Product Description

Leadership in Organizations focuses on effective leadership in organizations through both theory and practice. This book explains and critiques the major theories and studies that are most relevant and informative and reviews what we know about leadership effectiveness. This combination of theory and practice makes this text a useful resource for practicing managers who are looking for something more than superficial answers to difficult questions about leadership.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #35890 in Books
• Published on: 2005-07-17
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 560 pages

From the Publisher
The most comprehensive survey of the major theories and research on leadership and managerial effectiveness in formal organizations -- with practical suggestions for improving leadership skills.

From the Back Cover

Leadership in Organizations focuses on effective leadership in organizations through both theory and practice. This book explains and critiques the major theories and studies that are most relevant and informative and reviews what we know about leadership effectiveness. This combination of theory and practice makes this text a useful resource for practicing managers who are looking for something more than superficial answers to difficult questions about leadership. 

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

This book is about leadership in organizations. The primary focus is on managerial leadership as opposed to parliamentary leadership, leadership of social movements, or emergent leadership in informal groups. The book presents a broad survey of theory and, research on leadership in formal organizations. The topic of leadership effectiveness is of special interest. Again and again the discussion returns to the question of what makes a person an effective leader.

The content of the book reflects a dual concern for theory and practice. I have attempted to satisfy two different audiences with somewhat incompatible preferences. Most academics prefer a book that provides a detailed explanation and critical evaluation of major theories, and a comprehensive review and evaluation of empirical research. They are more interested in how well the research is done and what additional research is needed than in the practical applications. Many academics are skeptical about the value of prescriptions and guidelines for practitioners and consider them premature in the absence of further research. In contrast, most practitioners want some immediate answers about what to do and how to do it in order to be more effective as leaders. They need to deal with the current challenges of their job and cannot wait for decades until the academics resolve their theoretical disputes and obtain definitive answers. Most practitioners are more interested in finding helpful remedies and prescriptions than in finding out how this knowledge was discovered.

These different preferences are a major reason for the much-lamented gulf between scientists and practitioners in industrial-organizational psychology and related fields. I believe it is important for managers and administrators to understand the complexity of effective leadership, the source of our knowledge about leadership in organizations, and the limitations of this knowledge. Likewise, I believe it is important for academics to think more about how their theories and research can be used to improve the practice of management. Too much of our leadership research is designed only to examine narrow, esoteric questions that are of interest only to a few other social scientists who publish in the same journals.

Academics will be pleased to find that major theories are explained and critiqued, empirical research on leadership is reviewed and summarized, and many references are provided to enable them to follow up with additional reading on topics of special interest. The field of leadership is still in a state of ferment, with many continuing controversies about conceptual and methodological issues. The book addresses these issues whenever feasible rather than merely presenting theories and summarizing findings without concern for the quality of research that lies behind the theories. However, the literature review was intended to be incisive, not comprehensive. Rather than detailing an endless series of theories and studies, the book focuses on the 20 percent of the literature that appeared to be most relevant and informative. The book reviews what we know about leadership effectiveness, and the current edition reflects significant progress in our understanding of leadership since the first edition was published in 1981.

For practitioners, I attempted to convey a better appreciation of the complexity of managerial leadership, the importance of having theoretical knowledge about leadership, and the need to be flexible and pragmatic in applying this knowledge. The current edition has many guidelines and recommendations for improving managerial effectiveness, but the book is not a "practitioner's manual" of simple techniques and secret recipes that guarantee instant success. The purpose of the guidelines is to help the reader understand the practical implications of leadership theory and research, not to prescribe exactly how things must be done by a leader. Most of the guidelines are based on a limited amount of research, and they are not infallible.

Since the last edition, the number of chapters was reduced from 19 to 15 by consolidating related topics into the same chapter, minimizing redundancy among chapters, and deleting some topics that are usually covered adequately in introductory survey courses. The changes made some of the chapters a little longer, but the book is now easier to use in a course with a 15-week format, as well as in shorter courses. This edition includes one new chapter, which was added to cover four important and related topics: ethical leadership, gender and leadership, cross-cultural leadership, and management of diversity. I have added learning objectives at the beginning of each chapter to provide a better overview of what I wanted to accomplish in the chapter.

At the end of most chapters are short cases designed to help the reader gain a better understanding of the theories, concepts, and guidelines presented in the chapter. The cases describe events that occurred in real organizations, but some of the cases were modified to make them more useful for learning basic concepts and effective practices. The reader is asked to analyze behavioral processes, identify examples of effective and ineffective behavior, and suggest effective ways to handle the situation depicted in the case. The cases take from 20 to 30 minutes to discuss.

An instructor's manual is available with detailed analyses of the cases and suggestions on how to use them. The instructor's manual also includes a multiple-choice exam for each chapter with items on the major points in the chapter. The manual includes exercises for use in class (e.g., role plays), and some out-of-class activities that help students to understand how they can apply the theory and guidelines. New exercises have been added to this version of the manual.

With its focus on effective leadership in organizations, the book is especially relevant for people who are currently managers and administrators, or, who expect to enter a leadership position after completing their college education. The book is appropriate for use as the primary text in an undergraduate or graduate course in leadership. Such courses are found in business schools, psychology departments, sociology departments, departments of educational administration, schools of public administration, and programs in health care administration. The book could be used (in combination with other texts or readings) for courses in management, supervision, educational administration, health care management, and public administration. Finally, the book will be of interest to practicing managers who are looking for something more than superficial answers to difficult questions about leadership.

