The Balanced Leader

Book excerpt: Leadership is an art and not a science and there is no single way of leading. Things change. All the time. And your leadership style needs to react to every unique situation with the right balance of actions and emotion. Do you want a strategy to help you find the right leadership approach for any given situation and team? Nearly all of the vast numbers of leadership books focus on one aspect of leadership, and everything is approached using that key skill. The problem with this approach is that it is oversimplified and just too limiting. It doesn't take into consideration your context or allow you to use the most important of human qualities, our judgement. A combination of skills - such as control, creativity, engagement, delegation, compassion, empowerment - is necessary in a successful leader. In The Balanced Leader we have created a set of principles that leaders can apply to many different workplace contexts, and with varied teams, to enable them to identify the right approach for balanced, dynamic and effective leadership.