Leading and Organisations

This article is part of our Mentor-Coach Reading List series. Join the mailing list to receive this and more.

Managerial leadership happens within multiple contexts and multiple moments - the organisation, the coaching and mentoring of and with people, the sustainable future and volatile environments. These six books will help you navigate what it means to be a next-level leader within the complexities of today’s organisations.

Happy reading and stay curious!

Here is more information about the Series 12 selection of books.

Head and Heart: The Art of Modern Leadership (Viking, January 2023) by Dr. Kirstin Ferguson. This sentence from the book sets the scene: “Leadership is simply a series of moments, and every moment gives you the opportunity to leave a positive legacy on those you lead.” This is a book that celebrates many different positive stories of leadership by those who have the courage or capacity to act. What defines these ‘modern leaders’? Curiosity, wisdom, perspective and capability are the head-based attributes; humility, self-awareness, courage and empathy are the heart-based attributes. Combining studies from leading thinkers, her own research, powerful stories from a broad range of role models and personal experience, Kirstin challenges you to think about leadership and rethink stereotypes.

Coaching and Mentoring: A Journey Through the Models, Theories, Frameworks and Narratives of David Clutterbuck (Routledge, December 2022) by Prof. David Clutterbuck. Many of the models and approaches familiar to coaches and mentors are based in David’s prolific research, writing and practice, from Systemic Talent Management, through Team Coaching from a Complex, Adaptive Systems perspective, Personal Reflective Space, to the Diversity Awareness Ladder. In bringing more than 60 of these innovations into one volume, the book provides an invaluable contribution to the practice of coaching, and puts the evolution of coaching theory into context, tracing its development over time.

Understanding Organizations...Finally! (Berrett-Koehler, February, 2023) by Prof. Henry Mintzberg. We live in a world of organisations, from our birth in hospitals until our burial by funeral homes. In between, we are educated, employed, entertained, and exasperated by organisations. We had better understand how these strange beasts really work. Believing there is one best way to structure organisations is the worst way to do so. A better place to start is by recognising different species of organisations. Mintzberg identifies seven-personal enterprises, programmed machines, professional assemblies, project pioneers, and others. He explores these forms and the seven forces that drive them toward hybrids and across their life cycles.

Sustainable Leadership: Lessons of Vision, Courage, and Grit from the CEOs Who Dared to Build a Better World (Wiley, September 2022) by Clarke Murphy. Drawing on the real-life stories of Sustainable Leaders from across the world, Murphy (Russell Reynolds Associates) proves that sustainability success is within reach for every business executive. He debunks the myth that sustainability is at odds with profitability and reveals the inside track on how to make sustainability your new growth strategy. He offers a step-by-step framework on how to build your Sustainable Leadership legacy; pragmatic examples of balancing the demands of shareholders and other stakeholders and lessons from CEOs on how they stayed the course in the face of setbacks.

Deliberate Calm: How to Learn and Lead in a Volatile World (Harper Business, November 2022) by Jacqueline Brassey, Aaron De Smet and Michiel Kruyt. Three McKinsey & Company veterans draw from a unique combination of psychology, neuroscience, and consciousness practices plus a combined 50-plus years of international board room experience to offer a unique approach to learning and leading with awareness and intentional choice, even amidst the most challenging circumstances. When we most need to learn and change, we stick with what we know or old models, often in ways that stifle learning and innovation. To avoid this “adaptability paradox” requires a different way to learn and lead.

Organizations On The Couch: A Clinical Perspective on Organizational Dynamics (Livonics Publishing, January, 2022) by Prof. Manfred F. R. Kets de Vries. In this book he argues that unconscious dynamics have a significant impact on organisational behaviour. He explores motivational need systems, conflictual relationships, narcissism, transferential patterns, and the Monte Cristo complex while exploring the clinical approach to organisational consultation and intervention. He makes the case for the creation of ‘authentizotic’ organizations — organisations in which people feel truly alive.