Chapter 9 Positive Strategic Leadership: Lessons from a University President

Abstract

In this chapter, two academics from the Stephen M. Ross School of Business at the University of Michigan collaborate with the President of their university to present their experiences and ideas about positive strategic leadership. Positive strategic leadership is derived from the juxtaposition of ideas from the growing stream of research on positive organizational scholarship with what is already known from the literature on strategic leadership. The authors embed new views into current theoretical perspectives on strategic leadership to provide an integrative overview and use the president's experiences during the nationally followed Affirmative Action cases as a vehicle for illustrating five themes: (1) A lifetime of experiences shapes who you are, (2) issues commonly choose you before you choose them, (3) begin with a purpose in mind, (4) appreciate divergent views, and (5) be a beacon for the future. Additionally, the authors provide practitioners with some “takeaways” on positive strategic leadership.

Citation

Spreitzer, G.M., Sue Coleman, M. and Gruber, D.A. (2007), "Chapter 9 Positive Strategic Leadership: Lessons from a University President", Hooijberg, R., (Jerry) Hunt, J.G., Antonakis, J., Boal, K.B. and Lane, N. (Ed.) Being There Even When You Are Not (Monographs in Leadership and Management, Vol. 4), Emerald Group Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 155-170. https://doi.org/10.1016/S1479-3571(07)04008-4