Title of the Book: The Positive Deviant: Sustainability Leadership in a Perverse World
ISBN: 978-1-849-71118-0
Author: Sara Parkin
Publisher: Earthscan Publications Ltd. (July 2010)
Language: English
302 Pages (Hardback)
Foreword: By Earthscan
About the Author:
Sara Parkin is Founder Director of Forum for the Future, the UK’s foremost sustainable development charity, and a life-long campaigner for a socially and environmentally just way of life. She established the well-regarded Leadership for Sustainable Development Masters at Forum and received an OBE in 2001 for services to education and sustainability. In the past, Sara has played leadership roles in the UK and European Green Parties.
Introduction:
An economy low in carbon and high in life satisfaction will require thousands, if not millions, of exceptional leaders. This book is the first to bring together sustainability knowledge with the leadership skills and tools to help you become one of those leaders. In it, you will find everything you need to get started straight away, and to grow your effectiveness, even in a world that remains perversely intent on the opposite.
Whether you are new to the whole idea of sustainability, or reasonably well-informed but not entirely confident about what to do for the best, this guide will help you ‘do’ sustainability. Free of check-lists and policy recommendations, the focus is on you, and on developing your capacity to identify the right thing to do wherever you are and whatever your circumstances.
This is essential reading for those in or aspiring to sustainability-literate leadership, and a must for all those teaching leadership and management.
Table of Contents:
Introduction
Part I: The Anatomy and Physiology of Unsustainable Development
Introduction: Getting the Diagnosis Right Matters
1. The Symptoms
2. Anatomy and Physiology
3. The Treatment
Conclusion: A once in a lifetime chance to get it right
Part II: Lost Leadership
Introduction: A Dysfunctional System
4. The Best and Worst of it: Leadership Today
5. Business School Betrayal
Conclusion: Transformation means no going back
Part III: Sustainability Literate Leadership
Introduction: Let Thousands of Positive Deviants Flourish!
6. Four Habits of Thought
7. New Perspectives and Broad Knowledge
8. Principles of Practice and Tools for the Trade
Conclusion: Practical Wisdom
Part IV: A Global Sustainability To Do List
Introduction: Global Challenges, Local Contributions
9. A Global Sustainability To Do List
Conclusion: Design your own
Prologue: The Future Starts Here
Bibliography: A Good Read
