come. Non-hierarchical ways of leadership is no longer an option - it is a strategic imperative that Joe Raelin thoughtfully and clearly articulates in this valuable addition to our leadership library.
From Chapter 1, "Leaderful practice is unique compared to empowerment models that have become popular in recent years in that it does not merely present a consultative model wherin leaders in authority allow "followers" to participate in their leadership. Nor does it equate to stewardship appraoches that see the leader step aside to allow others to take over when necessary. Instead, it offers a true mutual model that transforms leadership from an individual property into a new paradigm that redefines leadership as a collective practice."