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Regenerative leadership : an integral theory for transforming people and organizations for sustainability in business, education, and community

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Date Issued:
2009
Summary:
This study examined and compared the developmental experiences of leaders who have successfully developed their capacities to engage in and maintain a vision and practice for sustainability over time in themselves and others in business, education and community. Through the application of grounded theory as a systematic comparative method for the analysis of qualitative data, the study generated a substantive theory of leadership called regenerative leadership. This leadership approach is especially relevant at a time when humankind is faced with accelerating change and increasing evidence that numerous natural and social systems at the global level have reached or are rapidly approaching points of overshoot and collapse. Among the major findings, the study revealed that the more evolved sustainability leaders are becoming increasingly dissatisfied with the construct of sustainability, and indicate the need for a profound cultural shift towards regenerative human systems. In this framework, regenerative organizations are driven by a sense higher purpose, and leadership is exercised heterarchically. Leaders and followers engage in generative conversations to create desirable futures which are then backcasted to eliminate unanticipated consequences. Throughout, participants emphasized the critical importance of engaging in personal and collective consciousness development or "inner work" in order to make regenerative practices possible.
Title: Regenerative leadership : an integral theory for transforming people and organizations for sustainability in business, education, and community.
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Name(s): Hardman, Guillermo [John]
College of Education
Department of Educational Leadership and Research Methodology
Type of Resource: text
Genre: Electronic Thesis Or Dissertation
Issuance: monographic
Date Issued: 2009
Publisher: Florida Atlantic University
Physical Form: electronic
Extent: x, 352 p. : ill. (some col.).
Language(s): English
Summary: This study examined and compared the developmental experiences of leaders who have successfully developed their capacities to engage in and maintain a vision and practice for sustainability over time in themselves and others in business, education and community. Through the application of grounded theory as a systematic comparative method for the analysis of qualitative data, the study generated a substantive theory of leadership called regenerative leadership. This leadership approach is especially relevant at a time when humankind is faced with accelerating change and increasing evidence that numerous natural and social systems at the global level have reached or are rapidly approaching points of overshoot and collapse. Among the major findings, the study revealed that the more evolved sustainability leaders are becoming increasingly dissatisfied with the construct of sustainability, and indicate the need for a profound cultural shift towards regenerative human systems. In this framework, regenerative organizations are driven by a sense higher purpose, and leadership is exercised heterarchically. Leaders and followers engage in generative conversations to create desirable futures which are then backcasted to eliminate unanticipated consequences. Throughout, participants emphasized the critical importance of engaging in personal and collective consciousness development or "inner work" in order to make regenerative practices possible.
Identifier: 320763311 (oclc), 187212 (digitool), FADT187212 (IID), fau:2934 (fedora)
Note(s): by Guillermo [John] Hardman.
Thesis (Ph.D.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2009.
Includes bibliography.
Electronic reproduction. Boca Raton, Fla., 2009. Mode of access: World Wide Web.
Subject(s): Reengineering (Management)
Sustainable development -- United States
School management and organization
Organizational effectiveness
Social ecology -- United States
Held by: FBoU FAUER
Persistent Link to This Record: http://purl.flvc.org/FAU/187212
Use and Reproduction: http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/
Host Institution: FAU