1st Edition
Transpersonal Leadership in Action How to Lead Beyond the Ego
How can leaders promote diversity, equality and inclusion? What does it mean to let go of leadership? How do learning, feedback and coaching help us become better leaders?
Following the success of Leading Beyond the Ego, this book shows how to apply transpersonal leadership – practiced leaders who are radical, ethical, authentic and act beyond their own interests to create high-performing organisations – in a wide range of contexts. It considers the attributes of transpersonal leaders and how they transform organisations by building strong, collaborative relationships and a caring, sustainable and performance-enhancing environment.
Shining a light on the way forward for senior leaders and HR and talent professionals, the book covers:
- Characteristics of transpersonal leaders such as purpose, ethics and adult development
- Impact of transpersonal leaders on global organisations, during digital transformation and change and through crises
- Case studies of transpersonal leadership in different contexts including in India and East Asia, when leading remotely, in HR and politics
Transpersonal Leadership in Action is essential reading for senior leaders, HR professionals and those responsible for leader and organisational development.
Introduction: Transpersonal Leadership in Action
Duncan Enright
1. Understanding Transpersonal Leadership
Greg Young, John Knights
Part 1. Becoming a Transpersonal Leader
Duncan Enright
2. Purpose and Transpersonal Leadership
Danielle Grant, John Knights
3. Ethical Leadership: How to Develop Ethical Leaders
John Knights
4. Adult Development: Its Role in the Leadership Journey
Alison Hill, Heather Katz
5. Sustainable Leadership: Rewire Your Brain for Sustainable Success
Sue Coyne
6. Use of Feedback and Coaching to Improve Leadership and Emotional Intelligence
Duncan Enright
7. Women, Naturally the Best Leaders for the 21st Century?
Greg Young
8. Learning Principles for Transpersonal Leadership Development
Danielle Grant
Part 2. Impact of a Transpersonal Leader
Duncan Enright
9. Leading Across Cultures: Developing Leaders for Global Organisations
Jenny Plaister-Ten
10. Addressing Diversity, Equality and Inclusion through Transpersonal Leadership
Danielle Grant, Frederick Hölscher
11. Digital Transformation and Change through Transpersonal Leadership
Duncan Enright
12. Managing Stakeholders Ethically – and Beyond the Ego
John Knights
13. Leading Through and Beyond Crises
Duncan Enright and Danielle Grant
Part 3. Transpersonal Leadership in Action
Duncan Enright
14. Politics Beyond the Ego: Ethical Political Leadership for the 21st Century
Duncan Enright
15. Leadership in India: Keeping Pace with India’s Growth Story?
Pavan Bakshi
16. Leadership in East Asia: Confucianism and Economics are Inseparable
Maiqi Ma
17. Remote Leadership Beyond the Ego
Duncan Enright, Greg Young
18. How to develop Transpersonal leadership and transform organisational culture: A guide for HR Professionals
Robert Jarvis
19. Letting Go of Leadership: A Hopeful Utopia for Corporate Realists
Otti Vogt
Biography
Duncan Enright is a Director of LeaderShape Global.
John Knights is the Co-founder and Chair of LeaderShape Global.
Danielle Grant is a Director of LeaderShape Global.
Greg Young is the Co-founder and CEO of LeaderShape Global.
"An inspiring and practical 'how to' guide to leading by example and from the heart in a complex world."
Mike Attwood, Leadership Development Associate at the Florence Nightingale Foundation
"I am absolutely convinced that leaders must embrace transpersonal action to enable thriving in and out of work – we must urgently put our egos in place and be radical, ethical, authentic and emotionally intelligent in as many contexts as possible".
Dr Tony Wall, Professor of Transformational Management & Learning and Head of the International Centre for Thriving, UK
"A global pandemic changed the way millions of people want to work and the leaders with whom they choose to serve. Transpersonal Leadership in Action is a must-read for those who lead and those who aspire to be leaders. The transpersonal leader is radical, ethical, authentic, emotionally intelligent, and willing to check their ego at the door to think beyond the narrow self. This book is a trusted guide to coach you on your leadership journey as you navigate the realities of digital transformation and change, honorable diversity, equity, and inclusion practices, and the unexpected crisis that will test your limits and impact your company culture. Learn to perform with purpose, hone your empathy, and develop others to create the virtuous cycle of doing well and doing good."
