Leadership Paradoxes

Leadership Paradoxes was shortlisted for the 2017 Management Book of the Year, an industry book award organised by the Chartered Management Institute and the British Library.

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'The book encourages the reader to critique rational approaches to paradoxes in leadership and to view the world from different angles, as its gravity-defying cover based on Escher’s ‘Relativity’ print indicates. This edited collection is neither a text book nor a prescriptive guide. It is written as supplementary reading for advanced undergraduate, postgraduate, and post-experience students (a) to stimulate new thinking and debate; (b) to encourage wider reading of paradox and ambiguity; and (c) to consider how paradoxes impact leadership. […] this book is to be commended for reminding us that an understanding of leadership requires us to live with absurdities and question leadership practices and development. The companion website provides an excellent forum for further dialogue. Overall, Bolden et al.'s text is timely in a postheroic age as we strive to integrate converging physical, digital, and biological conundrums in the fourth industrial revolution.' -Dr Julie Davies, Management Learning, pre-published August 2016

‘Finally, a leadership text which reveals the paradoxical and messy reality of leadership rather than providing over simplified ‘how to’ recipes. Bolden, Witzel and Linacre have produced a radical text which is a must-read for the serious student of leadership.’ - Donna Ladkin, Professor of Leadership and Ethics, Plymouth University, UK

'Elegantly written throughout, and deeply rooted in both research and practice, each chapter offers novel variations on the central theme of paradox. This is a thought provoking and refreshing antidote to numerous damaging myths about leadership.' - Dennis Tourish, professor of Leadership and Organization Studies, Royal Holloway University of London, UK

‘The early part of the 21st century, to date, has been rife with complexity, uncertainty, ambiguity, and unpredictability. One of the inevitable products of the dynamics of our age is the ongoing creation of seemingly thorny, insoluble paradoxes. One cannot lead well without being able to comprehend paradoxes, and to artfully navigate them in ways that edify the group of people one leads. This topic is largely neglected in leadership courses – both in business schools and in broader leadership development efforts in industry and government. This book is an excellent response to this deficit, and a worthy introduction for students and managers who desire to increase their "paradox navigation" skills as leaders.’ - Mark E. Mendenhall, Ph.D., J. Burton Frierson Chair of Excellence in Business Leadership, University of Tennessee, Chattanooga, USA

‘Another strikingly-original text to come out of the Exeter Centre for Leadership Studies and its wide circle of contacts. Adding something new to a crowded field is not easy, but this distinguished band have done it again!’ - Dr Stephanie Jones, Associate Professor, Organizational Behavior, Maastricht School of Management, the Netherlands