I n the early 1800s scholars were finally able to solve the centuries-long riddle of Ancient Egypt's hieroglyphics with the discovery of the Rosetta Stone. The Rosetta Stone contained a decree written in three ways: the mysterious hieroglyphics, an ancient form of Egyptian, and Greek. By comparing and contrasting the three versions of the text, scholars brought the hieroglyphics to life.The Rosetta Stone gave the world the key to one of the most fascinating cultures in history.
Though perhaps not as dramatic, Contextual Leadershipβ’ may prove to be the Rosetta Stone of leadership. Comparing, contrasting, and finally integrating more than a hundred years of leadership theory and practice, Contextual Leadership embraces one of the most substantive insights regarding organizational leadership during the past half century: that leadership is practiced in five separate contexts: (1) leading oneself, (2) leading others one-to-one, (3) leading teams as subsets of an organization, (4) leading the organization as a whole, and (5) leading alliances with other organizations.
Each of the five contexts has been explored separately in varying degrees of depth. Therein lie two problems with current leadership approaches. The first is that until now, no one has brought forth an integrated approach that takes into account the linkages among these contexts and helps leaders recognize how leadership actions in one context affect outcomes in the other contexts.The second problem is that it has never been acknowledged that different skills are required to achieve success in different contexts. In fact, because context has not been a significant consideration in the past, many have come to accept generalizations that are at best confusing, at worst harmful.
How many times have we seen action or inaction in one context create negative consequences in another? Consider the situation where an unclear company-wide vision or a poorly communicated corporate vision (Organizational Context) makes it difficult