Short presentation for the Virginia Tech chapter of Sigma Alpha Lambda. Highlights the changing nature of leadership and the challenge of shifting from conventional leadership approaches to a more collective approach.

1. Thinking Differently About
Leadership
Presented by Eric K. Kaufman
October 8, 2017

2. www.simonwestern.com To cite work: Western S. (2008) Leadership a Critical Text, Sage London

3. Controller vs. Therapist

4. Messiah vs. Eco-Leadership

5. Shift from Individual Leaders
According to Western (2010):
“We mistakenly recognize power at the
center as strength and power at the margins
as a structural weakness when neither is the
case. Eco-leadership shifts the focus from
individual leaders to leadership—a radically
distributed leadership—in an attempt to
harness the energy and creativity in a whole
system.” (p. 44)

6. Fear of Eco-Leadership?
“If we are able to lay aside our fears, even
momentarily, to consider the collective
alternative, we might not only see its value
but also its appropriateness for 21st-century
organization…. People have to be willing to
find their voice and contribute it to the
growth of the community.”
- Raelin (2017) “What are you afraid of: Collective leadership and its
learning implications.”

7. Un-doing Understanding
• How does this relate
to our theoretical and
practical
understandings of
leadership?
• How might our deep-
seated biases affect
our ability to
understand
leadership?
The Backwards Brain Bicycle -
Smarter Every Day 133

8. Prospects for
Strengths-Based Leadership
• Argues that we all have
innate talents to be
developed into strengths
• Views leadership as a
collective process
• Recommends different
strengths for different
leadership situations

9. Lesson for Practice
“A leader is someone who can get
things done through other people.”
-Warren Buffet

10. Executing Relationship Building
Strategic Thinking Influencing
Domains of Leadership Strength
Task-
Oriented
People-
Oriented
Future-Oriented
Present-Oriented Internal-Focused
External-Focused

11. Implications for You and Others?

12. Thank you!
Let me know how I can help
• Eric Kaufman
– EKK@VT.Edu