It has long been known that experience is the most powerful teacher. Leaders learn and grow when they immerse themselves in challenging situations. Yet, such situations involve considerable risk as well. New strategies must be invented. New paths charted. And leaders must overcome many obstacles – some external and some internal.
Dr. Steven Snyder, the Executive Fellow in Leadership in the Opus College of Business, is engaged in research that will further our understanding of organizational leadership, specifically how leaders grow through times of peril and adversity. Snyder has developed a conceptual framework for leadership under peril that he is currently testing in his role as an executive fellow. To determine the dimensions of leadership in practice, Snyder is interviewing a diverse group of high-level business executives and organizational leaders.
Navigate Forward and the Opus College of Business are hosting Snyder at their 4th Annual Author's Breakfast on April 24. The event will run from 7:30 to 9:30 a.m. at the Metropolitan Ballroom in St. Louis Park.
Leadership is often a struggle, and yet strong taboos keep us from talking openly and honestly about our difficulties for fear of looking weak and seeming to lack confidence. But in his book, Leadership and the Art of Struggle, Snyder shows that this discussion is vital—adversity is precisely what unlocks our greatest potential. Using real-life stories drawn from his extensive research studying 151 diverse episodes of leadership struggle—as well as from his experiences working with Bill Gates in the early years of Microsoft and as a CEO and executive coach—Snyder shows how to navigate intense challenges to achieve personal growth and organizational success. He details strategies for embracing struggle and offers a host of unique tools and hands-on practices to help you implement them.
