Author Discussion - Leading With Care in a Tough World: Beyond Servant Leadership

Gallup recently reported that only 15% of employees in the United States are truly engaged in their workplace. Yet nearly 70% of employees say they would work harder if they felt more appreciated. Over 90% of employees surveyed believed their leadership “lacked communication skills to lead.” The gloomy stories behind sobering statistics reveal employees’ disappointment with current leadership approaches. Leaders can do better.

In their book Leading With Care in a Tough World: Beyond Servant Leadership, the authors, Bob Dekoch and Phillip G. Clampitt, aim to go beyond the laudable sentiments of the servant leadership movement by proposing, developing, and testing a new leadership model based on five guiding beliefs and nine practices. 

The authors’ unique perspective transforms traditional practices, like employee coaching and collaboration, into dynamic self-actualizing workplaces. How? By sharing how caring leaders adroitly blend visible and subtle practices to realize the aspirational benefits of coaching and collaboration. The authors use a similar approach to share insights about less frequently discussed leadership issues such as how to build an empowering network of relationships and transform pushback into progress.

Anyone who wishes to craft their own distinctive, compelling, and empowering leadership style that unleashes the latent energy of people and their organizations will enjoy this enlightening conversation with the authors.

Bob DeKoch has devoted his entire career to leadership roles, refining his own skills, and mentoring hundreds of aspiring leaders. His passion for people and for extraordinary outcomes is what drives him. Rising to senior executive roles in numerous organizations, Bob has developed and put into practice the many teachings in his books. He has over four decades of experience across major market sectors: the construction services industry and real estate development business, the pulp and paper industry, the beverage industry, and the chemical industry. He has served on boards of US organizations—for-profit and nonprofit—as well as a major international corporation. This diverse experience has helped him develop unique insight into inspired leadership. Bob is currently the founder of the leadership consulting firm, Limitless, whose services are described at www.lmtlss.biz.

Phillip G. Clampitt (PhD, University of Kansas) is the Blair Endowed Chair of Communication at the University of Wisconsin Green Bay. He was previously designated the Hendrickson Named Professor of Business. Phil has won numerous awards for his teaching and scholarship. His students started calling him “Dr. So What” because he asked, “So what?” so often, as a prod to encourage them to think about the implications of their ideas (see www.DrSoWhat.com). The Wall Street Journal and MIT Sloan Management Review highlighted his work on decision downloading, which details how companies can effectively communicate decisions to those not involved in the decision-making process. Phil has consulted on leadership, communication, and strategic planning with organizations such as Nokia, PepsiCo, The US Army War College, Schneider National, and Dental City.