Summary

The 'MisLeadership' of this book's title is a description of the phenomenon the authors have uncovered through their analysis of the validity, or otherwise, of current leadership styles and achievements, in the light of the challenges leaders face, and particularly of the urgent global issues with which business leaders are now confronted. John Rayment and Jonathan Smith examine existing approaches to leadership with a focus on their shortcomings, categorized according to the four main types of misLeadership the authors have identified - Missing, Misguided, Misinformed and Machiavellian leadership. Each of these forms of misleadership has a corollary in one of the four elements of the kind of holistic leadership that the authors advocate - the capacity for effective decision making, the adoption of a global perspective, the move to a new business paradigm to replace the current economic and social one, and commitment to a contemporary mission. From Rayment and Smith's passionately argued, but well reasoned perspective, leaders, the led and those responsible for leadership development will gain an insight into the prevalence and causes of misleadership and into ways in which it can be identified and overcome. A range of examples and case studies is provided to enable the concepts presented here to be related to practice. As well as illustrating instances of 'misleadership' these also demonstrate that the emphasis in relation to the decision making models currently available to leaders may not be the most important stages of the processes involved. The global perspective emphasized by the authors is not just about globality in the geographical sense. An important part of the way forward suggested here involves considering all aspects of humanity - the physical, mental and spiritual strength, stamina and fitness of individuals, groups and societies, in the context of a 'Global Fitness Framework'. All this is presented in a practical and approachable style that enables these authors to introduce a new approach to a key element of management thinking, in a way that will encourage and empower individuals to think on a different scale, challenge assumptions and exercise effective leadership.