What Philosophy Can Teach You About Being a Better Leader

For decades, we have looked to management theorists, organizational psychologists and economists to tell us how we can squeeze the most out of people at work. The result? People are uninspired, feel like cogs in a machine and prefer to leave traditional work structures behind. Numbers and productivity can only get you so far. What Philosophy Can Teach You About Being a Better Leader offers a different route that will allow you to reconnect with the humanist values of work. By turning to philosophy, and what it teaches us about finding fulfilment and living a good life, this book uncovers the ways you can re-engage your workforce by valuing its members as people, rather than just tools within the process. The four authors argue that the rise of the 'omnipotent leader', who focuses on telling rather than leading, risks creating a new generation of feudal CEOs and needs to be resisted. With the help of Aristotle, Socrates, Kant and Nietzsche, as well as a whole host of other brilliant minds, they turn traditional management practices on their head, showing how moving away from traditional, hierarchical, risk focused control structures can lead to improved employee engagement, increased productivity and better outcomes for the entire business.

Business & Money

Reynolds, Alison

Goddard, Jules

Lewis, David Giles

Houlder, Dominic

Management & Leadership

Kogan Page.

Business Experimentation: A Practical Guide for Driving Innovation and Performance in Your Business

Review\n"For anyone interested in exploring the spirit of experimentation in their organization, and building a culture of curiosity for themselves, this will be essential reading." ― Andy Craggs, The Jump Network\n"James and Goddard have been teaching the "how to" of experimentation to executives for the past two decades. They have now put their insights and wisdom into this practical and very readable book. It is a winner! It belongs on the shelf of every manager." ― Professor Costas Markides, Professor of Strategy and Entrepreneurship, London Business School\n"In this highly practical book, Jules and Rob outline what is takes to bring experimentation to life; to have fun and increase an organization's curiosity in finding what works and adds value and what doesn't." ― Steve Hurst, VP Learning & Development, Sage\n"This book is a celebration of a truly scientific approach to business, one which seeks to find out what you don't know, rather than endlessly optimising on the little that you do." ― Rory Sutherland, Founder and Vice Chairman, Ogilvy UK and TED Global speaker\n"This book offers a wise reflection as well as a practical approach to make business experiments part of the way we lead our organizations into the future." ― Thierry Bonetto, Former Director of Learning & Development, Danone (2008-18)\n"I've worked with the authors and as a consequence know that their advice is based on huge experience and rigour. They write as they talk, common sense supported by acute observation." ― Sir John Rose, CEO Rolls-Royce 1996-2011\n"Under Rob's and Jules' guidance, the experimentation movement has changed our game. In fact, it has become a key part of ensuring that our organization is future ready." ― Paul Dupuis, CEO, Randstad Japan\n"Most seasoned executives buy into the idea that we should encourage more experimentation in business, but they often don't know where to start. This book solves the problem - it is full of practical advice and it is written by two genuine experts, Rob James and Jules Goddard, who have been helping organisations run business experiments for more than a decade." ― Professor Julian Birkinshaw, Professor of Strategy and Entrepreneurship, London Business School\n"I was inspired and awed by the beauty of Rob and Jules "Business Experimentation" as a masterful tool to address opinions and habitual patterns. With experimentation, a bridge is created to have a stance in life where opinions and points of view rather than divisiveness provide a common ground to support a shared understanding. Much needed in today's world!" ― Dr Valerio Pascotto, Founder, IGEOS Consultancy for Organizational Development and High Performance\n"This is a deeply insightful, thought-provoking and practical book, offering an approach that will be of value to organisations of all kinds. The authors unpack experimentation with commendable clarity." ― Dr Andrew MacLennan, Founder and Managing Director, Strategy Execution Ltd\n"This book is a great source of insight for leaders who understand that the world is ever-changing and consistently strive to master the latter and to adapt." ― Pierre Deheunynck, Executive Vice President of ENGIE Group, Head of human resources, transformation and global business support\n"Their writing is a dance between philosophical gems and practical nuggets. Readers are stimulated to think about how they could embark on their own journeys of experimentation." ― Anil Sachdev, Founder and Chairman, School of Inspired Leadership, India\n"Could there be a timelier book than Business Experimentation? As businesses the world over look to reset, I doubt there can be a more important book for leaders to read." ― Keith Coats, Futurist and leadership expert, Co-founder of TomorrowToday Global\n"The book is a perfect balance of academic rigour AND business relevance. It is provocative and provides pragmatic tools for success that explain the Why, the What and the How." ― Linda Irwin, Senior Client Director, London Bus

James, Rob

Business experimentation can not only create measurable value for organizations, it can provide the inspiration to break with the habits of the past by dealing with challenges and exploiting opportunities. This book is a step-by-step, practical guide to the six-stage business experiment process, from understanding the problem or opportunity to creating a hypothesis, planning the experiment and analysing the findings. It explores the top design criteria for successful and impactful business experiments and includes valuable case studies covering problem solving, performance improvement and strategic innovation. To support the process, Business Experimentation also includes downloadable, editable templates, worksheets and activities for use in ideation and planning sessions. This business experiment methodology can be used to support a one-off initiative or to underpin desired behaviours as part of a wider organizational change programme, as experimentation encourages people to be bold, take risks and seek new ways of doing things. Based on programmes the authors have run with a variety of leading organizations and with astonishing results, this practical guide provides businesses with the confidence to get started with experimentation and the tools to succeed.