Caroline Dowd-Higgins, Vice President Career Coaching and Employer Connections Ivy Tech Community College, Indiana, USA
"In my business experience, unfortunately, I believe not every leader aspires to be a radical, ethical, authentic leader who is emotionally intelligent. Maybe because it is hard work. Maybe some of these same folks simply don't know how to become that kind of leader. Transpersonal Leadership in Action may not change your desire to be a transpersonal leader, however it can and will change your ability to become the leader the business world, actually our entire world, needs now."
Marty Wolff, Founder Partner in Contractor Succession, Scranton, PA, USA
"Finally, the "Work Of Art" I have waited four decades to find! My heart rate increased as I mined each valuable chapter to extract every ounce of knowledge, experience and relevance for today's rapidly evolving world. It brings values, ethics and beliefs into full consciousness and perfectly describes the ecosystem for leadership insights, education and resources, in a planet that is crying out for our collective care, attention and authentic transparency. I read it so fast I now want to read it again, to truly digest the golden thread that connects the latest thinking in Leadership and behaviour, to our emerging generations who will accept nothing less in the future. Thank you Leadershape!
After 18 months of surreal survival through the pandemic, this was worth waiting for! This rich and insightful publication has truly inspired me, by beautifully connecting the dots of all that I have invested in, through my learning, experience and education over the past 40 years. Combining powerful research, history and the latest thinking in authentic Leadership, this becomes the guide to living, leading and loving your life at work and at home. This paves the way for our children and grandchildren to live in a world where kindness, caring and Inclusivity is the starting point and not the destination."
Peter Collyer, Chief People Officer, Ted Baker, London, UK
"Leadership is one of those topics that has kept mankind talking, predating even Machiavelli’s Il Prince. It is extensively being discussed, taught and coached. But the starting point should by: why? Leadership in itself is not good thing. A lot of leadership is negative, intentionally or unintentionally - and sadly has proven itself in history to be sometimes very bad. Like negative entrepreneurship tends to be driven by financial greed or revenge, negative leadership tends to be driven by power greed and vanity. So the starting point is about a critical assessment of motivation: what do we want to achieve through leadership. Trans-personal leadership helps to formulate some powerful answers to that question.
The next question is about how to be good at it and how to ensure that one gets continuously better at it. Social skills, communication skills and analytical skills are at the core of all successful leadership and reflective learning is at the hard of leadership development rather than just copying and applying some basic tricks. This is where we go to the next level. Where transpersonal leadership is concerned, the cultural context is crucial. And this is the biggest challenge in exercising leadership: knowing when to apply what ‘tool’ for what purpose. Especially in transpersonal leadership this varies enormously per cultural context, per situation, per person. And where we recognise the imperative of diversity and the reality of globalisation, this raises the stakes significantly when it comes to effective leadership.
Transpersonal leadership embraces these complexities and turns them from the classic challenges into the classic opportunities. It gives a whole new meaning to what actually is ‘good leadership’."
Maurits Van Rooijen, Chief Academic Officer, Global University Systems, London, UK
"As a trust researcher for 20 years now I have seen little progress in our organizations towards creating a trust climate or nurturing employee trust in a more sincere manner. One main reason is that "trust building is hard, though it is often touted to be a soft factor". Trust needs character – we place our trust in caring, truthful humans who follow a moral compass. And trust needs trusting – for trust to grow we need to "just do it", to accept vulnerability, to put ourselves at the mercy of other human beings. It is my hope that a leadership journey towards the transpersonal leader, who embodies and enacts precisely what is needed to build and preserve trust (as a daily practice), will also change our organizations from suspicious and alienating human resource "managing" machines to flourishing and trustful collaborative communities. "Transpersonal Leadership in Action" brings together a number of enlightening approaches to assist leaders on this journey towards becoming the better versions of themselves – much needed, much appreciated.
Prof. Dr. Antoinette Weibel, University of St Gallen, Switzerland
"Leading beyond the ego (or logo in the case of organisations) is the new frontier for the development and advancement of global responsibility. Transpersonal Leadership in Action will help inspire and inform the new modes of thinking, being and doing that is so urgently required of leaders and practitioners today."
John North, Executive Director, Globally Responsible Leadership Initiative
