Babson Faculty Publish Book on Entrepreneurial Leadership
Nearly two dozen Babson College faculty have collaborated to write The New Entrepreneurial Leader, a book which presents a radically new approach to management specifically designed to meet the drastically changed needs and circumstances of the post-crash world.
According to the authors, the current economic crisis has shown that we need a fundamentally new kind of business leader””one who can make ethical decisions in the face of strategic unknowns, serve the environment and society while also serving the needs of investors and shareholders, and understand how their personality and the social context in which they operate impacts their leadership.
Entrepreneurial leadership is inspired by, but separate from, entrepreneurship. It can be applied in any organizational situation, not just start-ups. Based on extensive research, it embraces three principles that add up to the fundamentally new worldview of business and a new logic of decision-making.
Cognitively Ambidextrous Leaders
Leaders today must be “cognitively ambidextrous,” meaning they must have the ability to shift between analytic and action-oriented approaches””and know when to take action even when all the variables aren’t known. They must look beyond the traditional balance sheet, creating social, environmental and economic value. And they need a deep awareness of how their decisions are impacted by who they are””their values, biases, background and capabilities””as well as the social and cultural context in which they operate.
Using Prediction Logic & Creation Logic
The authors of The New Entrepreneurial Leader discovered that rapid change and increasing uncertainty require leaders to be able to shift between traditional “prediction logic” (choosing actions based on analysis of known trends) and “creation logic” (taking action despite considerable unknowns). Guiding this different way of thinking is a different worldview of business and society, where simultaneous creation of social, environmental, and economic value is the order of the day. Entrepreneurial leaders also leverage their understanding of themselves and their social context to guide effective action.
This unique collaboration, directed by Danna Greenberg, Kate McKone-Sweet and H. James Wilson, lays out a comprehensive new paradigm for reinventing management education in order to mold leaders who will shape social and economic opportunity. For more information on Babson’s entrepreneurial leadership approach, visit newleaderbook.com.
