Leadership for Innovation

by John Adair

Published 1 January 2007
Innovate or stagnate: that is the stark challenge facing all businesses today. Creating an innovative climate is essential for positive organizational change and this throws up a need for leaders who can bring about this change.

Adair looks at the links between leadership, creativity and change. This book will help leaders of all types to meet the challenge of innovation, and achieve profitable growth through team creativity.

Using case studies of Google, Honda and 3M, Adair covers topics such as the characteristics of innovators, organizing for team creativity, the expectations of creative people, creative leadership, managing the criticism of ideas and overcoming resistance to change.

Leadership for Innovation will help leaders of all types to meet the challenge of innovation, and achieve profitable growth through team creativity.

How to Grow Leaders

by John Adair

Published 3 May 2005
John Adair has transformed the understanding of how leadership works with his pioneering book Not Bosses But Leaders. Now he returns with a new title that explores in an authoritative way exactly what we know about leadership and leadership development.

There is a revolution underway. We are moving - rapidly in some areas, slower in others - from management to business leadership. As the market for good leaders who can achieve results increases so-called leadership development programmes have proliferated. Many of these are old management development programmes renamed, and others are full of confusing theories and unproductive approaches. This ground-breaking new book aims to set the record straight. It looks at the body of knowledge on leadership, identifies the seven key principles of leadership development, and answers key questions on how to select, train and educate leaders at the level of team, operational and strategic leadership.

A vital addition to the debate on leadership from a true expert, this book also considers the global challenge and long term issues involved.

The Art of Creative Thinking

by John Adair

Published 1 January 1990
The importance of creative thinking cannot be overemphasized. Developing the ability to come up with new ideas can help businesses gain a competitive advantage over their rivals and can also be rewarding for the individual. The Art of Creative Thinking shows you practical ways to become a more creative thinker.

Each succinct chapter is built around one core idea, which is then developed and illustrated. The Art of Creative Thinking shows you how to:

• Develop your understanding of the creative process

• Overcome barriers to creating new ideas

• Broaden your vision

• Build on new ideas

• Develop a creative attitude

• Become more confident as a creative thinker

The Inspirational Leader

by John Adair

Published 6 June 2003
The Inspirational Leader argues that leaders are not born but made. Taking the form of conversations between a young chief executive and the author, it explores the nature and practice of leadership. Each aspect of leadership is studied and discussed, so that the key skills are revealed for anyone to adopt and use to inspire and encourage others.

Thought-provoking and accessible, it will help you to develop the necessary charisma and qualities to make you an inspiring leader. Leaders are not a particular type of person, and the valuable advice presented in this book can help anyone realize their full potential.

Not Bosses But Leaders

by John Adair

Published December 1987
No organization or enterprise can function adequately without good leadership. Although management techniques such as team-building and empowerment have changed the manager's role, leadership is still vital for both the attainment of long-term goals and maintaining a sense of purpose throughout day-to-day activities. A guide for managers at all levels, this book is intended to enable managers to lead their staff and make the move from planning to action. The author discusses the need to create high performance teams and the necessity to have respect.

Leadership and Motivation

by John Adair

Published 1 November 2006
What motivates people is an important consideration for captains of industry, commerce and the public sector - in fact anyone who works with other people - since people are central to the success of organizations.

Leadership and Motivation explores the subject in depth. Leadership guru John Adair reassesses the theories of Herzberg and Maslow - still the major contributors to our understanding of motivation - in the context of Action-Centred Leadership - the concept pioneered and developed by the author.

Central to the book are the Fifty-Fifty Rule and the Eight Key Principles of Motivating Others. With the Fifty-Fifty Rule, Adair states that half of a person's motivation comes from within and half is due to their environment - especially the leadership they encounter there. His Eight Key Principles of Motivating Others are: 1. Be self-motivated; 2. Select people who are also self-motivated; 3. Treat everyone as an individual; 4. Set challenging yet realistic targets; 5. Remember that progress motivates; 6. Create a motivating environment; 7. Provide fair rewards; 8. Give recognition.