Grounded: How Leaders Stay Rooted in an Uncertain World: How Leaders Stay Rooted in an Uncertain World

Advisor and organizational psychologist Rosen (CEO & founder, Healthy Companies Intl.; The Healthy Company: Eight Strategies To Develop People, Productivity, and Profits) outlines a holistic approach to leadership based on his in-depth research of several international companies (e.g., Polo Ralph Lauren, Alcoa, PBS). The book’s main message is that a leader must cultivate a healthy internal balance of six aspects: physical, emotional, intellectual, social, vocational, and spiritual. Rosen identifies these qualities as the roots of leadership and suggests that the leader possessing them can more easily withstand chaos. The core of the text discusses methods for developing sound foundations. The healthier the leader is, the stronger the organization will be as a whole. The book’s final section expands on how developing these characteristics will influence a well-balanced person and contribute to a flourishing company. VERDICT Rosen draws from interviews and case studies to present a simple message to leaders: focus on improving yourself before you try to fix your company. While the conceit of the title is compelling, the concepts put forth may appear as unreachable ideals. This volume pulls together dissimilar leadership models and will appeal to business readers bored of training manuals. Recommended. ―John Rodzvilla, Emerson Coll., Boston (Library Journal, October 2013)

Confronted by disruptive change and worldwide economic turbulence, leaders at all levels—across all industries and sectors—find themselves ill-equipped to manage the challenges they now face. They must contend with chronic uncertainty, intense competition, personal burnout, and a new world order of global interconnectedness. Most leaders are poorly served by the prevailing paradigm that obsessively focuses on what we do to produce short-term results while sabotaging who we are as healthy human beings. Few have seen alternatives, until now.

In Grounded, internationally renowned CEO advisor Bob Rosen proposes a new approach to leadership that speaks to our better selves and is designed for any leader who grapples with the unrelenting and complex demands of today’s marketplace. Rosen argues that leaders at every level can become more self-aware, develop their untapped potential, and drive significantly better results—for themselves, their teams, and their organizations. This groundbreaking approach is drawn from Rosen’s Healthy Leader model and highlights the six personal dimensions that fuel—and refuel—the world’s top leaders: physical, emotional, intellectual, social, vocational, and spiritual health.

Grounded is based on long-term research with hundreds of CEOs and leaders from around the world, and includes illustrative stories from a variety of organizations, including the Fire Department of New York, PricewaterhouseCoopers, the Lego Group, Ralph Lauren, and Medstar Health.

Now any leader can master the six dimensions needed to develop the stamina and strength to not only weather tough times but to achieve exceptional results.