Edgar H. Schein - Humble Leadership: The Power of Relationships, Openness, and Trust

Praise for Humble Leadership

Effective leadership is all about building trust and relationships. With Humble Leadership, Ed and Peter help us actually get there by understanding relationships on a much more granular and tangible level.

Severin Schwan, CEO, Roche Group

In an era of national cynicism and dismay, this call for empathy, trust, and collaboration is a timely breath of fresh air with relevance for leaders at all levels.

Lucian Leape, Adjunct Professor of Health Policy (retired), Harvard School of Public Health

In focusing on levels of relationships, the book explains how emerging leaders can succeed by interacting with peers and those reporting to them in ways that are in stark contrast to the coercive and bad behaviors we are currently hearing about. Ed and Peter Schein offer an alternative and far superior approach to leadershipone based on cooperative relationships with others that emphasize trust and respect and, in turn, lead to stronger and more effective organizations.

Robert A. Cooke, author of Human Synergistics Organizational Culture Inventory

For those in the health-care world who face the challenge of leading organizations with layers of administrative and clinical complexity, this book offers a path to success. Humble leadership, as the authors remind us, though, is no mere philosophy. It is a result of disciplined attention to structure, culture, and relationships. The Scheins offer a persuasive road map to achieve this understanding and true effectiveness in institutional settings.

Paul F. Levy, former CEO, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, and author of Goal Play!

Humility may be the modern leaders most important attribute. In a complex, dynamic world, humility is simply realism. This powerful and thoroughly engaging book delivers the wisdom of Edgar Scheins half century of research and practice dedicated to helping organizations and those who manage them. Its authorsa pioneering organizational scholar and his sonembody humility as they describe its power in transforming organizations. Compelling case studies clarify the humble leadership approach and make it actionable.

Amy C. Edmondson, Novartis Professor of Leadership and Management, Harvard Business School

Edgar and Peter Scheins new book, Humble Leadership, builds on decades of study focused on organizational culture and leadership. The authors articulate the criticality of leadership in successful organizations and the strong correlation of relationships that go beyond the transactional with successful leaders and successful organizations. This is a must-read for reflective leaders at all levels seeking to enhance their effectiveness and execution in pursuit of their organizational mission and vision.

Gary S. Kaplan, MD, Chairman and CEO, Virginia Mason Health System, and Chairman Lucian Leape Institute

Edgar and Peter Schein have built on a series of previous informative books such as Helping and Humble Inquiry with their new book, Humble Leadership. The insights into the importance of relationships and building an atmosphere of openness and trust are helpful to all leaders. I believe it is particularly informative for those in health care, dealing with the marked technical and operational complexities.

Lane F. Donnelly, MD, Chief Quality Officer, Lucile Packard Childrens Hospital Stanford, and Professor, Stanford University School of Medicine

Humble Leadership introduces a new model for leadership that supports effectiveness in a rapidly changing world where leaders and their followers are being driven by deeply entrenched cultural norms. The timeless insights about relationships, personizing, group process, and culture will help every leader.

Tim Kuppler, Director of Culture and Organization Development, Human Synergistics, and cofounder of CultureUniversity.com

The book offers a deeply human approach to leadership that is attuned to the staggering complexity, rapid change, and uncertainty facing anyone aiming to make a difference in todays world. Written as a joint project by Ed Schein and his son Peter, Humble Leadership is a way of being a leader that relies not on transactional power but on the relational power that comes from trust, openness, and collaboration. Illustrated with rich case examples from the Scheins extensive practices as organizational consultants and exercises to develop leadership capacities of ones own, the book has the ring of authenticity that comes from the hearts of people who have walked the walk.

Maureen OHara, Founding Fellow, International Futures Forum; Professor, National University; and coauthor, with Graham Leicester, of Dancing at the Edge

Humble Leadership

THE HUMBLE LEADERSHIP SERIES

Humble Leadership

Humble Consulting

Humble Inquiry

Helping

The Power of Relationships, Openness, and Trust

EDGAR H. SCHEIN

and

PETER A. SCHEIN

Humble Leadership

Copyright 2018 by Edgar H. Schein and Peter A. Schein
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law. For permission requests, write to the publisher, addressed Attention: Permissions Coordinator, at the address below.

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First Edition
Paperback print edition
ISBN 978-1-5230-9538-4
PDF e-book ISBN 978-1-5230-9539-1
IDPF e-book ISBN 978-1-5230-9540-7

2018-1

Book produced by BookMatters; copyedited by Louise Doucette; proofread by Janet Reed Blake; indexed by Leonard Rosenbaum. Cover design by Susan Malikowski, DesignLeaf Studio

To our grandchildren and their children

Do you find yourself mired in an individualistic competitive culture of management in which leadership is always about a superstar doing something extraordinary and heroic? Would it help to think of leadership