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Embracing Uncertainty: The Essence of Leadership
The authors maintain a website at http://www.imetacomm.com/eu which includes a sample chapter, the Working Climate Survey, an Embracing Uncertainty Study Guide, outlines, and a 5-question quiz for each chapter. |
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Comments/Reviews
Description: This book offers a radically different approach from the clever, but overly simplistic and frequently misleading formulas for success offered by most self-help business literature. The authors believe that in today's turbulent competitive environment it is necessary to embrace uncertainty and set more realistic expectations, while creating greater flexibility to adapt to ever-changing situations.
Phillip G. Clampitt and Robert DeKoch develop three important themes throughout the book: (1) Creating the illusion of certainty or "acting as if you know when you don't" is both unwise and counterproductive; (2)Embracing uncertainty is the key to effective leadership; (3) Leaders and organizations need to develop specific competencies to enable them to embrace uncertainty. The book shows how to develop these skills using examples drawn from the authors' experience in both the classroom and the real world.
Selected Contents:
List of Tables and Figures
Acknowledgments
Introduction
PART I: UNDERSTANDING THE CHALLENGE
1. What Are the Benefits of "Embracing Uncertainty"?
2. Why Do People Suppress Uncertainty?
3. What is Uncertainty, Anyway?
4. How is the Illusion of Certainty Created?
5. What are the Dangers of Creating Artificial Certainty?
PART II: EMBRACING THE CHALLENGE
6. How Can You "Embrace Uncertainty?"
7. How Can You Cultivate an Awareness of Uncertainty?
8. How Can You Process Uncertainty?
9. How Can You Catalyze Action During Uncertain Times?
10. Does "Embracing Uncertainty" Really Work?
APPENDICES (DEVELOPED BY M. LEE WILLIAMS )
Appendix A: The Working Climate Survey
Appendix B: Scoring and Interpreting The Working Climate Survey
Appendix C: Normative Data Results
Appendix D: The History of the Instrument
About the Authors
Index
Comment(s): "The authors have written a provocative, interesting, and easy-to-read book that will prove most useful to nearly everyone in the workplace, regardless of where they may be in the pecking order. Especially valuable is the incorporation of real-world examples that make their case for embracing uncertainty." -- Tim Meyer, University of Wisconsin-Madison
"This book is virtually unassailable in concept, instructive in demeanor, and a logical approach to the new leadership required to survive and thrive in the new millennium." -- Patrick J. Copps, CEO, Copps Industries
"In this gem of a book, the authors encourage us to embrace uncertainty when it appears, to indeed seek it out when it's absent and to work with it to optimize our business flexibility. A must-read for those who aspire to lead." -- Jeff Bleustein, CEO, Harley-Davidson
Review(s): Clampitt and DeKoch provide the reader with a neat little volume to help today's managers come to grips with this phenomenom and to manage it to their company's advantage. Embracing Uncertainty should foster management's interest in how to capitalize on today's tumultuous business environment. Business Information Alert
    
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