
Letters to a Leader
Twelve Lessons in Being a Leader
Bill Critchley(Author)
Libri Publishing
Published on 7. May 2021
Book
Paperback/Softback
112 pages
978-1-911450-74-0 (ISBN)
Description
This book is for the many men and women who find themselves in leadership roles, not necessarily at the top of their organisation - where a lot of the attention tends to go - but nevertheless responsible for orchestrating and coordinating the work of people.
There have been many 'cookbooks' on leadership, academic treatises, case studies of successful leaders, and so forth, but this book tells leaders what most treatises on leadership don't tell them - that there are no easy recipes or models which actually work. Letters to a Leader addresses the problem of why 'pulling the levers' does not seem to work and of why it is often so difficult to 'get the message' through to people.
Letters to a Leader places emphasis on the primacy of human interaction, and on the beneficial effects of an inclusive leadership style - liberating the leader from the burden of having to appear to know all the answers, and the risk of single-handedly making all the important decisions. Other books fail to address the inherent complexity and unpredictability of organisational life and tend to offer models and frameworks to minimise this uncertainty. This book proposes a leadership practice of accepting, responding and acting into uncertainty.
The book combines theory and practice, with five principles each being translated into some implied lessons for practice. Overall, the book challenges many of the conventional ideas about the way we think about organisations, and consequently about leadership. The book constitutes, overall, a guide to thoughtful and ethical leadership, and what it means, in practice, to be 'emotionally intelligent'.
There have been many 'cookbooks' on leadership, academic treatises, case studies of successful leaders, and so forth, but this book tells leaders what most treatises on leadership don't tell them - that there are no easy recipes or models which actually work. Letters to a Leader addresses the problem of why 'pulling the levers' does not seem to work and of why it is often so difficult to 'get the message' through to people.
Letters to a Leader places emphasis on the primacy of human interaction, and on the beneficial effects of an inclusive leadership style - liberating the leader from the burden of having to appear to know all the answers, and the risk of single-handedly making all the important decisions. Other books fail to address the inherent complexity and unpredictability of organisational life and tend to offer models and frameworks to minimise this uncertainty. This book proposes a leadership practice of accepting, responding and acting into uncertainty.
The book combines theory and practice, with five principles each being translated into some implied lessons for practice. Overall, the book challenges many of the conventional ideas about the way we think about organisations, and consequently about leadership. The book constitutes, overall, a guide to thoughtful and ethical leadership, and what it means, in practice, to be 'emotionally intelligent'.
More details
Language
English
Place of publication
Faringdon
United Kingdom
Target group
Professional and scholarly
Illustrations
2 b & w diagrams
Dimensions
Height: 229 mm
Width: 152 mm
Thickness: 7 mm
Weight
175 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-911450-74-0 (9781911450740)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions

E-Book
04/2021
Libri Publishing
€34.49
Available for download
Person
Bill Critchley has been working as an Organisation Psychologist for some 25 years. He practises as an Organisation Development consultant, an Executive Coach, a Supervisor of coaches, and a Gestalt Psychotherapist. He runs his own business, Bill Critchley Consulting Ltd. and is accredited as a coaching supervisor by EMCC, and as a psychotherapist by UKCP.
Bill was the founder and director of the Ashridge MSc in Organisation Consulting, the Ashridge programme in Coaching for Organisation Consultants, and the Ashridge Professional Doctorate in Organisation Consulting. He was also a visiting Professor at Middlesex University.
He has designed and led many programmes in leadership, and facilitated many Executive teams and Boards.
Bill was the founder and director of the Ashridge MSc in Organisation Consulting, the Ashridge programme in Coaching for Organisation Consultants, and the Ashridge Professional Doctorate in Organisation Consulting. He was also a visiting Professor at Middlesex University.
He has designed and led many programmes in leadership, and facilitated many Executive teams and Boards.