Unnatural Leadership: Going Against Intuition And Experience To Develop Ten New Leadership Instincts

Written by David Dotlich and Peter Cairo-- two of the country's top executive coaches and educators-- Unnatural Leadership debunks the common notion of the natural leader as a flawless figure. The book describes the truth about being a real leader in a business environment turned upside down by e-commerce, diversity, security concerns, globalization, and matrix structures. Drawing on personal experience working with successful leaders in top-tier companies throughout the world, Dotlich and Cairo identify a style of leadership used by those who succeed in complicated business and people situations, a style that maximizes a leader's strengths and acknowledges weaknesses.

David L. Dotlich-- former executive vice president of Honeywell and Groupe Bull-is a partner of CDR International (www.cdr-intl.com) and coauthor of Action Learning (Jossey-Bass, 1998) and Action Coaching (Jossey-Bass, 1999), both of which identify breakthrough ways to develop leaders and are used by companies throughout the world. He is a business adviser, educator, and coach to top executives of Johnson & Johnson, Intel, Siemens, Bank of America, Novartis, Sun Microsystems, The Gap, Nike, Sprint, Washington Mutal, and more.

Peter C. Cairo former chair of the Department of Organizational and Counseling Psychology at Columbia University, specializes in the areas of leadership development, executive coaching, and business effectiveness. He is a partner of CDR International (www.crd-intl.com). His clients include Andersen, Avon, Bank of America, Colgate Palmolive, Lilly, and Merck. He is a coauthor of Action Coaching (Jossey-Bass, 1999).

Foreword (Stephen H. Rhinesmith).

Preface.

Acknowledgments.

Introduction.

Part One: The Importance of Unnatural Leadership.

1 Ten Unnatural Acts.

Exercise: Assessing Your Unnatural Leadership.

2 Adapting to an Increasingly UnnaturalEnvironment.

Exercise: Breaking the Rules of Natural Leadership.

3 Resistance Factors.

Exercise: Assessing Your Resistance to UnnaturalLeadership.

Part Two: Personal Challenges for the Unnatural Leader.

4 Refuse to Be a Prisoner of Experience.

Exercise: Refusing to Be a Prisoner of Experience.

5 Expose Your Vulnerabilities.

Exercise: Exposing Your Vulnerabilities.

6 Acknowledge Your Shadow Side.

Exercise: Acknowledging Your Shadow Side.

7 Develop a Right-Versus-Right Decision-MakingMentality.

Exercise: A Tool for Developing an UnnaturalDecision-Making Mentality.

Part Three: Leading Teams as an Unnatural Leader.

8 Create Teams That Create Discomfort.

Exercise: Creating Teams That Create Discomfort.

9 Trust Others Before They Earn It.

Exercise: Trusting Others Before They Earn It.

10 Coach and Teach Rather Than Lead and Inspire.

Exercise: Coaching and Teaching Rather Than Leadingand Inspiring.

Part Four: Leading the Organizationas an Unnatural Leader.

11 Connect Instead of Create.

Exercise: Connecting Instead of Creating.

12 Give Up Some Control.

Exercise: Giving Up Some Control.

13 Challenge the Conventional Wisdom.

Exercise: Challenging the Conventional Wisdom.

14 Giving Yourself Unnatural Options.

Bibliography.

Index.

About the Authors.