Getting unstuck : using Leadership Paradox to execute with confidence

Humans are naturally wired to solve problems. Implement the right solutions and the problems generally go away. Paradoxes are quite different. They consist of opposites that do not appear to be able to coexist, but must. Most of the issues that keep organizations from achieving strategic success are not problems, they are paradoxes. Practical approaches to address our most important paradoxes do exist. By reading this book you will learn how to address the paradoxes commonly encountered in organizations and in life.

Getting Unstuck: Using Leadership to Execute Paradoxes with Confidence will teach you how to balance key paradoxes to achieve greater long-term growth and enhanced sustainability than those who rely on financial data and problem solving methods alone. It addresses the issues that are the most troublesome to people and the organizations they work for.

Describing how to think and work more strategically, the book introduces the language and tools you need to share innovative approaches to dilemmas within your organization and to develop better working relationships, both internally and externally. It provides a practical and powerful platform to help you develop new possibilities and achieve your strategic objectives. You will learn how to see conflict with a fresh set of eyes, how to redefine your roles, and how to become more effective professionally and personally.

If you have experienced trouble implementing strategic objectives, difficulties getting people from different parts of your organization to work together; if you want to achieve a higher level of success, if you feel stuck, then read this book. Filled with examples of real-world paradoxes, it supplies valuable insights into the root causes of workplace conflicts to help you execute change with greater confidence and effectiveness.

Author Notes

Ralph Jacobson is the founder of The Leader's Toolbox, Inc., an organization focused on helping individuals, companies, and communities tackle their most critical challenges. Recognizing the limits of conventional leadership development and change management processes, he developed a counterintuitive, yet powerful, approach to implementing change in his previous book, Leading for a Change: How to Master the Five Challenges Faced by Every Leader, which was recognized by mgeneral.com as one of the top business books in 2000. Ralph also serves as adjunct faculty for The Physician's Leadership College. His writing has appeared in a number of prestigious publications including American College of Physicians Journal, Humans Systems Management, Chief Executive Officer Magazine, Chief Learning Officer Magazine , and American Management Association . For the last 7 years he has been ranked in the top 10 independent leadership developers, coaches, and consultants by Leadership Excellence Magazine. His work has been utilized in healthcare, corporate, and government settings to make it easier for organizations to achieve their strategic objectives and sustain their success in the midst of turbulent times. Ralph holds advanced degrees in psychology and human resources from The Ohio State University and the University of Minnesota.

Preface	p. xi
About The Leader's Toolbox	p. xv
Introduction	p. xvii
Chapter 1 What's a Paradox? Why It's Relevant!	p. 1
What Am I/Are We Supposed to Do?	p. 1
It's Not Really a Problem	p. 2
Is This a Problem or a Paradox?	p. 4
Whatever Happened to Right and Wrong?	p. 4
The Paradox Training Advantage	p. 5
Chapter 2 Organization Paradoxes: Understanding Resistance to Change	p. 9
It Shouldn't Be This Hard	p. 9
What May Not Help?	p. 10
Common Organization Paradoxes	p. 11
Organization Paradox Examples	p. 11
The Drama of the Unbalanced Paradox	p. 13
Your Leadership Role	p. 17
How Can You Spot a Strategic Paradox?	p. 18
Strategic Paradoxes: How to Create Sustainable Growth	p. 24
Structural Paradoxes: How to Lower the Silos	p. 29
Overview	p. 29
It's a Battle in Here	p. 31
How to Overcome Structural Paradoxes	p. 34
Additional Options to Creating More Effective Structures	p. 36
Hackathon: Example of an Emerging Organization Structure	p. 37
Functional/Division Paradoxes: Why Are We Fighting with Each Other?	p. 38
The Issue	p. 40
The Work of Senior Leadership: Balance the Functional Silos	p. 42
How to Spot a Functional Paradox	p. 43
Chapter 3 Role Paradox: Damned If You Do...Damned If You Don't	p. 47
The Paradox of Time: The Struggle to Focus on the Important	p. 48
The Secret to Improving Productivity AND Employee Engagement	p. 48
Achieving the Balance	p. 51
Living a More Powerful Life	p. 52
The Paradox of Team	p. 58
Chapter 4 Leader Paradoxes: Conflicting Roles/Conflicting Advice	p. 71
Personal Leader Paradoxes	p. 71
Paradoxical Commandments of Leadership	p. 74
The Paradoxes of Making Decisions	p. 75
Limitations of Judgment	p. 76
Addressing Decision-Making Paradoxes	p. 78
The Paradoxes of Building a Corporate Culture	p. 79
Leading Organization Cultural Change: The Drama	p. 82
The Best Leadership Model	p. 90
Chapter 5 Personal Paradox: Addressing Life's Universal Challenges	p. 93
Universal Human Paradoxes	p. 93
The Polarity Map™	p. 96
When Interests and Values Collide	p. 106
Closing Thoughts on Personal Paradox	p. 109
Chapter 6 Addressing Humanity's Most Pressing Challenges	p. 111
What We Experience	p. 111
Antibiotics in Agriculture Processed as Paradox	p. 115
The Healthcare Paradox	p. 118
Breaking Down the Silos	p. 119
In Conclusion	p. 121
Chapter 7 The Right Moves: Taking Action	p. 123
Taking Individual Action to Balance Your Most Critical Paradoxes	p. 123
Moving from Thinking to Action	p. 125
Leadership Actions to Balance Paradox	p. 128
Time	p. 128
Taking Leadership Action	p. 129
The Organization Path to Balancing Paradox: An Example	p. 132
Appendix: Three Roles That Leaders Play	p. 137
Instructions	p. 137
Bibliography	p. 139
Index	p. 141
The Author	p. 149

Available:*

On Order

Summary

Summary

Author Notes

Table of Contents