Leading Our Way: How Women Are Re-Defining Leadership - Hardcover

by Gaia Van Der Esch (Author)

The world is changing, and so must our understanding of leadership. Through the stories of trailblazing female leaders, discover what leadership can look like and how you can become a catalyst for change.

In Leading Our Way, renowned executive and author Gaia van der Esch shares an inspiring collection of leadership stories from seven iconic women around the world. Stories that explore new leadership models, concepts and tools, to inspire action and solve global challenges.

Featuring exclusive interviews with Christiana Figueres, Gitanjali Rao, Becky Sauerbrunn, Diane von Furstenberg, Tawakkol Karman, Comfort Ero and Gloria Steinem, this book examines key trends in leadership, and in how female leaders from across the globe are redefining its meaning, surfacing essential patterns and ideas to re-imagine our present and future. You'll find:

• In-depth discussions of how women - still heavily under-represented in leadership positions and debates - are contributing to changing our cultural, economic and political scene
• Strategies for overcoming the mounting polarization in our communities, companies, and countries, by re-focusing on the common ground and the common good - for humanity and for our planet
• Tools and inspiration to become an effective leader and act as a catalyst for change in your organisation, your community, your country, as we collectively strive to overcome today's global challenges and build a fair and sustainable world

An inspiring and essential new exploration of leadership, Leading Our Way is a must read for both men and women in leadership positions and those who aspire to them. A stepping-stone to build your purpose, find inspiration, and lead in your own way.

Front Jacket

The world as we know it is changing. Global challenges--including climate change, poverty, inequalities, pandemics, migration, polarization and the decline of democracy are the result of a collective leadership failure. Meaning that re-defining leadership itself is a first and crucial step if we hope to overcome these multi-crises.

In Leading Our Way: How Women are Re-Defining Leadership, celebrated executive, policy expert, and author Gaia van der Esch walks you through a reflective and incisive journey about what leadership is, how it's developed, and how it must change and adapt to face today's crises and tomorrow's challenges. Outlining a leadership focused on protecting the common good; on promoting sustainability, equity, collaboration; capable of holding together rationality and empathy, short- and long-term visions, to manage complexity and deliver effective change.

Through the personal and professional stories of 7 contemporary iconic women leaders, you'll discover how --from the World Cup football field to the climate change negotiations, from a science laboratory to the rooms of power, from the fashion world to leading revolutions--these leaders are shifting our culture, society, and economy, while surfacing essential patterns, values and ideas to re-imagine our present and future. You will laugh, cry, reflect alongside them, as you learn about the challenges they face while trying to change the rules of the game, as you uncover the failures and successes, fears and hopes of these trailblazing leaders. But most of all, you will emerge from this journey inspired and equipped to lead in your own way, becoming a true catalyst for the change you want to see.

An essential resource for managers, executives, directors, and other business, non-profit and government leaders, Leading Our Way will also prove invaluable to younger women and men navigating today's complex world and searching for role models capable of providing a fresh, new perspective on exceptional, transformative leadership - a leadership that's ready and able to meet the contemporary moment and build a fair, inclusive and sustainable world for all.

Back Jacket

Praise for LEADING OUR WAY

"Simply put: empowering. A steppingstone for women and men, to find purpose and lead change towards truly inclusive companies and countries"
--Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, Chancellor of the University of Johannesburg, former Executive Director of UN Women, former Deputy President of South Africa

"A manifesto to re-think our understanding of leadership, transforming each and one of us into a catalyst for change"
--Iris Bohnet, Author of What Works: Gender Equality by Design; Professor and Co-director, Women and Public Policy Program, Harvard Kennedy School

"Discover, through this passionating book, how to be or become a visionary leader. Thank you, Gaia, for taking us on this inspiring journey, towards re-defining what true leadership looks and acts like!"
--Chiara Corazza, G20 Empower Private Sector Representative for France; G7 Gender Equality Advisory Council; ESCP Affiliate Professor - Institute for Leadership

Author Biography

GAIA VAN DER ESCH is an Italian-Dutch executive in the non-profit and public sectors, a policy expert and author. She is currently leading a large international foundation working across the world to end poverty and exclusion and halt climate change. Gaia previously led the work of G20 EMPOWER, defining and advancing the gender equality agenda across G20 countries. She is a speaker at international level on topics related to politics and international relations, equity, sustainability, and leadership. Gaia holds master's degrees from Sciences Po Paris and the Harvard Kennedy School. Among others, she was nominated by Forbes in its Europe 30under30 list.