Includes bibliographical references (pages 279-337) and index

pt. I. Setting the frame -- Values in leadership -- To lead or mislead? -- The roots of authority -- pt. II. Leading with authority -- Mobilizing adaptive work -- Applying power -- On a razor's edge -- Falling off the edge -- pt. III. Leading without authority -- Creative deviance on the frontline -- Modulating the provocation -- pt. IV. Staying alive -- Assassination -- The personal challenge

"The economy uncertain, education in decline, cities under siege, crime and poverty spiraling upward, international relations roiling: we look to leaders for solutions, and when they don't deliver, we simply add their failure to our list of woes. In doing so, we do them and ourselves a grave disservice. We are indeed facing an unprecedented crisis of leadership, Ronald Heifetz avows, but it stems as much from our demands and expectations as from any leader's inability to meet them. His book gets at both of these problems, offering a practical approach to leadership for those who lead as well as those who look to them for answers. Fitting the theory and practice of leadership to our extraordinary times, the book promotes a new social contract, a revitalization of our civic life just when we most desperately need it." "Drawing on a dozen years of research among managers, officers, and politicians in the public realm and the private sector, among the nonprofits, and in teaching, Heifetz presents clear, concrete prescriptions for anyone who needs to take the lead in almost any situation, under almost any organizational conditions, no matter who's in charge.