About the Book

'I have read your book and it is very innovatively structured. The points you raise get the reader to think a lot more than do the 'normal' textbooks on leadership. You must be very proud of such an achievement.' - Dr Gian Casimir, Newcastle Graduate School of Business, Australia.

‘The most important leader you study in this book is … yourself’. With these words, the authors indicate the emphasis on personal development in Dilemmas of Leadership. This textbook provides a reflective leadership development course for would-be leaders, through which readers explore and refine their understanding of leadership, and their own leadership goals and objectives.

Acting as guides, the authors examine skills which enable effective ‘map reading, map testing and map-making’ to support the journey of exploration that the book provokes. Covering areas such as the metaphoric territories of transformational leadership, team leadership, strategy formation and implementation, symbolism, diversity, ethics, and the leaders of the future the authors emphasise a critical approach which seeks out and addresses important and hard-to-resolve dilemmas, with which all leaders have to grapple. These include:

dilemmas of trust and control
the economic consequences of principled actions
dependency patterns induced through ‘strong’ leadership
the dilemma of self-destructive leadership

With the use of case examples and test-yourself vignettes designed for use within leadership courses, and with a structured, insightful writing style, this text is essential reading for all those with an interest in leadership.

'This ground-breaking book on the theory and practice of leadership should be studied by all leaders and aspiring leaders. It highlights the latest approaches in the field including trust-based leadership. This text goes beyond the classroom and has much to offer those with leadership roles in corporations, schools, politics, and even the family.'- Monty Roberts

'Tudor Rickards and Murray Clark have written a well-organized book that is highly accessible to students of a variety of levels. Dilemmas of Leadership also manages to be an interesting read that many researchers in the field will enjoy and benefit from. It provides a novel take on many familiar topics and issues. This is an ideal starting point for anyone wanting to dip into the voluminous literature on leadership in organizations.' - Alan Bryman, Professor of Organizational and Social Research, Management Centre, University of Leicester, UK