The economy uncertain, education in decline, cities under siege, crime and poverty spiraling upward, international relations roiling: we look to leaders for solutions, and when they don't deliver, we simply add their failure to our list of woes. In doing so, we do them and ourselves a grave disservice. We are indeed facing an unprecedented crisis of leadership, Ronald Heifetz avows, but it stems as much from our demands and expectations as from any leader's inability to meet them. His book gets at both of these problems, offering a practical approach to leadership for those who lead as well as those who look to them for answers. Fitting the theory and practice of leadership to our extraordinary times, the book promotes a new social contract, a revitalization of our civic life just when we most desperately need it. Drawing on a dozen years of research among managers, officers, and politicians in the public realm and the private sector, among the nonprofits, and in teaching, Heifetz presents clear, concrete prescriptions for anyone who needs to take the lead in almost any situation, under almost any organizational conditions, no matter who's in charge. His strategy of leadership applies not only to people at the top but also to those who must lead without authority - activists as well as presidents, managers as well as workers on the frontline. Here are Lyndon Johnson, Martin Luther King Jr., and Mahatma Gandhi, in triumph and in tragedy. Here too are military officers and soldiers, doctors and patients, college students, and local civic groups. Sketched with precision, touched by empathy, and unfailingly interesting, this cast of characters brings Heifetz's theory to life, demonstratingwhat a practitioner can do - or avoid doing - to assume leadership in an age without easy answers.

Heifetz (Harvard U.) offers a practical approach to leadership for those who lead as well as those who look to them for answers, drawing on research among managers, offices, and politicians in the public and private sectors. He discusses leading with and without authority, values in leadership, the roots of authority, and leaders such as Lyndon Johnson, Martin Luther King, and Mahatma Gandhi.
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Original and penetrating in its analysis of leadership. This is an excellent book. Important and valuable.

Alive with insights, concepts, new ideas, just teeming with the kind of creative approach to the study of leadership that I and of course many others esteem. In a field in which there has been a great deal of repetitious work, Heifetz strikes out in ground-breaking directions.

Heifetz presents a new theory of leadership for both public and private leaders in tackling complex contemporary problems. Central to his theory is the distinction between routine technical problems, which can be solved through expertise, and adaptive problems, such as crime, poverty, and educational reform, which require innovative approaches, including consideration of values. Four major strategies of leadership are identified: to approach problems as adaptive challenges by diagnosing the situation in light of the values involved and avoiding authoritative solutions, to regulate the level of stress caused by confronting issues, and to shift responsibility for problems from the leader to all the primary stakeholders. The theory is applied to an analysis of historical accounts of local, national, and international events. An innovative and thoroughgoing work; highly recommended.

Leadership without Easy Answersshould go a long way toward clearing up many confusions about leadership. Long a master teacher of leaders, Heifetz's courses and Harvard's Kennedy School of Government have been standing-room only for years. Read this book and see why.

Heifetz turns out to be one of the most thoughtful scholars on leadership. His direct and relevant concepts are pathbreaking.

Includes bibliographical references (p. 279-337) and index.

Ronald Heifetzdirects the Leadership Education Project at the John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University.

Foreword by Richard L. Neustadt

Introduction

Part I Setting the Frame

1. Values in Leadership

2. To Lead or Mislead?

3. The Roots of Authority

Part II Leading With Authority

4. Mobilizing Adaptive Work S Applying Power

6. On a Razor's Edge

7. Failing Off the Edge

Part III Leading Without Authority

S Creative Deviance on the Frontline

9. Modulating the Provocation

Part IV Staying Alive

10. Assassination

11. The Personal Challenge

Notes

Acknowledgments

Index