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Contextual Leadership

By Susan Letterman White
January 31, 2016

Leadership development has traditionally focused on the leader, with little thought about the variety of people the leader needs to engage, or the context in which he or she must operate. Further, most models of leadership development assume that the leader will use power from the exercise of formal authority and expertise to lead willing followers. This is an outdated perspective for law firms and law departments in a world whose future is uncertain and unclear, whose context is volatile and complex, and where formal authority and expertise aren't as powerful as they once were.

Gaining Persepctive

Today's environmental context is rife with unpredictability and complexity, starting with the people a leader is tasked with leading. Many of the older leadership theories are based on a limited conceptual view of leaders and followers, and a limited skill set related to directly influencing behavior through the leader's ability to persuade or engage followers using the trust and/or fear that used to attach to formal authority and expertise. The new reality demands an expanded view of people ' leaders and others. These “others” include quiet followers, vocal supporters, bystanders, outsiders, vocal obstructionists, silent obstructionists, hidden connectors for the flow of information, and hidden influencers of desired changes. Consequently, leaders today need an ability to identify the hidden connectors and influencers through the use of social network analysis technology.

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