William A. Gentry

Becoming a leader for the first time is one of the biggest and most stressful psychological and emotional shifts you will ever experience. You're suddenly given an important job that has almost nothing in common with what you've been trained to do. It's as though, at the age of sixteen, your parents said “You ride a bike so well you might as well take the car” and handed you the keys. Cool, but what now? William Gentry feels your pain. He was happy as a senior research scientist at the Center for Creative Leadership—and then he was promoted to his first leadership role. So this book doesn't just draw on his years of studying and training new leaders—it's personal. And his singular insight? New leaders must flip their scripts.We all have scripts that tell us how things are supposed to be. As a worker, your script is all about “me”: your individual contribution. But when you become a boss, you must focus on your group: flip that script from “me” to “we.” This means flipping pretty much everything else—your mindset, your skillset, your work relationships, your “do it all” attitude, your view of the organization, and more.Gentry walks you through each of six flips, offering practical, research-based advice and examples drawn from his work at CCL. But this book is more than a series of best practices—it's your guide to internalizing a leader's perspective. Gentry helps you flip your script so you'll know what to do to help yourself and the team you lead succeed. That's the kind of boss everyone wants to work for—and the kind of boss who accomplishes the most.

There are many things that politics is not. Politics is not good or bad; it's neutral and natural. Politics is not a zero-sum game; politically savvy individuals can use their influence in an effective, authentic manner so that all parties involved get something positive out of the experience. Politics is not about being false; instead, political savvy is about using your skills, behaviors, and qualities to be effective, and sincerity is vital. Use the ideas and exercises in this guidebook to become a more politically savvy leader, and build your capacity to lead effectively in your organization.

The objective of this series is to promote theory and research in the increasingly growing area of occupational stress, health and well being, and in the process, to bring together and showcase the work of the best researchers and theorists who contribute to this area. Our goal is to provide a multidisciplinary and international collection that gives a thorough and critical assessment of both knowledge and major gaps in knowledge. Volume 14 of Research in Occupational Stress and Well Being is focused on leadership. Through their actions and behaviors, leaders can positively, or negatively, influence the health, stress, and well being of their followers, and vice versa as well. This volume examines critical topics for a deeper understanding of the intersection of leadership, stress, and well being which a leader’s dark personality, a leader’s networks, workaholism, the role of leaders in helping employees with stress and mental health issues, followership, and a more holistic view of a leader’s life at work and away from work, and the development of leaders. The topic of this volume, Leadership, is sure to attract the attention of researchers around the globe.