Leadership from Below [Hardcover]

The book enlightens readers about leadership from below to practice to enable them to be great leaders. The author methodically and in simple language explains the concept of leadership from below, highlighting the need to discard the outdated hierarchical or position based leadership practices. Using examples and anecdotes, the author persuasively explains the emerging leadership concept which takes into account, among other things, the current and future highly dynamic environment characterized by unrelenting pace of technological change, workforce and societal diversity and intense competition.

Dr Trond Arne Undheim did a commendable job of coming up with an interesting and insightful book which is accessible and easy to understand by a wide audience. With globalization, climate change among other things being buzz words, this book equips the reader with the leadership tools that enables them to adapt and effectively and sensitively deal with the challenges. Among the things that I liked best about the book are the author's persuasive advice for us to continuously learn new skills, to build a network of relationships, to use effective teams including virtual ones for optimal results, to be empathetic to the needs of others particularly team members and clients and also to make technology our own.

"Leadership from Below" is a well written, authored by an erudite and experienced practitioner. The book, which is based on Scandinavian egalitarian, open and gender-neutral practices and which takes into account some Asian principles such as ba, feng, kanso, ki and shui is very enlightening and helpful. It is simple, clear, and gives ideas that are sensible and workable. It helps leaders create a work environment which is fun while being highly productive, guided by shared values rather than rules, free flow of information and ideas and people doing what they enjoy.

I will certainly use this knowledge in refining my leadership and management expertise. This is a very useful book for the leadership novice and veteran alike as well as those that may wish to learn to be effective team players.

Leadership from Below presents an important set of skills and concepts that anyone can use to maximize his or her potential influence and impact in an organization. Great for business, but applies well to academia, government, professional organizations, etc. Undheim shares anecdotes to illustrate his points, and adds a review of key lessons at the end of each chapter, making the reading quite accessible. I really loved the chapter on speed-reading - this is such an important skill in the Information Age, and yet how often do you see this in a business book?

Being a product of Generation Y myself, I recognized the ideas and examples presented in this book from my own experiences. 'Leadership from below' is a survival guide in management of the new generation multicultural, meritocratic and collaborative workforce. Undheim presents very good insight into how to make new technology your friend and maximize its benefits in a work environment of information overflow. His analysis also gives a framework for understanding the collaborative nature of the emerging workforce in a multicultural context, using real-life examples ranging from Open Source software companies to European bureaucracy. In sum its a very interesting read.