Customer Reviews

Leadership Development in Balance: Made/Born

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At the outset, Avolio asserts that leadership is both made and born; a person's beliefs about leadership can, however, become self-fulfilling and self-limiting. Learning and leading must go hand in hand for a person to achieve his/her full leadership potential. Thankfully, this author believes that the development of authentic leadership is more profound than a listing of do's and don'ts; he is true to his ambition. In each chapter Avolio discusses one main concept that makes up an overall model of leadership development with the aim of conveying a new model for the reader. The context of the model is each person's life stream-events that shape their views, used to lead others. The key elements are 1) a person's self and possible self (perspective of self), 2) perspective of others, 3) using feedback to adjust behavior, 4) mistakes and trust, and 5) the merging of leadership and technology. Avolio then looks at the state-of-art of leadership development today, examines strategic leadership development, and presents a model that predicts performance and can be used for development. The final chapter provides supporting research for each preceding chapter. The hallmark of this book is its in-depth treatment of the subject. It is loaded with rich content. This is a masterful work on an complex subject.

This book is typical of what is coming out of the Ivory Tower these days; soft, lukewarm mush, served up by the 50-something virtuecrats too acquiescent to challenge the reigning bobble-heads of the Status Quo and their minion of Thought Police. Albeit well written and somewhat engaging, Leadership Development in Balance Born/Made is conditioned to ignore the historic implications that hard core idealism and practical application are mutually exclusive.

The book's overall compass points leadership development towards a holistic direction (e.g., positive self-absorptions relating to self and other; AAR, perspectives, perceptions, debriefing, reflections, etc., for the good of the collective whole). However, one becomes discerningly aware that it is geared only towards the elite who, as suggested throughout the book, seem effectually challenged by the growing complexities of today's global economies, diverse cultures and social systems. Avolio stresses altruism and selflessness as the cornerstone of leadership development and although a fetching concept, it will be some time before beneficent leadership trends emerge such as leaders nailing themselves to the corporate cross for the good of their followers, organizations, and communities. Perhaps only a minute fraction submits to the idea of output without incentives as being above the bottom line, but in almost all cases, selflessness is an abstraction which goes against the constructs of the human genome in spite of what the idealists will tell you (remember, they are the ones earning the 6-figure incomes!).

Some of the ideas presented in the book sounded familiar, while many are still in the same old, same old mode-and that is too bad. Certain points could have been fleshed out to produce cutting edge initiatives, yet I hesitate to elaborate on their specifics since it appears, allegedly, that the author's Well of Originality has hit rock bottom; an inevitable outcome characteristic of anyone involved in one discipline for an extended period of time.