Leadership Paradoxes

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Leaders need to constantly balance often contradictory challenges. In an environment of globalisation and faced with the different challenges posed by a multiplicity of often conflicting stakeholders, paradox is the new normal. Leaders need to learn to deal with ambiguous situations and complicated dilemmas. They need to develop thinking techniques that enable them to find new solutions in the confrontation of opposites. They need a paradoxical frame of mind.

Goddard and Eccles, in a book giving an account that common sense in management is rare, and that lack of sense is frequent, wrote:

"Managers are placed in an uncomfortable position. They are expected to compete with their peers for promotions to the next level, while at the same time being expected to be exemplary team players, collaborating naturally and generously with their peers. They are expected to be entrepreneurs, putting their careers and financial security at risk for the sake of shareholders, but they are also expected to act as model bureaucrats and organisational citizens, dutifully and selflessly complying with the regulations and rules put in their way. They are expected to be agents of the shareholders, aligning their interests with those of the owners, but they are also required to act with integrity as leaders, be true to their values, and exercise their own judgment.They are expected tocreate value for shareholders, but also to balance the interests of a wide variety of other stakeholders whose interests in the organisation may be weaker and less obvious, but whose capacity to create problems is all too evident."

In other words, leaders are expected to be equilibrists without falling off the cliff of bad results. To discuss in more detail this permanent equilibrium, we discuss three major zones, each with nine contradictions. The first zone involves contradictions related to virtue and virtuosity. It deals, above all, with the way the leader leads himself. In summary, we argue the following:

• A leader's strengths can weaken him, and weaknesses can turn into strengths.
• Courage must be cautious, and caution can be an aid to courage.
• Humility must be confident, and confidence must be humble.
• Authenticity can be adaptable, and adaptability can be authentic.
• Humour can be serious, and seriousness can be joyful.
• Generosity requires attention to self-interest, and the pursuit of self-interest requires generosity.
• Risk requires prudence, and prudence recommends taking risks.
• Realistic optimism requires some pessimism, and pessimism can generate optimism.
• Intelligence can give rise to unintelligent decisions, and the absence of cognitive brilliance can be helpful in making intelligent decisions.

To reserve your copy simply send an e-mail to sílabo@silabo.pt with the following data: Subject - book reservation for the book"Paradoxes of Leadership" | Name | Address | Contact email (if different from the sending one) | Body of the email - I want to reserve and receive a copy of the book "Paradoxes of Leadership", soon after its publication.