In conclusion, thanks are extended to the following people for their helpful comments: Denise Daniels, Seattle Pacific University; Georgia Sorenson, University of Maryland; Kenneth Wallace, Craven Community College; and Kimberly S. McDonald, Indiana-Purdue University.

Gary Yukl
Albany, New York

Customer Reviews

weLEAD Book Review ...
Yukl uses his expertise and credibility to write an outstanding book focusing on managerial leadership rather than social or parliamentary leadership. He attempts to include information on both the theory and practice of leadership in modern organizations. This valuable text also includes many recommendations and guidelines for improving the effectiveness of managers and leaders. The book includes a number of cases in an attempt to help the reader understand real world organizational problems and applications. This is a book that is primarily written and mostly reads like a college text book and is indeed used by a number of universities in their managerial or leadership programs. However, it is easy to read and does an excellent job of including the most informative and relative literature, studies and theories available today. Highly recommended for anyone interested in the study of organizational leadership, leading teams, leading change or studying follower-based approaches toward leadership.

Leadership Defined
Gary Yukl hits dead center of the leadership target. His work begins with the issue of defining leadership and tackling the difference between management and leadership. Laced throughout with extensive reference and research material the book clearly moves from definition of leadership through different levels of leadership to top strategic leadership practices. His lessons and practices are both valuable and usable.

Readers will be treated to detailed, relevant discussions of the each leadership issue discussed within the book. Within each issue, Mr. Yukl, glides through the basis of the theories and then details realities of how to achieve the results suggested by those theories. Within several topics, he provides cases studies and questions about those case studies for the reader's consideration. The result is a practical, working manual about leadership.

Between the discussions of the leadership issues and the practices there is something here for all readers. More importantly, there is plenty or information within the covers of this book that truly matters. Anyone with a leadership role of any type should read this book.

Comprehensive, informative & enjoyable
As the title implies, this book focuses on managerial leadership exclusively; a topic at the center of management research for several decades now and therefore, the information and research available is simply huge. However, despite the extensive research, writing, and theories that seem to litter the field, Gary Yukl manages to cover all relevant aspects in a clear and straight-forward manner. As he mentions in the Preface, "the topic of leadership effectiveness is of special interest..." and therefore, there is a wealth of ideas, guidelines and processes designed to transfer the theoretical research available to practice. Each chapter (with the exception of the introductory and closing chapters) includes review questions and at least one (1) case study. Additionally, most chapters include one or more "Applications" sections that provide practical guidelines for managers based on the theory/research discussed.

Yukl's book does not make for easy reading nor is it a 'basic' book (for that, you're better off with Northouse's Leadership: Theory and Practice) and you would probably enjoy the book (and gain more) if you progress to it from a fundamental-level book.

The introductory chapter (The Nature of Leadership) is an excellent primer on the concept of managerial leadership; the 'types' of theories that deal with leadership; and the difference between management and leadership. I also found the chapters on Strategic Leadership by Executives (Chapter 12) and Developing Leadership Skills (Chapter 13) extremely useful as I do a lot of leadership development programs and I find myself returning to Yukl's text again and again to develop effective programs for my clients.

(Since it is not possible to see the Table of Contents, I'm including hee a brief synopsis)

The book is organized in 15 Chapters:
1) Introduction: The Nature of Leadership - as I mentioned above, this is an excellent primer.
2) The Nature of Managerial Work - Yukl highlights the latest development in management research including managerial roles (Mintzberg) and situational theories.
3) Perspectives on Effective Leadership Behavior - focusing on behavior-based theories.
4) Participative Leadership, Delegation, and Empowerment - includes Vroom & Yetton's models as well as an excellent section on delegation that has become my 'bible' on the topic.
5) Dyadic Role Making, Attributions, and Fellowship - Leader-member Exchange theory, Attributions and Implicit theories.
6) Power & Influence - clear and focused presentation of all aspects of power and influence as they relate to managerial leadership.
7) Managerial Traits & Skills - unlike other textbooks you find on Leadership, Yukl's treatment of the trait-based theories is innovative and useful. He includes the requisite historical development of trait-based theories, but makes the topic more relevant to practitioners by also highlighting trait-based theories used today in selection (the Big Five, for example) and also sections on different types of intelligences (emotional, social, etc.).
8) Early Contingency Theories of Effective Leadership - presents and discusses theories of Fiedler; Path-Goal, Situational Leadership, Leadership Substitutes, Multiple Linkages and Cognitive Resources.
9) Charismatic & Transformational Leadership - very well written chapter introducing the concept of `Charisma' in some detail and follows with transformational theories and applications.
10) Leading Change in Organizations - another excellent chapter that manages to condense a difficult topic without losing value.
11) Leadership in Teams and Decision Groups - the impact of leadership on group processes, decision making and overall team effectiveness.
12) Strategic Leadership by Executives - this is an extremely useful chapter on everything related to strategic leadership in an organization: definitions, barriers, challenges, tools, and processes.
13) Developing Leadership Skills - this is my `blue-print' for developing all the leadership development programs I conduct. To date, I have been unable to locate a better source.
14) Ethical Leadership and Diversity - a concise introduction to the topic including a discussion of gender and cultural issues and their impact on leadership styles and behaviors.
15) Overview and Integration - the closing chapter brings the whole book together through a comprehensive summary of all the topics; ideas on an "Integrating Conceptual Framework" and an overview of the state of the field.