Mavericks: How Bold Leadership Changes the World

How many of our business leaders truly embody the change needed in the world of work and beyond? Not nearly enough. This book shows you how to reclaim your power to make a difference, by unleashing your inner maverick. Organizations are where the world's most innovative and impactful talents lie; we have the ingenuity, the technology and the resources to change the world for the better. Discover how to awaken the maverick mindset in you; one that will question, debate and enhance. Mavericks are the key to answering some of the world' most pressing challenges; they don't settle for anything less, and neither should you. Mavericks shows you how being a maverick isn't about shooting from the hip and rocking the boat for the sake of it, it's about demanding better of yourself and your organization for the wider good. In Mavericks, business consultants, London Business School faculty members and authors David Lewis and Jules Goddard guide you through the five characteristics that you can develop to become a maverick leader. From passionate belief, an undeterred attitude, being resourceful, being directional and finally experimenting, these characteristics are the blueprint for you to grow into an iconic and positive change maker. The focus is not on what becoming a leader can do for you, but on what you can do to make the world a better place.

Batcheller-Adams, Tamryn

Economics

How many of our business leaders truly embody the change needed in the world of work and beyond? Not nearly enough. This book shows you how to reclaim your power to make a difference, by unleashing your inner maverick. Organizations are where the world's most innovative and impactful talents lie; we have the ingenuity, the technology and the resources to change the world for the better. Discover how to awaken the maverick mindset in you; one that will question, debate and enhance. Mavericks are the key to answering some of the world' most pressing challenges; they don't settle for anything less, and neither should you. Mavericks shows you how being a maverick isn't about shooting from the hip and rocking the boat for the sake of it, it's about demanding better of yourself and your organization for the wider good. In Mavericks, business consultants, London Business School faculty members and authors David Lewis and Jules Goddard guide you through the five characteristics that you can develop to become a maverick leader. From passionate belief, an undeterred attitude, being resourceful, being directional and finally experimenting, these characteristics are the blueprint for you to grow into an iconic and positive change maker. The focus is not on what becoming a leader can do for you, but on what you can do to make the world a better place.

Traditional management practices, rooted in economics and psychology, have led to a focus on numbers and productivity rather than the people who make those numbers happen. This has resulted in trust in leaders and organizations being at an all-time low. What Philosophy Can Teach You About Being a Better Leader expertly counters this thinking and argues that those leaders who will win in the uncertain and complex world of work, are the ones focusing on their workforce and valuing its members as people, rather than just tools within the process. What Philosophy Can Teach You About Being a Better Leader considers the main questions plaguing today's leaders through the eyes of four of the greatest philosophers. With the help of Aristotle, Socrates, Kant and Nietzsche, as well as a whole host of other brilliant minds, they smash widely held workplace falsehoods and unveil a new model for empowerment, fulfilment and harmony at work. What Philosophy Can Teach You About Being a Better Leader is a fascinating account of how we can reconnect company, people and shareholder interests. It answers perennial leadership concerns like questions of people engagement, key performance indicators or even generational differences at work through the lens of philosophy, with its focus squarely on how to live and help others live fulfilling lives at work.

This is for managers who know that their organizations are stuck in a mindset that thrives on fashionable business theories that are no more than folk wisdom, and whose so-called strategies are little more than banal wish lists.
It puts forward the notion that the application of uncommon sense—thinking or acting differently from other organizations in a way that makes unusual sense—is the secret to competitive success.
Jules Goddard is a fellow of the Centre for Management Development at London Business School.
Tony Eccles is a visiting professor of strategic management at Cass Business School, City University, London.

Uncommon Sense, Common Nonsense: Why Some Organisations Consistently Outperform Others

Eccles, Tony

IPS - Profile Books

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Books by Goddard, Jules

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Goddard, Jules. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

What Philosophy Can Teach You About Being a Better Leader

Business Experimentation: A Practical Guide for Driving Innovation and Performance in Your Business

Business Experimentation: A Practical Guide for Driving Innovation and Performance in Your Business

Mavericks: How Bold Leadership Changes the World

Mavericks: How Bold Leadership Changes the World

What Philosophy Can Teach You About Being a Better Leader

Uncommon Sense, Common Nonsense: Why Some Organisations Consistently Outperform Others