Bob DeKoch and Phil Clampitt, long-time collaborators, draw on their years of innovative practice and research to describe with vivid, real-world experiences, how leading with care enriches people and transforms organizations in our challenging times. 

DeKoch, with over 40 years of diverse executive leadership experience, which included 20 years leading The Boldt Company, a $1 billion construction services and real estate development company, has developed novel insights into leadership thinking and practice. Clampitt, an endowed, award-winning communication and information science professor at University of Wisconsin-Green Bay, has over 40 years of experience in university teaching, ground-breaking research, and business consulting. His lifelong passion is to explore the dynamic relationship between leadership, communication, and big ideas.

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Gallup recently reported that only 15% of employees in the United States are truly engaged in their workplace. Yet nearly 70% of employees say they would work harder if they felt more appreciated. Over 90% of employees surveyed believed their leadership “lacked communication skills to lead.” The gloomy stories behind sobering statistics reveal employees’ disappointment with current leadership approaches. Leaders can do better. 

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That’s why the authors sought to go beyond the laudable sentiments of the “servant leadership” movement by envisioning, creating, and testing a new leadership platform based on a set of guiding beliefs and actual day-to-day practices.

The authors’ unique perspective transforms traditional practices, like employee coaching and collaboration, into dynamic self-actualizing workplaces. How? By sharing how caring leaders adroitly blend visible and subtle practices to realize the aspirational benefits of coaching and collaboration. The authors use a similar approach to share insights about less frequently discussed leadership issues such as how to build an empowering network of relationships and transform pushback into progress. Anyone who wishes to craft their own distinctive, compelling, and empowering leadership style that unleashes the latent energy of people and their organizations will discover a robust and enriching framework for doing so in Leading with Care in a Tough World.