Unleash Commitment, Initiative, and Innovation

In their decades of leading groups all over the world, Marvin Weisbord and Sandra Janoff discovered they could get superior results by creating an unconventional approach to leadership. Leaders still need to get everyone aligned around the same goals. But to maximize energy, creativity, and productivity, they gain more by focusing on structure rather than behavior, enabling people to take responsibility and manage themselves. 

Lead More, Control Less describes eight essential skills for establishing a culture of autonomy and self-leadership. Using examples and case studies, Weisbord and Janoff describe how leaders can share responsibility, defuse group conflicts, show everyone the big picture, and more. With this approach, leaders truly gain more control by giving it up.

Marvin Weisbord is an international consultant with more than fifty years’ experience with large corporations, NGOs, and nonprofits. He is the author of Organizational Diagnosis and Productive Workplaces and the editor and coauthor of Discovering Common Ground. Weisbord and Janoff founded Future Search Network, an international collaborative of volunteers who deliver strategic planning services worldwide in any language for any culture. They also coauthored Don’t Just Do Something, Stand There! and three editions of Future Searc
Sandra Janoff is a consultant and psychologist who works with Fortune 500 companies, small businesses, communities, and nonprofits on whole systems transformation. Janoff and Weisbord founded Future Search Network, an international collaborative of volunteers who deliver strategic planning services worldwide in any language for any culture. They also coauthored Don’t Just Do Something, Stand There! and three editions of Future Search.

Introduction: Self Control Is the Best Control
Control Structure, Not People
Let Everyone Be Responsible
Consider Anxiety “Blocked Excitement”
Avoid “Taking It Personally”
Disrupt Fight or Flight
Include the Right People
Experience the “Whole Elephant”
Surface Unspoken Agreements
Epilogue: What’s Next for Leaders?
Appendix A: Practicing Percept Language
Appendix B: Leading in Cyberspace
References
Acknowledgments
Index
About the Authors