The Leadership Illusion: The Importance of Context and Connections

This book is about what we have called the "leadership illusion"; the hardwired habit of writers, researchers and leaders themselves, when examining success or failure, to focus on predominantly the individual and often the context, but very rarely both. The Leadership Illusion asserts that to make sense of leadership, we have to understand at the same time the context in which leaders operate because both are inextricably interlinked. To try to understand a leader without the context is only half the tale. This book is an attempt to tell the whole story. More specifically, the book explores the relevance of the informal social networks that shape the leadership context and their role in the delivery of personal and organisational goals. It highlights that to achieve leadership aspirations and succeed in these challenging times, how we connect with the people we know and those we have yet to meet may be more important than we may imagine.