Ethical Leadership in Turbulent Times: Modeling the Public Career of George C. Marshall
Author(s): Gerald M. Pops (Author)
Publisher: Lexington Books
Publication Date: 30 Jun. 2009
Language: English
Print length: 344 pages
ISBN-10: 0739124765
ISBN-13: 9780739124765
Book Description
In Ethical Leadership in Turbulent Times, leadership and organizational theory are blended with early 20th Century history to model public leadership that is both monumentally effective and classically ethical. What is leadership? What makes leadership good or bad? To answer these questions, Gerald M. Pops draws on the multi-faceted career of George C. Marshall as an extended case study, focusing on the timely subject of leadership in public service. The dominating traits of Marshall’s career were his character, virtues, and ethical practices in two world wars, his efforts to keep the peace and promote economic recovery following World War II, his style of management, and his approach to international diplomacy and nation-building. Pops shows how Marshall’s leadership was unique, given the ethical qualities displayed in his character and instilled in the organizations he led. All of these are examined in the context of his long career, and related to an abundant body of leadership theory, in order to successfully present Marshall as an effective public leader not only of the military and political realms, but of business and society as well. This makes the book ideal for students and scholars in the fields of political science, public administration, and the burgeoning field of leadership studies. It is also a fascinating read for all those with a love of twentieth century and military history.
Editorial Reviews
Review
Ethical Leadership in Turbulent Times: Modeling the Public Career of George C. Marshall comes at a time when society aches for effective ethical leadership from Washington to Wall Street. Dr. Pops uses ethical leadership lenses to walk us from the formation years of this remarkable leader’s life to his three retirements. The author even concludes with two chapters that demonstrate the relevance of Marshall’s leadership to the most compelling issues of the twenty-first century. This book is a must-read for-and is very accessible to-academics, students and practitioners.
An aura of leadership emanates from nearly every book written about soldier-statesman George C. Marshall, but few if any authors have taken the trouble to analyze systematically his actions and qualities. . . . Those interested in military history will be grateful that the author keeps his theoretical scaffolding brief and, even more important, understandable. The theory does, however, enable readers to see the events of Marshall’s career, familiar to those who have read Pogue’s magnificent biography, with fresh eyes. . . . That Pops’s use of sources, both primary and secondary, is impressively throrough when it comes to information about Marshall’s life and career. Equally impressive are his skills as a writer.
Pops set himself three formidable tasks: to place Marshall within the context of leadership theory, to analyze his character, and to relate the man and theory within his environmental context. He completes the tasks admirably….It is not simply a story of Marshall’s life, which in itself is fascinating, but also a lesson in political and diplomatic history. It highlights the life of a man who was brought up in an authoritarian culture of the soldier but committed to the principles of democracy and the superiority of the political masters and total commitment to that rare document–the Constitution….Pops must be congratulated for writing such a superb book. I, for one, learned a great deal in reading this book. So could others.
While the world is awash in corruption and with the US losing its leadership position, here comes the story of an exemplary administrator, in both the public and not-for-profit sectors, and an ethical civilian and military leader-a soldier who was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. His life’s work is a textbook on leadership and organizational behavior, and Gerald Pops deftly renders a short history and a critical commentary on this savant.
About the Author
Gerald M. Pops is professor in the graduate master of public administration degree program at West Virginia University. He is the author ofEmergence of the Public Sector Arbitrator andThe Case for Justice: Strengthening Decision Making and Policy in Public Administration and co-author of .Applying Standards and Ethics in the 21st Century.
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