Description
Book SynopsisFor decades, the writings of James MacGregor Burns have defined the central issues in our understanding of leadership. Their impact is illustrated here through ten chapters exploring Burns' research on presidential leadership and related issues of moral and effective leadership, the nature of social change and transformation, and the subtleties of the relationships between leaders and followers.
Exploring history through the dynamics of leadership, this extraordinary volume outlines the dynamics of social change and transformation and illustrates how leaders shape followers' motivations. The transactional and transforming leadership of various US presidents are considered within broader questions of personal ethics, conflict and compromise, and historical contingency. The presidencies of Thomas Jefferson, Franklin Roosevelt and Lyndon Johnson in particular transformed American society and American politics. The essays in this book explore the several ways they fought for enduring human values using power resources that aroused and satisfied deep human motives and tested the limits of leadership effectiveness and morality.
Students of leadership, the US Presidency, the American founding, and history more generally will find this book enlightening. Scholars and leaders in business, psychology and philosophy with also find much of value given James MacGregor Burns's insightful analysis across a wide field of disciplines.
Contributors include: S.T. Allison, D. Bradburn, J.B. Ciulla, R.A. Couto, T.E. Cronin, G.R. Goethals, G.R. Hickman, E.J. Larso, G. Sorenson, P. Spero
Trade Review'This is an excellent collection that critically engages with the tremendous legacy of an outstanding leadership scholar. The editors have brought together world-class writers from various disciplinary backgrounds, all of whom knew Jim Burns personally and have been significantly influenced by his ideas. The result is a volume that provides a definitive statement on Burns' key ideas on politics, ethics and change. I thoroughly recommend this text to anyone interested in the potential of leadership to transform relationships, organizations and societies. It is a fitting testament and a must-read.' --David Collinson, Lancaster University Management School, UK
'James MacGregor Burns was a giant in the study of leadership, and his influence on the study of leadership endures. This volume includes contributions by a number of scholars, each of whom was inspired by Burns' seminal work, but also worked directly or indirectly with Jim on the study of leadership. This book expands on the work of Burns, gives us insight into his creative genius, and moves the study of leadership significantly forward.' --Ronald E. Riggio, Claremont McKenna College
Table of ContentsContents: Foreword. Joseph J. Ellis Acknowledgement George R. Goethals and Douglas Bradburn Introduction George R. Goethals Part I. James MacGregor Burns and the Essentials of Leadership 1. Discovering Leadership in the Early Republic, Patrick Spero 2. Leadership without Leaders, Followers, or Causality: Tribute and Tribulation for the Intellectual Legacy of James MacGregor Burns Richard A. Couto 3. Real, Intended Change: Business Movements? Gill Robinson Hickman 4. Transforming Motives and Mentors: The Heroic Leadership of James MacGregor Burns George R. Goethals and Scott T. Allison 5. Dangerous Liaisons: Adultery and the Ethics of Presidential Leadership Joanne B. Ciulla Part II. James MacGregor Burns and American Leadership 6. “A People Unused to Restraint Must be Led, They Will not be Drove:” The Rebels and Their Leaders in the American Revolution Douglas Bradburn 7. James MacGregor Burns and the American Presidency Thomas E. Cronin 8. Transactional Leadership in a Transformative Election: An Essay in Honor of James MacGregor Burns Edward J. Larson 9. James MacGregor Burns’s Roosevelt: The Lion and the Fox and the Election of 1940 Susan Dunn 10. Theory and Practice: James MacGregor Burns Georgia Sorenson Epilogue Jim Burns, Thomas E. Cronin Index
