The John Adair Lexicon of Leadership: The Definitive Guide to Leadership Skills and Knowledge

512 Pages·2011·3.56 MB·English

by  John Adair

i
The John Adair
Lexicon of
Leadership
ii
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The John Adair
Lexicon of
Leadership
John AdAir
THIS PAGE IS INTENTIONALLY LEFT BLANK

KoganPage
iv
Publisher’s note
Every possible effort has been made to ensure that the information contained in this book is accurate
at the time of going to press, and the publishers and authors cannot accept responsibility for any
errors or omissions, however caused. No responsibility for loss or damage occasioned to any person
acting, or refraining from action, as a result of the material in this publication can be accepted by the
editor, the publisher or the authors.
First published in Great Britain and the United States in 2011 by Kogan Page Limited
Previously published as separate titles:
Not Bosses but Leaders
The Inspirational Leader
How to Grow Leaders
Leadership and Motivation
Leadership for Innovation
The Art of Creative Thinking
Apart from any fair dealing for the purposes of research or private study, or criticism or review, as permitted
under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, this publication may only be reproduced, stored or trans-
mitted, in any form or by any means, with the prior permission in writing of the publishers, or in the case of
reprographic reproduction in accordance with the terms and licences issued by the CLA. Enquiries concerning
reproduction outside these terms should be sent to the publishers at the undermentioned addresses:
120 Pentonville Road 1518 Walnut Street, Suite 1100 4737/23 Ansari Road
London N1 9JN Philadelphia PA 19102 Daryaganj
United Kingdom USA New Delhi 110002
www.koganpage.com India
© John Adair, 2011
The right of John Adair to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with
the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
ISBN 978 0 7494 6306 9
E-ISBN 978 0 7494 6309 0
British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
A CIP record for this book is available from the British Library.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Adair, John Eric, 1934–
The John Adair lexicon of leade rship : the definitive guide to leadership skills and knowledge / John Adair.
p. cm.
Summary: “From the world renowned leadership expert John Adair, comes this unique volume of all
his classic works, including How to Grow Leaders, The Inspirational Leader, Leadership and Motivation,
Not Bosses but Leaders, Strategic Leadership and the international best-seller Leadership of Muhammad.
With his distinctive insight into how leadership is learned, John Adair presents six business books that
cross boundaries into culture, history, strategy and motivation. Leadership Lexicon is an essential volume
and an exclusive opportunity to own all of Adair’s ground-breaking works that will help you transform your
understanding of how leadership works and learn the skills to transform you into a leader” – Provided by
publisher.
ISBN 978-0-7494-6306-9 (hardback) – ISBN 978-0-7494-6309-0 (ebk.) 1. Leadership. 2. Motivation
(Psychology) 3. Management. 4. Leadership. I. Title. II. Title: Lexicon of leadership.
HD57.7.A2752 2011
658.4′092–dc22
2011001865
Typeset by Graphicraft Ltd, Hong Kong
Production managed by Jellyfish
Printed in the UK by CPI Antony Rowe
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vi Contents
06 Moving from plans to action 48
Agreeing objectives 49
Relating the parts to the whole 50
Respecting the line 51
Line and staff 52
Two-way communication 53
The roots of morale 54
Keypoints 54
07 Sharing and caring 56
The case of the injured worker 58
The role of trade union leadership 59
Coping with redundancy 60
Growing organizations 61
True authority 62
Keypoints 64
08 Leadership and power 65
Humility 66
Gaining respect 67
Giving respect 68
Leadership and hierarchy 70
Keypoints 70
09 Leadership from within 71
The leader as conductor 72
Keypoints 75

Conclusion 76
Notes and References 77
PArT Two The Inspirational Leader 79
10 The three basic approaches 81
Leadership characteristics 83
On enthusiasm 86
Keypoints 89
Contents vii
11 The authority of knowing 90
Key leadership functions 92
Designated leaders 93
Sharing decisions 95
Keypoints 96
12 Levels of leadership 98
Practical wisdom 100
Leaders and managers 103
The challenge of change 105
People need leaders 106
Keypoints 108
13 Giving and receiving 109
The importance of being fair 110
The implicit contract 112
Triangular relations 113
What transforms people 115
Keypoints 117
14 Beyond the call of duty 118
On human nature 119
Spirit within 120
The uses of spirit 122
Keypoints 123
15 The common task 124

Service to others 125
Three great values 126
A sense of purpose 129
On vision 129
The need for challenge 132
Moral authority 133
Keypoints 134
16 Pulling the threads together 136
The parable of flight 137
Inner greatness 138
viii Contents
The effects of trust 141
Keypoints 143
17 The why question 144
The key of morale 146
What motivates individuals 146
The inspired moment 148
Keypoints 148
18 The test of leadership 150
Dealers in hope 150
A faith for leaders 152
Keypoints 153
Towards excellence 154
Notes and references 155
PArT Three How to Grow Leaders 157
Exploring Leadership – A Personal Odyssey 160
19 The qualities approach 161
Can leadership qualities be developed? 163
20 The group or functional approach 166
What is the group or functional approach? 167

Applying the group or functional approach to training 170
21 Leaders or managers? 173
Discovering the generic role of leader 174
Revisiting the Qualities Approach 176
The manager as leader 178
22 The Situational Approach 179
What is the Situational Approach? 179
The origins of the Situational Approach 180
The Socratic tradition: can leadership be learnt? 184
Contents ix
23 Levels of leadership 186
The application of the Three Circles to organizations 188
The role of the strategic leader 188
Is it possible to transfer as a strategic leader from one organization to
another? 189
On practical wisdom 191
How to grow leaders — the seven principles 193
Principle One: Training for leadership 195
The most common error 195
Key outcomes 200
The second most common error 201
Training team leaders 204
You do not teach the paths of the forest to an old gorilla 205
Do ‘sheep dips’ work? 207
How to manage leadership training 209
Keypoints 210
Principle Two: Selection 212
How do people become leaders? 212
The principle of election 216
Applying the Group or Functional Approach to first-line leadership
selection 217
Selection – the wider framework 220
Keypoints 225
Principle Three: Line managers as leadership mentors 226
What is a mentor? 226
The apprenticeship method 227

At least you can say ‘goodbye’ 230
Keypoints 232
Principle Four: The chance to lead 233
The military analogy 233
What can organizations do? 234
What constitutes a challenge? 234
Fortune favours the prepared mind 236
Keypoints 239
Principle Five: Education for leadership 240
Thinking outside the box 240
Schools for leadership 243
x Contents
Growing university leaders 248
New opportunities for ‘education for leadership’? 250
Keypoints 253
Principle Six: A strategy for leadership development 254
Reviewing the strategy 255
Getting the structures right 256
What surrounds and infuses a successful strategy is culture 258
Keypoints 259
Principle Seven: The chief executive 261
Learning to be a top strategic leader 261
What does a strategic leader have to do? 264
Make your presence felt in training for leadership 266
Keypoints 269
Conclusion 270
PArT four Leadership and Motivation 273
24 Functional Leadership 275
The background 275
The theory of group personality and group needs 276
Individual needs and motivation 276
The needs interact 277
Leadership functions 278
Sharing decisions 280
Conclusion 281
Keypoints 282

25 Action-Centred Leadership 283
The wider ACL framework 284
The Qualities Approach 284
The Situational Approach 286
Individual needs 288
Leadership and management functions 290
The decision-making continuum 291
The levels of leadership 292
Keypoints 292