Full-Range Leadership Development: Pathways for People, Profit and Planet

Citation

Sosik, J.J. (2011), "Full-Range Leadership Development: Pathways for People, Profit and Planet", Human Resource Management International Digest, Vol. 19 No. 1. https://doi.org/10.1108/hrmid.2011.04419aae.003

Full-Range Leadership Development: Pathways for People, Profit and Planet

Article Type: Suggested reading From: Human Resource Management International Digest, Volume 19, Issue 1

John J. Sosik and , Don I. Jung,Psychology Press,2010,ISBN: 9781848728066

Although I am not sure about the title to this book (particularly Pathways for People, Profit and Planet) I did enjoy reading this text.

Full-range leadership development (FRLD), or the “transactional-transformational leadership paradigm,” as it is sometimes known, has been the dominant leadership theory in the last 20 years, and has attracted interest and attention from academics and practitioners alike.

Although new leadership theories and constructs are now emerging (for example, authentic, servant and distrubuted-leadership approaches) this book is a worthy read for academics, educators and practitioners, particularly for those interested in leadership development.

Sosik and Jung are very close to this leadership approach; indeed, they earned their PhD degrees under the tutelage of Bass and Avolio, those credited with formulating FRLD.

The pedagogy is instructive: the book contains 10 chapters and an appendix. Chapters 1 and 2 provide foundation material. Chapters 3 to 6 cover transformational-leadership behaviors. Chapter 7 describes transactional-leadership behaviors. Chapter 8 examines passive forms of leadership behavior. Chapter 9 explains how FRLD can be shared within teams. Chapter 10 presents how FRLD can be used as a strategic intervention in organizations and communities, through evidence from research and testimonials from managers and other practitioners. The appendix, however, is a subtle sell: it describes the philosophy and content of Penn State’s Master’s in Leadership Development program, where the lead author is the Professor-in-Charge.

There are some interesting and helpful features in the text; for example, each chapter contains:

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  real-life scenarios;

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  a “how-to” training guide; and

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  examples, vignettes and anecdotes about the nurturing of FRLD in organizations.

Overall, the book forms a useful addition to the library of those interested in the transactional-transformational leadership paradigm and, indeed, leadership development.

Reviewed by Dr Brian Howieson, Foundation for Management Education/ESRC Fellow, Institute for People-Centred Healthcare Management, Stirling Management School, University of Stirling.

This review was originally published in Training and Management Development Methods, Vol. 24 No. 3, 2010.