Theory and Practice of Leadership

Theory and Practice of Leadership By Roger Gill Sage Publications, New Delhi, 2012, Pages: 532, Price: 545 ISBN: 978-81-321-1085-9 (Paperback)It is accepted now both in theory and in practice that leadership is one of the most important resources in organizations. This belief goes back to late 50s in Selznick's conceptualizing general management capability as a key 'distinctive capability' of organizations, and even further back to Plato's concept of the philosopher king in ancient Greece. The study of leadership both in business and other contexts has been of interest to both practitioners and academicians. In business, leadership is often seen as a distinguishing feature of successful organizations and some organizations have apparently succeeded by their superior capabilities to create and nurture leaders at different levels. In academics, research on leadership has often sought to understand leadership by classifying it, linking it to successful outcomes, or trying to identify the causal factors behind successful leaders. However, the field is yet to have a consensus on these different questions.The book 'Theory and Practice of Leadership' by Roger Gill in its second edition is an attempt to combine the various concepts in leadership to create a new model. Starting with the premise that the generally accepted meaning of leadership has negative connotations, the book adopts a positive definition of leadership as showing the way, and helping or inducing others to pursue it. This entails envisioning a desired future, providing a clear purpose, supportive values, relevant structure, and empowering and engaging all those concerned. The author's emphasis is on 'good' leadership which is characterized by its ethical stance and effectiveness. Hence the broad model which Gill proposes includes the themes of vision, purpose, values, strategy, empowerment and engagement. The book is structured into 12 chapters that elaborate on these themes.Chapter 1 - 'Introduction: The nature and importance of leadership', defines leadership and brings out the importance of leadership in today's context. Yet, there is confusion currently on what leadership means, and there has been no discernable improvement in quality of leadership over the years. Chapter 2 - 'Sectoral similarities and differences in leadership', describes the application of leadership in different sectors such as business, politics, public sector, the education sector and the not-for-profit sector- focusing on the similarities and differences between the sectors. Chapter 3 - 'Leadership theory: a critical review, synthesis and redefinition' reviews the major theories and models that inform leadership research. Chapter 4 - 'Leadership and vision,' focuses on the first key component of Gill's model. Chapter 5 - 'Leadership and purposes,' brings out the relevance of mission in leadership. Chapter 6 - 'Leadership and values' explores the aspects related to values, ethics, social responsibility and organizational culture in the context of leadership. Chapter 7 - 'Leadership and strategy,' looks at the schools of strategy and the linkages of the processes of strategy formulation and implementati on with the construct of leadership. Chapter 8 - 'Leadership and empowerment,' and Chapter 9 - 'Leadership and engagement,' focuses on the 'follower' aspect of leadership and the implications of leadership in capturing the aspirations of the members of the organization. Chapter 10 - 'Multiple intelligences of leadership,' explores the multiple forms such as cognitive, emotional, social, cultural, moral, and spiritual intelligence which are manifested in different combinations at different levels of leadership. Chapter 11 - 'Assessment and development of leadership,' attempts to answer the question as to whether leadership is inherent, or can be developed, and provides an argument of why leaders are both born and made. Chapter 12 - 'Leadership Brand- Sustaining Leadership excellence,' introduces the concept of a leadership brand which is defined as the summation of leadership across different levels in the organization, and reflects the unique approach of the organization to build employee commitment to the company. …