Transform your ability to lead others with an abundance leadership mindset
In Abundance Leaders: Creating Energy, Joy, and Productivity in an Unsettled World, renowned management consultant and lecturer Laura Freebairn-Smith delivers a rigorous and practical discussion of energetic, joyful, and productive leadership. In the book, you’ll learn what sets leaders with an “abundance mindset” apart from those with a “scarcity mindset,” and why the former creates work environments that generate superior performance when compared to those created by the latter.
The author comprehensively explains the Abundance Leadership Model and convincingly demonstrates how it leads to immediate and tangible improvements in productivity and employee wellbeing. You’ll also find:
- A list of 26 distinct behaviors that signal a manager or executive is working in an abundance leadership mindset
- Strategies for leading bravely, making big, impactful promises, and aligning your organization around its purpose
- Ways to shape the culture at your organization in ways that drive dramatic improvements to the bottom line and worker satisfaction
An essential resource for managers, executives, board members, and other business leaders, Abundance Leaders will also earn a place in the libraries of anyone with an interest in leadership or organizational culture.
Table of Contents
Foreword ix
Preface xiii
Section I Abundance Leadership
1 My Journey to Abundance Leadership 3
2 How Abundance Leaders Think 19
Looking for Explanations 19
Optimism 25
Three Other Fields That Inform Abundance Leadership 30
3 Four Meta-Competencies 43
Visioning for the Greater Good 48
Visibility 56
Self-Awareness 58
Managing Well 60
Section II Organizational Health and Abundance Leadership
4 Improving Your Organization’s Health 65
5 Macrolevers 69
Charrettes 69
Four-Day Workweek 73
Workspace Design 75
Managing by Circadian Rhythm 77
6 Microlevers: Small Tools for Big Change 87
The Gong 88
The Annual Donation: Collective Competition for the Greater Good 89
Public Agenda: Speak Up and Get Heard 90
Community Wall: Life Outside of Work 90
Snow Globes and Collective Memory 91
Facilitation Rotation 92
Dream List: Imagining Our Ideal World 92
Section III the How-to Manual
7 Visioning 99
Visioning 100
Creativity 107
8 Visibility 113
9 Self-Awareness 117
Reflection and Affect 121
Interpersonal Adeptness 135
Morality 140
Ego Control 141
10 Managing Well 145
Team Building 146
Communication 153
Protection 157
Decision-Making 163
Epilogue 169
Appendix A: Additional Resources 171
Appendix B: Organizational Development Bibliography 173
References 181
Acknowledgments 187
About the Author 189
Index 191
