Leadership: A Critical Text

When Simon Western's Leadership text first published, it received rave reviews from students, academics and practising leaders and managers all over the world. Written in an accessible style, the book challenges the notion of the individual or hero leader. Western develops the idea of leadership as a distributed process and provides a new framework for understanding and implementing this. Part one deconstructs leadership, providing a critical review and analysis of the key debates within leadership, part two reconstructs leadership, revealing the three dominant discourses of the controller, therapist and messiah, and a new chapter on eco-leadership develops ideas for a new leadership in 21st century organizations. This widely anticipated second edition has been completely updated in line with recent events and the latest practice and research. End of chapter questions encourage reflection and a new epilogue which brings together the core messages of the book. This insightful and inspiring text draws on Western's diverse consulting experience, combining theory and practice to offer insights into the real challenges facing leaders today. It is ideal reading for MBA and postgraduate students of Leadership, OB and HRM as well as practising managers and leaders.