Reviewing Amanda Sinclair's Leadership for the Disillusioned
Title: Leadership for the Disillusioned
Author: Amanda Sinclair
Publisher: Allen & Unwin
RRP: $29.95
Professor of Management Diversity and Change Amanda Sinclair is not looking to teach people how to run a company, because that's not what her leadership book is about.
No, this book is for those who are "disillusioned by their encounters with leaders and leadership".
And let's face it, most people who have had any experience as or with a leader have been "disillusioned" or disappointed by what it all means at least once in their life.
In a world where everyone is being encouraged to become a leader or show some leadership skills, there is often only one idea of leadership that we are expected to conform to.
While Sinclair asserts leadership can be a liberating force, she argues we have become seduced by the ideas and practices of it.
She has no time for the "heroes" of the corporate world and questions their actual leadership skills.
While she is not completely disregarding the leadership value of these "heroes" such Richard Branson or ex-CEO of GE Jack Welch, Sinclair does believe that this idea of leadership is damaging and can be "enslaving".
"Leadership, as it is so often encouraged and modelled today, may be bad for leaders, followers and organisations alike, not to mention the wider society."
Sinclair points out that we have become "captive" to a particular model of leadership that has emerged from business.
It is these business leaders - magnified by the media - that Sinclair says have come to represent leadership and in the process are held up to be experts on the matter.
Not content there, Sinclair continues to argue that our understanding of what leaders should do has become warped, dominated by masculine voices.
So how can we change the current idea leadership? Sinclair not only offers a wide range of arguments and thought-provoking theories, she also gives readers the knowledge on how to liberate themselves through leadership, free themselves by reflecting on early life experiences with leadership, recognise the dynamics of power, work towards a good work/life balance and how to lead without the ego.
She also uses her experience as a yoga teacher to explore meditative techniques that can help people become better leaders.
For all those sick of hearing the same opinion on leadership Sinclair provides a refreshing outlook on the concepts, ideas and beliefs of leadership.
However, do not expect this book to offer comprehensive models or checklists for leadership, because Sinclair warns early on that is not what her book offers.
Instead the best readers can hope for is some guidance in how to achieve emotional and spiritual - as well as intellectual - leadership.
