In today's knowledge-, wisdom-, and information-based world, the challenge facing leaders and organisations is to be able to obtain employee commitment and to apply that dedication to constant improvement and change. In a world where technology is rapidly improving and knowledge is increasing exponentially in virtually every field, the ability to adapt and to innovate is essential to organisation success and individual development. This book looks at continuous improvement at the individual, group, organisational, and societal levels and identifies commonalities and keys to success. It adopts a "transformative" perspective towards leadership, management philosophy, duties owed, and the obligation to constantly change. The authors/editors have written extensively about the need for leaders and organisations to refine their approach to change and improvement and this book combines their insights into one consolidated explanation.

In today's knowledge-, wisdom-, and information-based world, the challenge facing leaders and organizations is to be able to obtain employee commitment and to apply that dedication to constant improvement and change. In a world where technology is rapidly improving and knowledge is increasing exponentially in virtually every field, the ability to adapt and to innovate is essential to organisation success and individual development. This book looks at continuous improvement at the individual, group, organisational, and societal levels and identifies commonalities and keys to success. It adopts a "transformative" perspective towards leadership, management philosophy, duties owed, and the obligation to constantly change. The authors/editors have written extensively about the need for leaders and organisations to refine their approach to change and improvement and this book combines their insights into one consolidated explanation.

The world of business education is large and profitable - with over 150,000 students enrolled in graduate business education programs alone each year. This book traces the historical roots of business education, covering seven important time periods which have each contributed key insights into business effectiveness. Despite the apparent tremendous successes suggested by the substantial growth in educating business students, a strong case could be made for the need to make important changes in the curriculum of business programs and the process by which business education is delivered. This book identifies opportunities for business faculties, administrators, deans, and department chairs to reassess their roles in delivering a better product to the students that they teach. We suggest that in today's "transformative era," business education must materially change to increase the quality of teaching for tomorrow's business students. Throughout the world business leaders have been called into account for their ineffectiveness in earning and retaining the trust of employees and customers. Unfortunately, business schools are often out of focus in their emphasis on achieving bottom line corporate profits without acknowledging the accompanying responsibility of companies to become full partners in serving society and in resolving the long-term issues for which business must become increasingly committed. The world of tomorrow desperately needs business leaders who combine character and competence as they guide their employees in the pursuit of excellence. Business education and those who provide it to those employees who will work for major corporations and small businesses can contribute substantially to the credibility of the business community and in the development of solutions that will fully serve future generations. The current path of business education can benefit mightily from a thoughtful reanalysis of today's business education model. The challenge to those who work in business education is to carefully assess how they can make the delivery of their product, its accompanying values, and its commitment to tomorrow's quality of life more meaningful and effective.

This book identifies insights about the ethical issues associated with trust and trustworthiness, and their relationship to the leader's obligations as an ethical steward. The purpose of this book is to identify the importance of trust and trustworthiness in the "Transformative Era", a time when constant change and the increasing demands of customers make it paramount for organisations to obtain the commitment, followership, and extra-role behaviours required to compete in a volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous global marketplace. Unfortunately, leaders today have failed to earn the trust of others by creating arms-length transactional relationships that destroy employee commitment. This book frames the characteristics of the "Transformative Era" and explains how leaders can restore the trust that they have lost by honouring the steward's obligation to create long-term wealth and serve the interests of all stakeholders. In a world where 71% of all employees are actively looking for new job opportunities and only 16% of employees worldwide describe themselves as "actively engaged" in their work, the importance of reframing the employer-employee relationship demands immediate attention. This book identifies the conditions which make up today's "Transformative Era" and explains how and why leaders destroy trust in the modern organisation. It then identifies how leaders can adopt a Transformative Approach to creating organisations that are prepared to survive the turmoil of the modern economy.

We live in a time when trust in leaders at all levels of society has declined, when students at colleges and universities openly acknowledge that they cheat, and when the reputations of even the most admired leaders have been sullied by misconduct. It is a time when the future of tomorrow's generation appears to be growing dimmer and those who have passed on burdens that will have to be borne have clearly neglected their moral responsibilities. Fixing the blame is far less important than fixing the problem. The root cause of today's concerns and tomorrow's future lies in the failure of those who claimed to be trusted leaders to demonstrate personal integrity. This book introduces the concept of "moral identity" as a metric for leaders and organizations of all types to reexamine their moral responsibility. We suggest that moral identity provides a compass for leaders and organizations to adopt in rethinking their obligations to themselves, to their associates, to their customers, to society, and to future generations. The book includes a metric for personal self-assessment, for guiding individuals and organizations, and for establishing a standard for evaluating those who aspire to lead. This book takes a harsh look at the failings of leaders and provides a meaningful resource to those who are willing to lead society to rethink its future.

Whether as a leader seeking to empower others or as an individual struggling to become a better person ourselves, the decision to empower is a choice we make. The nature of our action is to acknowledge the incredible ability that exists within another person or to realize that we also possess an undiscovered and unrealised greatness. The untapped capacity within each individual is rarely imagined and it is extremely unusual for a person to realise even a small part of his or her almost unlimited capabilities. The focus of this book is on coming to terms with the best version of ourselves and to then accept the responsibility to help others to discover their own highest potential. The quest for self-discovery and a clearer sense of our own identity is often delayed in the hustle-bustle of a busy life -- until we finally realise that we have chosen to "satisfice" or live our lives far below what we are capable of achieving. The journey to greater self-awareness and to an appreciation of our hidden talents is a necessary step to discovering the life that we never imagined is actually possible. Realizing who we can become enables us to not only redefine our identities but also teaches us of our moral obligation to help others to recognize what their lives can mean. In raising the bar for our own performance or in helping others to become their very best, empowerment is ultimately a choice -- a decision to redefine our best definition of ourselves and to assist others to discover their immense potential as well.

As leaders and organizations struggle to achieve and maintain a competitive advantage, the challenges that they face inevitably are dependent upon the people with whom they work and assisting those people to become their absolute best. Creating interpersonal relationships and an organizational culture that empowers employees require that leaders model the values that they proclaim to others and that they create organizational systems that support those same values.Enlightened leaders recognize that their primary responsibility is to support those whom they lead and serve. An organizations goals must be focused on creating long-term value for customers. Competing in the modern global environment demands that employees throughout the organization are committed to excellence and are given the resources and opportunity to become their absolute best. Excellence can only be achieved when individuals and organizations go the extra mile as well as when employees are treated as owners and partners in the quest for constant improvement.This book identifies the importance of humility as it contributes to enlightened leadership. Leaders with humility understand who they are, care deeply about others, and are committed to constant learning and improvement. In the pages that follow, the authors identify the contribution that humility makes to enlightened leadership and describe how humility supports key factors essential to successful organizations. Leaders can achieve great things when they discover their highest potential, when they assist others to become their best, and when they constantly seek to improve. Humility unlocks the potential in leaders and in the employees that they serve.