Literature of Leadership - Leading Without Authority

LEADING WITHOUT AUTHORITY: HOW THE NEW POWER OF CO-ELEVATION CAN BREAK DOWN SILOS, TRANSFORM TEAMS, AND REINVENT COLLABORATION. Keith Ferrazzi with Noel Weyrich (2020, Kindle Edition)

We live in an era marked by transformational disruption and organizational challenges that exceed the capability of any individual leader or unit. Leading Without Authority presents a new workplace operating system, called co-elevation—defined as a mission-driven approach to collaborative problem-solving through fluid partnerships and self-organizing teams. The concept of co-elevation calls for everyone within an organization to exercise leadership in collaborative partnerships, regardless of their title or position. It helps leaders at all levels to cut through bureaucratic bottlenecks of authority to realize radically improved performance outcomes.

The author, Keith Ferrazzi, is a widely recognized thought leader in the relational and collaborative sciences. Also, he is a New York Times bestselling author and frequent contributor to many leading publications such as Harvard Business Review, Forbes, Fortune, among others. In this book, Ferrazzi draws on more than a decade of research, including insights from interviews with more than 100 CEOs and transformational leaders, to outline a road map for thriving in uncertain times.

Specifically, Ferrazzi demonstrates how to foster an environment in which your “team”—defined as those who are critical to achieving a mission-centered goal—commits to a shared purpose of “going higher together”. The road map is comprised of Eight Work Rules for a New Work World, which constitute the core chapters in the book. These include:

1. Who’s your team? Identify critical people to achieve the desired goals.

2. Accept that it’s All on you: Seize responsibility, build relationships, and step up to the challenge.

3. Earn permission to lead: Build connection and commitment through serving, sharing and caring.

4. Create deeper, richer, more collaborative partnerships: Cultivate trust and empowerment.

5. Co-development: Engage in peer-to-peer coaching and organizational learning.

6. Praise and celebrate: Reward and recognize the right behaviors.

7. Co-elevate the tribe: Hold each other responsible and accountable for actions.

8. Join the movement: Inspire a culture of co-elevation thinking.

Each chapter features leadership stories from the field and presents practical tips, strategies and suggestions to add to your leadership toolkit. A worthwhile read!

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