The Shadow Side
of Power
The Shadow Side
of Power
Shadow Side Of Power
In this thought-provoking and imaginative allegory, join a fictional hero for an all-too-real journey through the shadow side of leadership and its many challenges. Our hero faces the distortions and personal dilemmas that accompany his leadership role, seeing five ways that leaders fail and two ways they abuse their power. In the process, he learns seven lessons that will make him a great and principled leader for these very challenging times.
The world is evolving and the values and capabilities of leaders must keep pace with and even help shape that evolution. While the virtues of good leaders may be similar through the ages, the consequences of abuse and misuse are amplified in our highly networked, complex, and uncertain times.
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- The shadow side of power is haunting our government and businesses, leaders and elected officials, followers and voters today.
- Be aware of power in yourself and others. Recognize its temptations, misuses and abuses and focus its energy toward the light.
Reviews
What The People Say
The Shadow Side of Power is just plain great storytelling--the kind that draws you in, stirs your passions, sustains your interest, teaches meaningful lessons, and leaves you both gratified and wanting more. That's all the more significant when the topic is the dark side of leadership. With skillful writing, imaginative storytelling, and a powerful narrative Pat McLagan takes us on a journey to visit those places that lurk in the shadows. To the places where such sins as ignorance, shortsightedness, narrow-mindedness, cowardice, abuse, and corruption reside. They've' never been more entertaining, nor more meaningful and practical, than in this book. Before you embark on your next leadership adventure, take a guided tour through the allegorical world of The Leadership Inferno. You'll be better prepared for your other challenges once you have.
Pat McLagan has done it again. This seasoned veteran of organizational change on multiple continents has dived into the darkest part of the leader's journey and lighted a channel for us to navigate through its treacherous waters. If you're a leader you understand something about power. But do you understand enough? There are multiple pitfalls. In an intriguing parable based on Dante, she reveals the obvious traps and the not so obvious. Either can unravel a career. The Shadow Side of Power invites you to deepen your understanding of the pitfalls so you can choose to avoid them. That alone is more than worth the price of admission.
This was a wonderful and fresh way to look at being a leader. I love that Patricia McLagan put this into story form. I enjoyed taking the journey with Adderley because it made me think about myself and other leaders that I know, and when a book gets you to think I believe that gives you the ability to change. Thank you Patricia for this wonderful story of leadership and change. I enjoyed it very much and I am looking forward to putting your ideas into practice!
Pat McLagan's book is much deeper in its approach to power and leadership than other management books. The flow, with its fictional storytelling, illustrates the key points with numerous examples. It's an interesting and enjoyable read - thought provoking for skilled executives to take another look at their own actions and activities. And as a guide for new managers to become better leaders in the future.
Power relationships are everywhere - business, community, family. Power is neutral. How we use it is not. Pat McLagan's creative and challenging examination of the shadow side brings light to aspects of power that are not talked about often enough. As we travel with Adderley, Pat asks us to look in our own mirror, examine how we use our power and emerge from our own shadow. Anyone wanting to be a more positive power-wielder or who wants to help others do so, should read - and re-read - this short insightful story.
Hard to put down -- the book is amazing. I've read a lot of books for leaders, and many are helpful. But this one really is amazing. Pat McLagan, who's work I've followed for years and have found practical, straight forward, and immensely practical and useful, focuses attention on the issues of leadership that we don't address much. It's too bad that we don't talk more about what Pat calls "the shadow side" of power. We need to include this in all leadership development and coaching work. Thank you, Pat.
Just finished the Shadow Side of Power. Pat McLagan writes an allegory about the pitfalls of leadership in an unusual and mythic way using Dante's Inferno as her model. This short insightful book brought to mind many of the important things leaders need to avoid as they travel through their leadership journey. No lecture, you'll get the point. Clearly. Thanks, Pat, for your insight on this. Recommended reading for everyone because we all find ourselves in leadership roles one way or another.
The "Shadow Side of Power" is an excellent book on a timely and important subject. Written from an unusual but creative perspective, it is an allegory that shows the importance of making decisions based on the right principles and the consequences of making decisions when leaders abuse their power. An easy but delightful read, I highly recommend it.
Over the past 30 years I've read many leadership books. This book provides a powerful method of conveying the pathways to successful leadership as well as the pitfalls. It is written in a manner that can provide the seasoned leader with new insights and also provides the framework for new or newly promoted leaders. This book will be of particular value to me as a tool for leaders that I coach -- it will act as one of their "go-to" tools in their toolkit. The Shadow Side of Power is also one of those books that is worth rereading at various times in one's career....providing insights when you are facing a crossroad in your career.
Why read it? First, read it for the fun of following her fantasy, seeing small shadows of yourself along to way. One of the "secrets" of dealing with our more shadowy selves is to bring them out into the light, and that's what McLagan does here. Second, read it because you've read all the conventional (blah, blah, blah) leadership literature and are ready to try something new. Third, read it for the serious opportunity to re-assess your own leadership against the framework McLagan offers. Fourth, read it to see this traditional business writer's forward leap and double twist into her new expression of our old world.
The Shadow Side of Power" is a leadership book unlike any other leadership book I've read. It follows a story form which also makes it more interesting to read. The book focuses on how not just more responsibility comes with higher leadership roles, but also as you progress to higher levels it gets more tempting to do things to benefit yourself more so than the company or the people that work for you. The book itself isn't very long and I finished it in one evening. The chapters are short as well so if you only have 5 minutes you can finish a chapter easily.
