Global Leadership Perspectives

Insights and Analysis

For anyone interested in leadership, this is an outstanding book. Conceptual rigour, empirical richness, a global reach, telling examples, a sensitivity to cultural differences and imaginative ideas, what more could one want? And yet, this volume does offer us more, no less than a brand new sense of leadership in and for the twenty-first century.

In our global world this book by Simon Western and Eric-Jean Garcia is highly overdue. They make quite clear—similar to the observation that there is no baby without a mother—that there is no leader without a context. The authors have made a heroic effort to point out to people interested in the subject of leadership that its essence can only be understood in a contextual, cultural way. This book is a required reading for anyone who truly wants to understand what leadership is all about.

Thoughtful essays by local experts, brilliantly brought together by two analyses - the first categorising and correlating what they say; the second drawing out what they don’t say, and thereby revealing more about leadership than anything else I have seen in the past few years. And who can resist a book that starts off with asking 'What drives the libidinal economy of leadership and followership dynamics?', then goes on to 'bring into the picture past echoes of war, freedom struggles, authoritarianism, trauma and of rich relational and kinship networks … how culturally informed ways-of-being-in-the-world shape leadership and followership expectations and practices.' Definitely a must-read for scholars and leaders alike, and sure to spark debate and further studies.

This is a must-have book for both practitioners and scholars of leadership since can enhance their awareness of leadership perspectives in an international context.

This new book on leadership is most welcome indeed. In its descriptive section it allows the reader to confront and compare a wide array of approaches to leadership, demonstrating how different traditions and cultures shape leadership theory and practice. In its analytical section, it proposes a fresh and critical perspective on the different themes of the leadership literature, highlighting its achievements as well as its gaps, contradictions and remaining questions.

Leadership is a relationship in a context. Someone can be a leader in one context but not in another. This valuable book includes essays on the cultural context of leadership in 20 countries. The enlightening analysis shows how in much of the world traditional paternalistic and controlling leadership models are being challenged by a more adaptive and progressive global model.

As practitioners, academics, consultants and trainers working to make leadership development effective through times of chaos, Global Leadership Perspectives strengthens our capacity for action. Identity, community and context shape leadership in ways that require more listening at the margins. This book opens us to more inclusive leadership development for local and global resilience.