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Manuel London. Leadership Development: Paths to SelfInsight and Professional Growth. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, 2002, 293 pages, $79.95 cloth, $32.50 softcover. Reviewed by Valerie L Sessa, Hoboken, NJ.
This book is based on the recognition that there is no simple formula for leadership, and that leaders must find their own individual way of being effective through understandings of their own strengths and weaknesses, of the context, of other people and their needs in the situation, and of how these three components relate to each other.
The book is organized into four parts exemplified in a model presented in the first chapter (p. 24). The model proceeds as follows. First, the leadership styles required to meet changing organizational demands affect the psychological processes needed to produce desired leadership behaviors. Second, the psychological processes suggest elements for the design of "comprehensive and systematic" leadership development programs, which, once implemented, affect the strength of the psychological processes. Third, these processes ultimately affect a leader's response to growth through learning, challenges and opportunities, and leadership. Every chapter in this book clearly links back to the model and draws information from each preceding chapter. It is packed with scholarly information, practical advice, examples, and guidelines, and is backed by a comprehensive literature review drawing on London's own long term programs of research on these topics, as well as those of many others.
Chapter 1 sets out the argument of the book. It outlines contemporary business trends, trends in leadership approaches, and leadership development trends. London argues that today's business environments are increasingly complex and marked by rapid change due to multinationality of the organization, diversity of the people, increasingly competitive marketplace, and rapidly advancing technology. These business challenges are changing what it means to be a leader in today's organizations-particularly those in the high tech and emerging markets arenas. Current approaches to leadership reflect these new demands, and London summarizes what is known about newer styles of leadership, including transactional, transformational, spiritual, adaptive, versatile, inspirational, and principled styles....