Leadership and the Art of Change

Most books on leadership and organizational change focus on descriptive theory and research, simplistic and questionable gimmicks, or biographical sketches of successful leaders whose character and exploits students are encouraged to emulate. Leadership and the Art of Change avoids pedantry, gimmicks, and hero worship while addressing the complex issues involved in trying to lead an organization. It does not bury the reader in abstractions, nor does it offer quick fixes. Leadership and the Art of Change is a unique book in that it focuses on a leader's central and most daunting task-achieving organizational change that successfully addresses external and internal threats and opportunities. Author Lee R. Beach uses six prime responsibilities as the framework for discussing change leadership: external and internal environmental assessment to identify required changes, organizational culture as a constraint on change, vision for motivating change; plans as a map for change, implementation to produce change, and follow-through for institutionalizing achieved changes and making ongoing change a part of the culture. Key Features: Defines leadership as the art of producing changes in an organization's environment, its culture, and its practices in pursuit of survival and prosperity Explains the importance of organizational culture as the key to facilitating or inhibiting change Examines methods for building a vision and leveraging culture in order to move the organization toward the vision with implementation strategies Offers self-summary exercises as well as a new episode of an ongoing vignette in each chapter that helps readers understand the issues under consideration Includes appendices that provide students with hands-on tools to do marketing research, survey an organization's culture, and perform decision analyses Written in a conversational manner, Leadership and the Art of Change is an engaging textbook for advanced undergraduate and graduate students studying management in a variety of programs including Business, Public Administration, Health Care Management, and Social Work. It will also be of interest to professional managers looking for a unique perspective on organizational change.