Transforming Leadership: A New Pursuit of Happiness

From Publishers Weekly
Twenty-five years after the publication of Leadership, Burns expands upon his theories about how leaders cultivate their successors to explore how they create environments conducive to social and personal development. He distinguishes between "transactional" leaders, who thrive on cutting deals, and "transforming" leaders, whose sweeping changes totally revamp political institutions. Although the book relies on a variety of historical examples, it devotes particular attention to Franklin Roosevelt, about whom Burns has written extensively in the past (The Lion and the Fox; The Soldier of Freedom). Burns's underlying theory imagines leadership as part of a broader social process in which leaders and followers are closely interrelated. Starting with psychologist Abraham Maslow's theories of the hierarchy of human needs, the book suggests leaders attain their power through their responsiveness to others' desires for security, self-esteem and personal development, putting themselves in a position to "create and expand the opportunities that empower people to pursue happiness for themselves." As such, leadership is an inherently positive process, distinguishable from tyranny by the latter's inability to promote liberty and equality. Amusing asides, in which Burns describes how he attempted to apply his understanding of leadership principles to raising his children, enliven the scholarly consideration of leadership's evolution over the centuries. These accessible anecdotes, as well as Burns's explications of historical examples, will ensure the book's influence extends beyond its most obvious implications for political science.Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.


From Booklist
Burns continues to study the art of leadership in this new examination of what he calls transitional leadership. Taking into account Jefferson's famous words, Burns states that the most successful leaders are those who are conscious of the pursuit of happiness. But what exactly is the pursuit of happiness? Burns believes it begins with the basic human necessities of food and shelter and includes the desire for dignity and respect. Some leaders are just deal makers and opportunists for a select group, but the author defines transitional leaders as those who aim "for the protection and nourishing of happiness, for extending the opportunity to pursue happiness to all people." Analyzing past leaders (FDR, Gandhi, Mao Tse-tung, among others) and changes and revolutions in leadership around the world, Burns gives concise histories behind the subject matters before dissecting the different leadership styles of monarchs, politicians, and social reformers and the impact they have made throughout the world. An excellent examination of the art of motivating, organizing, and directing people for the common good. Michelle Kaske
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved


Michelle Kaske, Booklist
"An excellent examination of the art of motivating, organizing, and directing people for the common good."


Book Description
In 1978, James MacGregor Burns published Leadership, his seminal examination of how leaders shape the course of history by transforming followers into creative new leaders. The book quickly became the cornerstone of the emerging field of leadership studies, which has spawned over nine hundred academic programs as well as leadership programs in business and government. Now, twenty-five years later, Burns expands the subject, offering a new vision—Transforming Leadership—focusing on the ways that leaders emerge from being ordinary "transactional" brokers and deal makers to become true agents of principled social change who empower their followers to achieve freedom and happiness. As a historian, Burns illuminates the evolution of leadership structures, from the chieftainships of tribal African societies, through Europe's absolute monarchies, to the blossoming of the Enlightenment vision of liberty that came to full flower with the Declaration of Independence's "Pursuit of Happiness." Along the way he looks at key moments in leadership—including both great triumphs and grand failures—in men and women, from African leaders to Elizabeth I, James Madison, Napoleon, Mao, Gandhi, and many others. The book culminates in a bold and innovative plan to address the greatest global leadership challenge of the twenty-first century: the seemingly intractable problem of global poverty. Engagingly written, original, and provocative, Transforming Leadership is a powerful book that will fire controversy and conversation in classrooms and boardrooms throughout the country.


About the Author
James MacGregor Burns is senior scholar at the Jepson School of Leadership Studies at the University of Richmond and Woodrow Wilson Professor of Political Science Emeritus at Williams College. He is the author of numerous books, including Transforming Leadership, The American Experiment, The Deadlock of Democracy, Roosevelt: The Lion and the Fox, Roosevelt: The Soldier of Freedom, and The Three Roosevelts (with coauthor Susan Dunn).


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Twenty-five years after the publication of Leadership, Burns expands upon his theories about how leaders cultivate their successors to explore how they create environments conducive to social and personal development. He distinguishes between "transactional" leaders, who thrive on cutting deals, and "transforming" leaders, whose sweeping changes totally revamp political institutions. Although the book relies on a variety of historical examples, it devotes particular attention to Franklin Roosevelt, about whom Burns has written extensively in the past (The Lion and the Fox; The Soldier of Freedom). Burns's underlying theory imagines leadership as part of a broader social process in which leaders and followers are closely interrelated. Starting with psychologist Abraham Maslow's theories of the hierarchy of human needs, the book suggests leaders attain their power through their responsiveness to others' desires for security, self-esteem and personal development, putting themselves in a position to "create and expand the opportunities that empower people to pursue happiness for themselves." As such, leadership is an inherently positive process, distinguishable from tyranny by the latter's inability to promote liberty and equality. Amusing asides, in which Burns describes how he attempted to apply his understanding of leadership principles to raising his children, enliven the scholarly consideration of leadership's evolution over the centuries. These accessible anecdotes, as well as Burns's explications of historical examples, will ensure the book's influence extends beyond its most obvious implications for political science. Agent, Fifi Oscard. (Apr.) Forecast: Harvard's Kennedy School of Government will host a conference in May centering on Burns and his work, so Cambridge and Boston bookstores may want to stock up. Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.


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