Navigating Leadership – Evidence-Based Strategies for Leadership Development

• Title: Navigating Leadership – Evidence-Based Strategies for Leadership Development
• Authors: Susanne Braun (Co-Lead Editor), Professor in Leadership and Associate Dean (Postgraduate Research Students) at Durham University Business School, Tiffany Keller Hansbrough (Co-Lead Editor), Associate Professor of Leadership and Organisational Behaviour and Co-Director of the Bass Center for Leadership Studies, School of Management, Binghamton University, Gregory A. Ruark, Program Manager for Social Sciences at the Army Research Office, DEVCOM ARL, Robert G. Lord, Professor (Emeritus) in Leadership at Durham University Business School, Rosalie J. Hall, Professor (Emeritus) of Management at Durham University Business School, and Olga Epitropaki, Professor in Management, Deputy Executive Dean (Research), at Durham University Business School.
• Published by: Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group
• Where to find it: Navigating Leadership: Evidence-Based Strategies for Leadership Development (routledge.com)

How can I be a better leader? It’s a question that has kept many a business professional up at night, one which has laid the foundation of hundreds – thousands – of business schools, qualifications, training programmes and career development schemes since studying business became a thing.

The quest to understand how to be better has no easy answer, and is not something that can be achieved in one fell swoop. What it means to be a leader – and a good one at that – changes from day to day, industry to industry, geography to geography, shaped by unpredictable events, differing beliefs and motivations, and a varied understanding of what “better” truly is.

Does being “better” mean more successful? A higher title? More money or profitability? Accolades and membership to exclusive circles? Once upon a time the answer was almost unquestioningly “yes”. Today, there’s a little more to it.

Being better in 2024, and beyond, involves a vitally human element. Understanding how to be better ourselves also means learning how to be better for others, helping them in turn to be better, and do better, too.  

The ways to achieve this are by no means any easier, or more clear cut.

Thankfully, the quest to achieving better leadership has also led to the development of a global network of those who’ve dedicated their lives, skills and careers to helping others accomplish such a goal… business school academics, leadership experts, careers coaches and consultants.

Alone, each of these individuals might only hold part of the answer. Thankfully, books like Navigating Leadership – Evidence-Based Strategies for Leadership Development, are here to help.

Whilst leadership books are nothing new, Navigating Leadership offers something a little different. Each chapter puts forward a leadership lesson for the reader produced by research from a new business expert. What’s more, it uses the research to produce accessible, applicable actions.

“In a changing world of work”, the book’s blurb says, “people are confronted with these questions about their leadership every day. This book considers such topics as reflecting on goals, impostorism, memory, experiencing meaningfulness at work , measuring leader performance and the challenge of leaving leadership, to offer ideas and answers to these questions of what it means to be a leader and how you can thrive on your own personal leadership journey. Each chapter provides a range of applied cases, tools and techniques, and critical commentaries to help uncover your leader identity, address personal challenges, and accelerate your leadership development.”

Helping to shape these chapters is Susanne Braun, Professor in Leadership at Durham University Business School and one of the book’s co-editors. No stranger to what makes “good” leadership herself, Susanne’s own research explores, the bright sides and dark sides of leadership for productivity and wellbeing. Her goal? To fuel development and learning at work: When do we see ourselves as leaders and followers, and why does it matter?

Navigating Leadership – Evidence-Based Strategies for Leadership Development, is a step forward in accomplishing that goal.

We sat down with Susanne to find out more…

Can you tell us about the inspiration behind your new business book? What motivated you to write it?

Am I leader? How can I grow as a leader? How am I doing as leader? How can I move on and let go of leadership? These are just some of the questions on our mind as researchers when we set out to work on the book– and we know that many of our readers are grappling with them every day.

With Navigating Leadership, we wanted to give our readers 12 chapters filled with evidence-based tools and recommendations to develop their leadership successfully. And they are not just about your own development – you can help others in your team or business become more effective.

What are the key takeaways or main ideas that readers can expect to find in your book?

