Leadership in a Time of Crisis
This month’s Big Questions Forum will feature a conversation with leadership guru Marty Linsky, a member of the Harvard Kennedy School faculty, who has published extensively on leadership, management, politics, and education.
There are many current examples of leadership in this time of Covid-19, which will be a good place to begin the discussion. But Linsky is a provocative teacher and conversation partner, and the discussion will undoubtedly turn to a more local and personal focus.
The first step in the inquiry, he says, is to separate leadership from authority.
Another key orientation is in distinguishing power from agency. “Trying to predict the future,” he says, “Is nothing more than work avoidance.” The real job of leadership, he continues, is in enabling effective action right now, where the work of building the future takes place.
As with all BQFs, this will be an interactive discussion. If needed, we’ll break into small groups, but we hope you will join the conversation Tuesday, April 28th at 7:30. The Zoom meeting link and password will be in this week’s Bell Notes.
About our guest:
Marty Linsky has been teaching at the Harvard Kennedy School since 1982. A graduate of Williams College and Harvard Law School, Linsky has been Assistant Minority Leader of the Massachusetts House of Representatives, reporter and editorial writer for The Boston Globe, Editor of the weekly alternative newspaper called The Real Paper, and Chief Secretary and Counsellor to the Massachusetts Governor.
He has authored or co-authored over a dozen books and chapters including, with Heifetz, the best-selling Leadership on the Line. His most recent publication is Leading Change Through Adaptive Design in the Stanford Social Innovation Review, co-authored with Maya Bernstein.