Traditional organizational boundaries limit our ability to deliver results. The Connected Leader argues that many of the old leadership recipes are outdated and don't take into account changes in the work environment and informal social networks within the organization. Taking a new approach to leadership theory, the author (a senior director at Hay Group) argues that modern leaders engage with employees and improve performance by building on trust, giving meaning to workplace relationships and by creating dialogue within the organization. The Connected Leader provides diagnostic tools for readers to evaluate their own skills and directly relate the insights from the book to their own situation.

Table of Contents:
part 1: the case for connections chapter 1 what do people want? what drives engagement and why does it matter?; how is the nature of engagement changing?; what are the new rules of engagement?; the 30-second recap; the leadership takeaway chapter 2 how do organizations respond? how do organizations and individuals become disconnected?; what does an organization designed for engagement look like? the 30-second recap; the leadership takeaway part 1: diagnostic questions part 2: the case for connected leadership chapter 3 what must leaders do? what do leaders do?; what impact do leaders create?; the 30-second recap; the leadership takeaway chapter 4 how can leaders succeed? how do leaders achieve high performance in the people economy?; what is different about the new high-performing leadership recipe? the 30-second recap; the leadership takeaway part 2: diagnostic questions part 3: the levers of connected leadership chapter 5 how to connect through trust why is trust critical to connected leaders?; how do connected leaders create and sustain trust?; becoming a trusted channel; exercising thoughtful influence; having concern for impact; the 30-second recap; the leadership takeaway chapter 6 how to engage through meaning why is meaning critical to performance?; how do connected leaders co-create meaning?; having no boundaries; doing the groundwork; being tenacious; the 30-second recap; the leadership takeaway chapter 7 how to sustain performance through dialogue why does real dialogue matter to performance?; how do connected leaders sustain dialogue?; listening first; humility; infectious passion; the 30-second recap; the leadership takeaway part 3: diagnostic questions part 4: developing connected leadership chapter 8 step 1: understand the 'real' mapping your 'real' organization; patterns of 'real' organizations; creating a 'real' map chapter 9 step 2: map out the 'formal'/'real' gap the gap matters; the key questions chapter 10 step 3: evaluate your impact ipod leadership; developing strategies chapter 11 step 4: develop connected leadership characteristics integrated versus sequential development; developing characteristics; developing trust; developing meaning; developing dialogue; development tactics; twisted development chapter 12 step 5: build a supporting context contextual improvement; impact as the key to unlocking connections; the leadership takeaway chapter 13 concluding thoughts