This ground-breaking book portrays an emerging global culture. It offers the experiences and perspectives of 31 top executives from 15 countries in 6 continents. These are business people who express from first-hand experience what it is like to lead a business from a spiritual basis.

This is a book about Leadership, with a specific emphasis on how leaders can be inspired by the thoughts of notable philosophers and thinkers on various topics connected more or less directly with their field of activity. Leaders are, in all priority, leaders of people, which means that matters of human experience, human behaviour and human relations are essential to their trade. So, the reader should not be surprised that a majority of the quotations presented in this book address the question of the human factor. Who are we? What is the meaning of life? Is there a purpose to life and also, of course, the whole issue of ethics: how should we behave, what ought we or ought we not to do? These are some of the essential questions that we shall discuss in this book. Empathy, as it is well known, is a critical leadership key success factor. But to empathize, to feel and care for others, we need to understand what goes on with them, what their needs are, what they love and what they fear. And this knowledge can only be achieved as a projection onto others of what we feel ourselves. As humans, we are mirror images of each other, at least with regard to the essential aspects of our being. For leaders to empathize with their followers and business partners, they need to start by understanding and knowing themselves. ‘Know thyself’, said the great Socrates, which implies that by knowing ourselves we can then know others, by sheer identification with them. Hence, by increasing their understanding of the essentials of life and people, leaders will grow wiser in dealing with their fellow humans and hopefully develop into role models for their followers. This book, however, is not limited to exploring the human factor alone. It also provides wise thoughts and advice about dealing with many situations and challenges encountered in our personal and professional lives. By dwelling on these issues, leaders will be likely to learn how to improve their professional practice and enhance their performance altogether.

In Leading With Wisdom, Jann Freed takes the several years she spent interviewing more than 100 respected leaders, and distills their advice into eight practices that underpin leaders who connect and inspire others to achieve high performance. She takes the words of heavyweights such as Warren Bennis, Peter Senge, Stephen Covey, Marshall Goldsmith, Peter Block, and Margaret Wheatley, and presents their insights on what works and what doesn’t. Each chapter concludes with a practical application section that details ways to integrate the concepts into workshops and personal development. Use the workshop and personal development suggestions to apply the eight practices into your daily life. Learn from the words and personal stories of highly respected leaders. Integrate the best of yourself and your life into your daily tasks and roles. This book is for anyone in a position of influence in an organization, or those who train these individuals. It’s also for those who feel they are drowning in information, but starving for wisdom about what behaviors nurture people, organizations, and communities at large. Discussing her research process with these experts, Jann says, "When I asked about leadership—they told me about life." This book helps leaders integrate the best of themselves and their lives into the tasks and roles of leaders.

A practical guide for leading others with wisdom, integrity, and humanity This book argues that great leadership requires wisdom. Rather than a formulaic managerial approach to leadership, Lead with Wisdom presents the case for leadership based on our shared humanity and the stories that unite us. What emerges is a model of leadership based on learning to read key patterns of human experience: the way language shapes our reality, how we form new meaning through conversation, how relationships determine influence and how we deal with uncertainty. It presents readers with the tools and illustrated examples to implement the four arts of leading wisely: how to draw out and create a new story in the organization, how to find and leverage the brilliance of people, how to speak with promise to restore meaning and hope, and how to show grace in dealing with the most demanding people and circumstances. Offers a leadership approach rooted in our shared humanity and the stories which unite and define us Ideal for corporate leaders, middle managers, administrators, and anyone else with management responsibilities Written by a popular speaker on leadership and the author of Arts of the Wise Leader, with personal CEO experience and a PhD in the history of ideas Structured as one key idea per page or double page spread with funky line drawings supporting the concepts and skills For anyone who wants to lead with wisdom, integrity, and humanity, Lead with Wisdom offers a welcome alternative to traditionally robotic and formulaic leadership strategies.

If it is true that “everything rises and falls on leadership,” we have a problem. A recent international survey revealed that 86 percent of respondents believe we are facing a global leadership crisis. The study encompassed leadership in business, government, the non-profit sector, and religion. Non-profit and business leaders ranked highest in terms of public confidence. Government leaders ranked very low. The only leaders to rank lower than government leaders were religious leaders. This leadership crisis is not driven by an absence of leaders. Leaders are everywhere, yet we still have a leadership crisis. Nor is this crisis caused by a lack of leadership training. Who can keep up with the books, seminars, and training programs offering the latest trends and best thinking on leadership? And yet, we still have a leadership crisis. While the world is looking for better leadership methods, God is looking for better leaders—leaders shaped by wisdom. What use, after all, is getting things done, or even servant leadership, without wisdom? In Proverbs we discover an ancient training regimen for leaders, guiding them in the cultivation of virtuous character. Following Wisdom, Leading Wisely is an invitation to rediscover this ancient wisdom for today’s leaders.

What kind of character strengths must leaders develop in themselves and others to create and sustain extraordinary organizational growth and performance? In this updated and expanded second edition, the author, John J. Sosik, answers this question by reviewing what is known about the connection between authentic transformational leadership and positive psychology. He summarizes a wealth of leadership knowledge in a unique collection of captivating stories about 25 famous leaders from business, history and pop culture: Aung San Suu Kyi, John F. Kennedy, Maya Angelou, Bill Gates, Brian Wilson, Rosa Parks, Martin Luther King, Jr., Joe Namath, Malala Yousafzai, Mother Teresa, Angelina Jolie, Pope Saint John Paul II, Shirley Chisholm, Sheryl Sandberg, Andy Griffith, Margaret Thatcher, Oprah Winfrey, Nelson Mandela, Warren Buffet, Carlos Ghosn, Eleanor Roosevelt, Herb Kelleher, Steve Jobs, Johnny Cash, and Fred Rogers. What do these leaders have in common? Each possesses virtues of wisdom, courage, humanity, justice, temperance, and transcendence and their associated character strengths that form the foundation of their outstanding leadership. Besides generating astonishing results for their organizations, these leaders reaped numerous physical, mental, social and spiritual benefits from their strong character. Their stories teach readers leadership principles that they too can apply to achieve sustainable growth and excellence. The author includes dozens of interesting examples, vivid anecdotes, and clear guidelines to offer readers an in-depth look at how character and virtue forms the moral fiber of authentic transformational leadership. Individuals currently in leadership positions as well as aspiring leaders will find the book’s conversational style, fascinating stories, and practical guidelines both useful and inspiring.

This book explores contemporary metaphors of leadership from a biblical or church historical perspective. It seeks to understand the cultural, social, and organizational metaphors from the Bible and the implications for contemporary organizations. Addressing issues such as communication, mentorship, administration, motivation, change management, education, and coaching, the authors explore concepts related to both for-profit and not-for-profit organizations. This book will be a valuable addition to the leadership literature in showing how biblical leadership principles can be used in contemporary organizations.