The Nature of Organizational Leadership

The quality of an organization's top leaders is a critical influence on its overall effectiveness and continuing adaptability. Yet little current research examines leadership within the context of organizational structure-such as how leaders influence organizational performance in those key moments when an executive's action is critical to driving the organization forward. This book is a contribution to the literature on leadership, combining a contextual approach to organizational leadership with an in-depth treatment of the cognitive, social, and affective dynamics underlying that leadership. Using an interdisciplinary approach that draws from the work of scholars in both management and psychology, it provides an organizational perspective on the problems confronted by top executive leaders and the requisite behaviours, attributes, and outcomes necessary to lead organizations effectively.