Connected Leader Creating Agile Organizations for People, Performance and Profit

The Connected Leader Creating agile organizations for people, performance and profit Emmanuel Gobillot FRONT FLAP What if management thinking to date has been directed at the wrong problem? What if leadership literature's focus on formal authority and organizational structures has been at the expense of the "Real Organization" - the powerful network of informal relationships that doesn't appear on any organizational chart? What then? The result of 150 years of leadership thinking is simple: Leaders always eventually fail. In today's context, formal hierarchies are no longer effective. Only the real organization, with its cross-cutting networks, is agile enough to respond to the "people economy" (the new context brought about by mass consumer and employee emancipation). Taking a 21st-century approach to leadership theory, Emmanuel Gobillot (a senior director at Hay Group) argues that modern leaders need to engage with employees and customers in order to improve performance and profit. Relationships based on trust and meaningful dialogue provide benefits for the organization, employees and customers. The Connected Leader offers both a theoretical background and practical examples for the evaluation of leadership skills. Diagnostic tools based on the author's own extensive work in this field provide a unique opportunity for the reader to put theory into practice. REAR COVER What can two singles looking for love on the internet tell you about what your customers want? Why does it take an anarchist golfer to show you how to meet your customers' needs? What does an 8-year-old nail-varnish-loving girl know about motivating people? Drawing on a varied cast of characters, The Connected Leader shows how our traditional views of organizations limit our ability to deliver results. For leaders this carries an important lesson: many of the old leadership recipes are outdated. The Connected Leader sounds a passionate wake-up call to leaders everywhere - in politics, business and public services: the formal organization is a myth for success, and leaders must look to the networks of relationships that make up real organizations. "Gobillot has written a clever, indeed intriguing, book. It draws on a wide range of materials from the classic leadership literature and modern strategic thinking to produce a work both engaging and practical. People all over organizations will find much of value." Professor Gareth Jones, visiting professor at INSEAD, Fellow of the Centre for Management Development at London Business School, and co-author of Why Should Anyone be Led by You? "We are at our best when we feel a part of something meaningful and important. Emmanuel Gobillot goes beyond helping us to envision effective leaders to creating the power of possibilities with engaged leaders. He integrates observations from a huge number of fields and industries to bring a fantastic exploration of the essence of great leadership relationships - being connected and engaged!" Professor Richard Boyatzis, Departments of Psychology and Organizational Behavior, Case Western Reserve University, Adjunct Professor of Human Resources, ESADE, co-author of Resonant Leadership and the international best-seller Primal Leadership "Emmanuel Gobillot cuts through years of management theories and processes to reveal what our organizations are really about: engaged people who like to work together and create value for other people, our customers. We need to determine a shared direction and lead peopleGobillot, Emmanuel is the author of 'Connected Leader Creating Agile Organizations for People, Performance and Profit', published 2006 under ISBN 9780749448301 and ISBN 074944830X.