Leadership for Flourishing

Global surveys and widespread anecdotal data show that 25% of people, globally, are flourishing in their work and in their lives overall. It is great news that some people have discovered how to support their overall well-being and the thriving of nonhumans and the planet. How might greater understanding and practice of Leadership for Flourishing bring along the remaining 75% of humanity and support flourishing more generally? This volume shows how leadership is evolving and how it is addressing the increasing complexity of flourishing as whole-human well-being across multiple ecosystems: natural, social, organizational, and, for some, sacred.

Leadership for Flourishing seeks to demonstrate that a group''s leadership impacts the group''s flourishing and that flourishing impacts leadership. The contributors develop frameworks and practices that highlight the dynamic between leadership and flourishing. They identify the positive examples around the globe that are evolving what is possible around leadership for flourishing. Flourishing is a global goal (e.g., UN SDGs), a global right (e.g., UN human development report), and becoming a global rule (e.g., ESG standards). It is time to showcase leadership for flourishing. Divided into four parts, the book brings together leading scholars and reflective practitioners to describe the current state of what is known about leadership for flourishing; reframe what flourishing and leadership are, in this expanding context; explain how leadership affects flourishing within organizations and across ecosystems; and identify what is emerging in the practice fields of leadership for flourishing. To each chapter, the authors bring a strong understanding of the current, underlying philosophy of their field of inquiry, combined with many years of evolving their understanding through their fieldwork and practical experience, with a passionate drive towards leadership for flourishing. This work utilizes several empirical methods, including ethnographic observations, surveys, case studies, and archival data analysis within one organization or across multiple organizations.