I have read many different books on team management and office management, those types of books and yes they were helpful. However, each one seemed to really say the same things over and over….However, this book is quite different and unique in that the book is fiction, yet it has so much truth in the storyline!... I found this book quite inspiring and so helpful, and it was wonderfully written in a way that I was able to benefit from this book's lessons! For me, I belong to a club that does community service as I am the committee's chairperson. Because of this outstanding book, I believe that my committee and I will move forward and accomplish much in our work with our community service.
When I first saw this book, I wondered," hmmm shadow side of power- is this about me?" As a leader myself, and as someone who writes about and teaches leadership, I have always been intrigued with the "shadow side"-- but it was not something easily understood or addressed in leadership books in a way we can take away rich learning--even though it merits that degree of study. The book addresses power in an incredibly refreshing way, using a story line that pulls you in and really makes you think. The topic is relevant, timely, and an important read for all types of leaders across a range of different institutions. The characters you meet along the journey will give you important insights and help you understand how power really works and what it can mean for you and those you work with. This book doesn't wag a finger at you-it looks at you straight in the eye with a piercing look you will never forget-and one you should not overlook.
Patricia McLagan definitely achieved her goal of writing a book that will make people more self aware and more conscious of the temptations that accompany power. The Shadow Side Of Power is a creative and thought provoking journey through the Leadership Inferno. A recommended read for anyone that needs to acquire an understanding and appreciation for the responsibilities that come with power.
A FRESH AND ENGAGING APPROACH TO THE ISSUES OF LEADERSHIP Pat McLagan has done it again. Her new book is thoughtful, compelling, entertaining, and challenging--all at the same time. A master story-teller, Pat takes us on a unique journey of discovery within the complex universe of leaders and leadership, filled with contrasting shades of light and dark. It's an adventure not to be missed!
The "Shadow Side of Power" is an excellent book on a timely and important subject. Written from an unusual but creative perspective, it is an allegory that shows the importance of making decisions based on the right principles and the consequences of making decisions when leaders abuse their power. An easy but delightful read, I highly recommend it.
This was a wonderful and fresh way to look at being a leader. I love that Patricia McLagan put this into story form. I enjoyed taking the journey with Adderley because it made me think about myself and other leaders that I know, and when a book gets you to think I believe that gives you the ability to change. Thank you Patricia for this wonderful story of leadership and change. I enjoyed it very much and I am looking forward to putting your ideas into practice!
Just finished the Shadow Side of Power. Pat McLagan writes an allegory about the pitfalls of leadership in an unusual and mythic way using Dante's Inferno as her model. This short insightful book brought to mind many of the important things leaders need to avoid as they travel through their leadership journey. No lecture, you'll get the point. Clearly. Thanks, Pat, for your insight on this. Recommended reading for everyone, because we all find ourselves in leadership roles one way or another.
Power relationships are everywhere - business, community, family. Power is neutral. How we use it is not. Pat McLagan's creative and challenging examination of the shadow side brings light to aspects of power that are not talked about often enough. As we travel with Adderley, Pat asks us to look in our own mirror, examine how we use our power and emerge from our own shadow. Anyone wanting to be a more positive power-wielder or who wants to help others do so, should read - and re-read - this short insightful story.
I love it! It is deep, thought-provoking, and spellbinding. I have also never read a management book quite like it. It's unique, challenging, and easy to identify with, and it challenges us in moral ways I have also never read before. An important contribution!!! Although [the book] is for management, it really is for us all. It's all of our paths [and] whether we choose the final path Adderley walks of positions of power or our own unique paths, each of us is confronted by what I see as the ethical issues of relating.
Leadership Inferno is just plain great storytelling—the kind that draws you in, stirs your passions, sustains your interest, teaches meaningful lessons, and leaves you both gratified and wanting more. That’s all the more significant when the topic is the dark side of leadership. With skillful writing, imaginative storytelling, and a powerful narrative Pat McLagan takes us on a journey to visit those places that lurk in the shadows. To the places where such sins as ignorance, shortsightedness, narrow-mindedness, cowardice, abuse, and corruption reside. They've' never been more entertaining, nor more meaningful and practical, than in this book. Before you embark on your next leadership adventure, take a guided tour through the allegorical world of The Leadership Inferno. You’ll be better prepared for your other challenges once you have.
"The Shadow Side of Power" is a leadership book unlike any other leadership book I've read. It follows a story form which also makes it more interesting to read. The book focuses on how not just more responsibility comes with higher leadership roles, but also as you progress to higher levels it gets more tempting to do things to benefit yourself more so than the company or the people that work for you. The book itself isn't very long and I finished it in one evening. The chapters are short as well so if you only have 5 minutes you can finish a chapter easily.
"The Shadow Side of Power" is a leadership book unlike any other leadership book I've read. It follows a story form which also makes it more interesting to read. The book focuses on how not just more responsibility comes with higher leadership roles, but also as you progress to higher levels it gets more tempting to do things to benefit yourself more so than the company or the people that work for you. The book itself isn't very long and I finished it in one evening. The chapters are short as well so if you only have 5 minutes you can finish a chapter easily.