From setting and achieving goals to exploring impostor thoughts, creating meaningfulness and the challenge of leaving leadership – there are many exciting avenues toward developing one’s leadership. Each chapter comes with its own key takeaways. To highlight a few:

Key message 1: Seek out experiences that allow you to lead and follow.

Leading and following is not a matter of personality or position but a question of moving identity states. In the chapter ‘Lead Today, Follow Tomorrow?’, Karolina Nieberle from Durham University and team show that experiences – the events and people around us –can fuel identity movements.

Key message 2: Find out what you contribute to the world and what drives you.

Many of us want to thrive at work, but we do not necessarily know ‘how to’. In the chapter ‘Solving the Leadership Shortage’, Stefanie Johnson from the University of Colorado Boulder and colleagues showcase two factors on the path towards meaningfulness: vitality and learning.

Key message 3: The power of leadership can become an addiction.

Those who lead every day can become used to the pull of power – not dissimilar to an addiction, as Laura Guillén from Esade Business School, Sarah Wittman from George Mason University and team describe in the chapter ‘From My Cold, Dead Hands’. Explore the challenge of letting go of leadership.

Who is the target audience for your book, and how do you believe it will benefit them?

The book is the result of the collaboration of our international network of leadership scholars representing a diverse range of career stages, cultures, and areas of expertise. We wanted to include the full range of useful and diverse answers to challenging questions of developing leadership!

Together, our contributors address the persistent gap between research and practice in leadership and followership. It integrates knowledge in these areas from evidence-based global research projects and translates the findings into suggestions for individual and organisational best-practices.

Our book is the ideal resource for leadership professionals and practitioners across career stages, from business students to experienced executives, and for those who teach and develop leaders. It will also appeal to scholars and students of leadership, followership, and leader identities.

What do you think makes this topic particularly relevant or timely in today’s business world, or for the years ahead?

Time is finite, and we want our readers to spend their time on doing things that are more likely to work for them. Our book is based on current theoretical thinking, cutting-edge research, and provides knowledge that helps navigate the complexity of modern workplaces.

Can you discuss any specific case studies or real-world examples from your book that illustrate its principles in action?

Each chapter in the book provides applied cases, tools and techniques, and critical commentaries to help uncover your leader identity, address professional challenges, and accelerate your leadership development. The examples and case studies are matched to the focus of each chapter.

“Our book is the ideal resource for leadership professionals and practitioners across career stages, from business students to experienced executives, and for those who teach and develop leaders. It will also appeal to scholars and students of leadership, followership, and leader identities.”

To give an example, for the chapter ‘Feeling Torn as a Leader’, Paola Gatti from the University of Milan and her team worked with head physicians in four large hospitals in north-west Italy during the Covid-19 pandemic. They found out that people are often torn between acting as a leader and a professional at work – an identity conflict. The chapter shows how authenticity, mindfulness, and mentoring/coaching can help leaders operate in stressful and fast-paced environments.

How does your book add to/expand existing discussions on this topic?

Because we see leadership as a science, our book adheres to the principles of rigorous research. We believe that questions of how to develop people as leaders must be addressed with cutting-edge research if the answers are to stand the test of practice and time.

Can you provide some practical tips or strategies from your book that readers can immediately apply to improve their business or career?

Start your leadership development journey with reflection: Why do you want to lead? Where do you want to go? Who do you follow? And how can you take others with you on the journey?

Finally, what book written by another author would you consider essential reading for your audience and why?

A difficult question for a keen reader with a pile of books on the bedside table. There are so many (leadership) books that I find inspiring! Two favourites that include some gems if you believe that there’s always more to learn in life: Adam Grant’s Hidden Potential (Penguin Random House) and Dolly Chugh’s The Person You Mean to Be (Harper Collins)

Navigating Leadership – Evidence-Based Strategies for Leadership Development, is published on August 2^nd 2024 and is available to buy here.

Interview by Kerry Ruffle

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