Knowledge Leadership The Art and Science of the Knowledge-based Organization

The conventional wisdom that leaders are born, not made, ignores how leaders learn from their experiences. The value of the knowledge their learning imparts varies widely-some learn valuable and useful lessons, which they can then apply effectively, giving their companies distinct advantage in today's complex and fast-paced competitive environment. Based on a study of several hundred managers in the United States and Asia, this book shows how managers create knowledge from their experiences and use it more or less effectively. The authors draw on the theories of Senge's learning organization, and Nonaka and Takeuchi's knowledge-creating company, and on their extensive research base to provide a simple framework that leaders can use to create more effective knowledge from their experiences and to transform their corporate cultures into knowledge-creating companies that support effective learning for all employees to drive innovation and competitive advantage.

In Knowledge Leadership, Cavaleri and Seivert describe the dawning of a new era in which individuals are “leading” rather than “managing” knowledge. In the past, many knowledge-based initiatives have failed because leaders underestimated the powerful link between knowledge and performance improvement – and also because they mistakenly thought that “information” was the same as knowledge. Cavaleri and Seivert claim that, while information is a necessary precursor to knowledge, it is not sufficient in itself for improving business performance. The authors describe notable organizations that use the pragmatic knowledge strategies they describe to gain competitive advantage. Pragmatic knowledge is the result of individuals’ developing a deeper understanding of how (and why) things work best in practice. The process of creating pragmatic knowledge transforms key lessons from systems thinking, total quality management, and organization learning into a powerful new business strategy.To help readers apply the concepts and tools in this book, Cavaleri and Seivert draw on case examples and a decade of original cross-cultural research about knowledge leadership. They also invite readers to use The Knowledge Bias Profile to discover their knowledge leadership style. The book systematically outlines a user-friendly strategy for becoming a knowledge leader and for building high-performing, knowledge-based organizations.

Part I. Why Should You Care about Knowledge Leadership?Chapter 1: The Knowledge Leadership ChallengeChapter 2: The Emerging Era of the Knowledge Leader Part II: Becoming a Knowledge LeaderChapter 3: Discovering Your Knowledge Leadership StyleChapter 4: Learning from Commissar and Yogi LeadersChapter 5: Stepping Back to Envision New Possibilities Chapter 6: Studying Knowledge Leadership Behavior: Lessons from Cross-Cultural ResearchPart III: Putting Knowledge into ActionChapter 7 Aligning Knowledge with Business StrategiesChapter 8 Understanding the Role of Knowledge in Organizations Part IV: Developing Pragmatic KnowledgeChapter 9: Putting Action into Knowledge Chapter 10 Learning to Make Knowledge Pragmatic Chapter 11 Leading Knowledge ProcessingPart V: Leading FAST Knowledge-Based Organizations (KBOs)Chapter 12 Developing FAST KBOs Chapter 13 Learning from Experience: A Case of Mistaken Identity Chapter 14: Balancing Knowledge and Management SystemsChapter 15 Constructing Effective Knowledge Infrastructures Part VI: Putting it all TogetherChapter 16 Using 5-Point Dynamic Mapping to Lead FAST KBOsAppendices: Appendix A: Development and Use of the Knowledge Bias ProfileAppendix B: Essentials of Creating Pragmatic KnowledgeAppendix C: 5-Point Dynamic Career Mapping for Talent Retention and Development

Steven Cavaleri, Sharon Seivert, Lee W. Lee