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Appreciative Leaders: In the Eye of the Beholder
A Taos Institute Focus Book Publication
Forward by David Cooperrider
What are the first-person stories that noteworthy leaders can tell
us about their challenges, their winning strategies, their beliefs,
their accumulated wisdom? Who are these appreciative leaders that we
usually only get to know in a cursory way in our business magazines?
When did this all start for them and what is it that they wished they
would have learned earlier, if they perhaps could have read stories
such as the ones they are now sharing with us? Why is it that they
chose to lead in this manner? In essence, what has contributed to
their being the appreciative leaders who are making such a significant
difference in their organizations, and now with increasing visibility,
in our larger society?
Appreciative Leaders: In the Eye of the Beholder is a
compilation of intimate stories captured by seasoned practitioners who
were invited to identify someone who particularly exemplified
appreciative leadership. Using an interview guide and “the Eye of the
Beholder,” each writer captures the thoughts, actions, and emotions of
their identified leader. Of the 15 stories covering business, health,
education, government, and not-for-profit organizations, almost all
storytellers have known their subject over time. Some have worked with
them in the same organization, while others have been active witnesses
from a distance. The writers have been privy to the satisfactions, the
failures, and the accompanying learnings that life has provided the
leaders, and are now sharing that wisdom with us. The practitioners
have used their verbal artistry to create images that range from
brief, intriguing pencil sketches to colorful, developed etchings.
The book is divided into six chapters, with the stories of the
leaders captured in four central chapters. The titles reflect the
particular sectors: Taking Care of Business, Supporting Wellness,
Serving the Community, and Reflections of a Lifetime. The wide range
of leaders include Warren Bennis, Distinguished Professor of Business
Administration at the University of Southern California; Bob Stiller,
president and CEO of Green Mountain Coffee Roasters; Thomas Innui,
President and CEO of the Fetzer Institute; Chief of Police Peter
Carnes in Yarmouth, Massachusetts; Annette Griffin, Superintendent of
the Year in Dallas Texas; and other leaders from organizations
including British Petroleum, Harley-Davidson, and Concord Hospital in
New Hampshire.
The book’s introductory chapter presents the purpose of the
book—given how the work of organizations is changing, a new kind of
leadership is necessary and is, indeed, emerging. The final chapter
offers a synopsis of the perception of the interviewers regarding the
leaders they interviewed, focusing on the particular attributes and
qualities that characterized the leaders. Through gathering
questionnaire responses from the interviewers, the editors analyze the
qualities of appreciative leaders that are important and that are
manifested. The editors then identify and illustrate the themes that
emerged.
Schiller Marjorie, Bea Mah Holland, and Deanna Riley,
Appreciative Leaders: In the Eye of the Beholder, A Taos Institute
Focus Book Publication, 2001. ISBN 0-9712312-0-6
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