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Leading Generously

Tools for Transformation

Kathleen Fitzpatrick

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From the author of Generous Thinking: A Radical Approach to Saving the University comes a compelling guide to the art of collaborative leadership.

In a world increasingly defined by crisis, public service institutions like colleges, universities, and nonprofit organizations require capable, dynamic, and trustworthy leadership—yet stories of leadership failures there abound. The problem, Kathleen Fitzpatrick argues in Leading Generously, is a fundamental mismatch between the communal purposes that leaders must serve and the individualistic structures under which they operate.

Transforming...

From the author of Generous Thinking: A Radical Approach to Saving the University comes a compelling guide to the art of collaborative leadership.

In a world increasingly defined by crisis, public service institutions like colleges, universities, and nonprofit organizations require capable, dynamic, and trustworthy leadership—yet stories of leadership failures there abound. The problem, Kathleen Fitzpatrick argues in Leading Generously, is a fundamental mismatch between the communal purposes that leaders must serve and the individualistic structures under which they operate.

Transforming institutions so they can be resilient in the face of uncertain futures will require a similar transformation in leadership practices, turning hierarchies into collective and collaborative spaces designed for the common good. Doing so, however, requires a willingness to reimagine the idea of leadership itself. In this concise, approachable book, Fitzpatrick explores not just the problems with the institutional status quo but also the tools to transform it. Her wide-ranging research brings together key theories of leadership with the experiences of successful leaders whose stories demonstrate innovative possibilities for collaboration in the service of institutional transformation.

Building on her previous book Generous Thinking, this guide lays out a road map for how leaders can transform their institutions to truly align with their missions and can build more generous communities for the common good.

Reviews

Reviews

There are plenty of reasons to despair about the state of higher education. We need to hope, and this book is hopeful. Not merely optimistic—that's a placid state that puts fingers in ears while chanting 'lalala'—but hope as an active verb that encourages us to strive for transformation. I hope this book will help.

In Leading Generously, Kathleen Fitzpatrick synthesizes models and morals garnered from interviews with nineteen academic leaders into a useful and inspiring guidebook, including a 'Reflection and Discussion' section at the end of each chapter to help us as we work together to change higher ed.

Leading Generously doesn't offer another new paradigm for higher ed leadership—thank God. No, Fitzpatrick's aim is both more modest and more profound: to call us back to the timeless values that guide all real leaders, wherever in the org chart they find themselves. Values that, to steal a phrase from Yeats, are written in the deep heart's core.

In Leading Generously, Fitzpatrick explores how we can remain generous in times of change and crises, not just when it's easy to do so. Powerfully, she doesn't just talk about individual leaders but about 'the structures through which they lead.' We deeply need this grounding and invitation to remake both institutions and models of academic leadership.

About

Book Details

Publication Date
Status
Available
Trim Size
5.5
x
8.5
Pages
256
ISBN
9781421449913
Illustration Description
2 b&w illus.
Table of Contents

Introduction
Part I. The Problem
Chapter 1. Crisis
Chapter 2. Leadership
Part II. The Tools
Chapter 3. People
Chapter 4. Yourself
Chapter 5. Vulnerability
Chapter 6. Together
Chapter 7. Trust
Chapter 8. Values
C

Introduction
Part I. The Problem
Chapter 1. Crisis
Chapter 2. Leadership
Part II. The Tools
Chapter 3. People
Chapter 4. Yourself
Chapter 5. Vulnerability
Chapter 6. Together
Chapter 7. Trust
Chapter 8. Values
Chapter 9. Listening
Chapter 10. Transparency
Chapter 11. Nimbleness
Chapter 12. Narrative
Chapter 13. Sustainability
Chapter 14. Solidarity
Part III. The Stories
Chapter 15. Transforming Institutional Structure
Greg Eow
Chapter 16. Transforming Community
Eric Elliott and Benjamin Lowenkron
Chapter 17. Transforming Hiring
Robin Schulze
Chapter 18. Transforming Review
Christopher P. Long, Cara Cilano, Sonja Fritzsche, Bill Hart-Davidson, and Scott Schopieray
Chapter 19. Transforming Leadership: Educopia
Part IV. What's Next
Chapter 20. Onward
Acknowledgments
Notes
Bibliography
Index

Author Bio
Kathleen Fitzpatrick
Featured Contributor

Kathleen Fitzpatrick

Kathleen Fitzpatrick is the director of Digital Humanities and a professor of English at Michigan State University, where she also leads MESH Research, a lab focused on the future of scholarly communication. She is the author of Generous Thinking: A Radical Approach to Saving the University.