In aerodynamics, uplifit is the force that allows airplanes to take off and escape gravity. Among people and in organizations, uplift is the force that raises our performance, our spirits, and our communities, so that we attain higher purposes and reach unexpected levels of achievement.
Uplifiting is about the nature of uplift, its impact on performance, and the ways to achieve it, both inside (employees) and outside (customers and community) the organization. The authors identify the principles of uplifting leadership, showing readers:
- how to identify and articulate an inspiring dream or destination that is coherently connected to the best of what the organization has been before;
- how to fight for and drive to achieve the realization of that dream with resilience and tenacity;
- how to take the opposite path to reaching that dream which opponents do not expect by heading into the winds of resistance;
- how to pursue the dream at a sustainable pace that does not squander resources, incur excessive debt or burn people out;
- how to navigate direction and monitor progress by using metrics and indicators in a mindful and meaningful way that everyone values and understands;
- how to build teams that pull people into change rather than pushing them through it; and
- how to collaborate with competitors from time to time instead of trying to vanquish them altogether.
Uplifting builds on the authors' original research of 17 corporations, organizations, and systems in business, sports and public education that dramatically improved their performance against unfavorable and even overwhelming odds. Their research answers: What does it take to do a lot with a little, better than you did, or better than your peers? How do you turn losses into wins, near-bankruptcy into strong profitability, and abject failure into stellar success? The book includes case studies of Marks and Spencer, Shoebuy.com, Dogfish Head Beer, Cricket Australia, Burnley Football Club, The Vancouver Giants, Fiat, and many more.
For any leader looking to inspire better results in the people they lead, Uplifiting should be required reading.
About the Author
ANDY HARGREAVES is the Thomas More Brennan Chair in Education at Boston College. In 2014, he was ranked as one of the 12 most influential scholars on US public education policy. He has written or edited more than 25 books on leadership and change, including Sustainable Leadership (with Dean Fink) and Professional Capital (with Michael Fullan).
ALAN BOYLE is director of Leannta Education Associates. He designs and creates professional learning for education leaders in the United Kingdom and abroad.
ALMA HARRIS is professor and director of the Institute of Educational Leadership at the University of Malaya. She is also Pro-Director (Leadership) at the Institute of Education, University of London. She is internationally known for her work on school improvement.
