Nobody in Charge : Essays on the Future of Leadership

One of the most renowned thinkers and insightful writers on leadership of our time, Harlan Cleveland has seen numerous trends come and go and weathered many drastic changes in leadership and management-from the rise of the "company man" to the advent of the leaderless, self-managed organization. In this collection of essays-the newest addition to the Warren Bennis Signature Series--he draws on his vast experience to apply his thoughts to leadership. In each essay, Cleveland focuses on an intriguing insight about leadership-illustrated by stories from his own experience --offering thoughtful perspective on what 21st century leaders will face in the new knowledge environment.

Harlan Cleveland, one of the world's top thinkers about leadership, developed his way of thinking as a successful executive leader—in government under four presidents, in three universities, and in private enterprise. In this book, drawn from writings around the edges of a leader's life during half a century, he distills his insights and wisdom on the future of leadership-"the get-it-all-together profession."

The fourteen essays in this collection have an underlying theme: with everything getting more complicated, nobody can possibly know enough to be in general charge of anything really interesting or important. Cleveland argues that this means everybody has a chance to be partly in charge; but since most people won't reach for the brass ring, those who do will be leaders, mostly self-selected.

Nobody in Charge suggests how and why the worldwide spread of knowledge, speeded and enhanced by information technology, is fundamentally changing what it takes to bring people together to make something different happen-in business and government and education and in international affairs. Sprinkled with stories from his own experience and observation, Cleveland describes the attitudes, qualities, and learnings that will work best for people who point the way, create networks, build organizations, and inspire others to act. He also examines the ethics of public leadership and the education of citizens-in societies where a rapidly growing proportion of citizens will opt for leadership.

Nobody in Charge......Page 7 Contents......Page 9 Foreword: The Man on the Flying Trapeze......Page 13 Preface......Page 17 How I Got Here......Page 23 Part One: The Macrotransition We Are In......Page 35 1. The Get-It-All-Together Profession......Page 36 2. Coming Soon: The Nobody-in-Charge Society......Page 50 4. The Age of People-Power......Page 68 5. Dinosaurs and Personal Freedom......Page 84 6. “Safe for Diversity”......Page 96 7. The Social Fallout of Science......Page 114 8. Intuition and Chaos in the Real World......Page 132 Part Two: On Being a Leader......Page 149 9. The Leader as Futurist......Page 150 10. The Dean’s Dilemma: Leadership of Equals......Page 162 11. A Style for Complexity......Page 174 12. “The Very Definition of Integrity”......Page 196 13. The Situation-as-a-Whole Person......Page 218 14. Education for Citizen Leadership......Page 230 Afterword: Aphorisms from Experience......Page 244 Afterword: The Whole Chessboard......Page 248 Index......Page 251 "One of the most renowned thinkers and insightful writers on leadership of our time, Harlan Cleveland has seen numerous trends come and go and weathered many drastic changes in leadership and management-from the rise of the "company man" to the advent of the leaderless, self-managed organization. In this collection of essays-the newest addition to the Warren Bennis Signature Series--he draws on his vast experience to apply his thoughts to leadership. In each essay, Cleveland focuses on an intriguing insight about leadership-illustrated by stories from his own experience --offering thoughtful perspective on what 21st century leaders will face in the new knowledge environment"--Amazon.com One of the most renowned thinkers and insightful writers on leadership of our time, Harlan Cleveland has seen numerous trends come and go and weathered many drastic changes in leadership and management - from the rise of the 'company man' to the advent of the leaderless, self-managed organization. In this collection of essays - the newest addition to the Warren Bennis Signature Series - he draws on his vast experience to apply his thoughts to leadership. In each essay, Cleveland focuses on an intriguing insight about leadership - illustrated by stories from his own experience - offering though There was a time, celebrated in song and story, when leadership was entrusted to people called leaders.