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Scaling Leadership
Book

Scaling Leadership

Building Organizational Capability and Capacity to Create Outcomes that Matter Most

Robert J. Anderson and William A. Adams
Wiley, 2019
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Editorial Rating

8

Qualities

  • Analytical
  • Applicable
  • Concrete Examples

Recommendation

To deal with today’s unsettled business environment, companies must scale up their leadership. Robert J. Anderson and Bill Adams explain the best methods, drawing from research asking 50,000 leaders and employees worldwide, “What kind of leadership, if it existed, would enable the organization to thrive in its current marketplace and into the future?” The study’s goal was to identify the nature of leadership “stripped of all the models, theories, frameworks and pontifications” – “unplugged” and “unvarnished.” This comprehensive, technically impressive leadership book will serve leaders everywhere.

Summary

Scale equals growth, life’s most essential dynamic.

“Life scales, or it dies.” For example, a giant locust tree sheds millions of miniscule seeds. Each seed could scale up into another mammoth locust tree and produce millions more seeds. Each tiny locust seed represents a potential future forest of giant locust trees – because of scale.

Businesses are like locust trees. The basic business imperative is toward growth. Without growth and scale, businesses die. Business growth goes beyond developing quality products and services to include securing financing and recruiting employees. For sustainable growth, business leaders must scale up with the growth of their organizations. 

In business, scaling up leadership calls for the intelligent, effective development of new leaders.

Scaling up corporate leadership calls on mature, high-quality, effective leaders to develop additional mature, high-quality, effective leaders. Reliable business growth demands regular development of new leaders to manage expansion. Leadership scaling calls for “innovation, adaptability, sustainability...

About the Authors

Robert J. Anderson created the Universal Model of Leadership. He is chairman of the Leadership Circle and co-founder and chairman of the Full Circle Group. William A. Adams is co-founder and CEO of the Full Circle Group and the Leadership Circle.

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