Leadership is influencing others to get things done, not by forcing them to have to, but by swaying them to want to. Leadership is behavior that persuades others to follow voluntarily: there is no leadership without followership. As such, it has little to do with the top of an organization, it’s relational not hierarchical. Leadership is taking the initiative and mobilizing others, which can be exhibited throughout the organization.

In this book we delve deeply into the many ways to achieve this impact. We map out ten sets of opposite leadership styles, explore the qualities and pitfalls of each and indicate how different styles are more suited to different people and different circumstances. We conclude that to thrive in the ever-increasing complexity and variety of situations, leaders should enhance their agility – their flexibility to switch between styles, their adaptability to learn new ones and their responsiveness to the challenge at hand.

As a type of situational leadership 2.0, the ten leadership style dimensions covered in our book span the full range of leadership roles, from the leader as coach (driving performance), to the leader as organizer (realizing collaboration), as strategist (setting direction), as sense-maker (instilling mission), and concluding with the leader as role model (building engagement). You are encouraged to be appreciative, brutally honest and experimental.

The second edition of Leadership Agility has been updated to improve its usability for business management practitioners, coaches, and trainers across the globe. It strengthens readers’ ability to recognise what type of leadership challenges they are facing and determine which leadership styles they need to use to be effective.. The ten core chapters build towards a leadership development template so that the book’s content can be translated into a personal development plan. Readers are challenged to identify their current leadership styles and consider their potential for improvement.

Leadership Agility is an intellectually stimulating guide to leadership thinking and a powerful performance tool for executives and practitioners in the corporate world, as well as to business students and aspiring leaders.

Ron Meyer is Professor of Strategic Leadership at the TIAS School for Business and Society, Tilburg University and at Antwerp Management School, University of Antwerp. He is also Managing Director at the Center for Strategy and Leadership. He combines boardroom consulting with in-house management training and applied management research, on the topics of strategy, leadership, innovation, change management and organizational development. He has (co-)authored numerous articles and books, including the textbook Strategy: Process, Content, Context and Meyer’s Management Models: 52 Insightful Tools to Kick-Start Your Thinking.

Ronald Meijers is Fellow at Phyleon Leadership & Governance, Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Van Spaendonck and Adjunct Professor of Leadership, Transformation & Governance at the TIAS School for Business and Society, Tilburg. He is an experienced boardroom coach and advisor, as well as seasoned executive. He was CEO at ABAB Accountants & Adviseurs, Co-Chairman at Krauthammer and Member of the Executive at Deloitte. He specializes in topics such as leadership, governance, change management, corporate culture, high performing teams and human experience management. He has (co-)authored many articles and books, including the guidebook The HX Factor: Why it is better not to refer to people as resources and 99 other ideas for making organizations more human.