Press contact: Cynthia Shannon, cshannon (at) bkpub.com, 415-743-6469

New Research Shows that Effective Leadership Requires a Multidimensional Approach

A Case for Stretching Beyond One’s Personal Strengths as a Leader

San Francisco, CA – Not all good leaders are alike. Some leaders prioritize the needs of the people they lead, while others take their organizations in bold new directions and welcome change. Truly great leaders manage to do both, and more, by incorporating The 8 Dimensions of Leadership (Berrett-Koehler, April 2011; $22.95; ISBN 978-1-60509-955-2). 

No matter how good one-dimensional leaders are at that one thing, they cannot provide the kind of leadership that leads to innovation, social change, and business transformation. Multidimensional leaders understand that great leadership requires a range of competencies and skills and know that their own personality traits can work both for and against them.

How can people best develop their leadership skills to match their personalities, amplify their strengths, and compensate for their weaknesses? The 8 Dimensions of Leadership is the first book to answer this question with the latest version of the DiSC® model of human behavior -- one of the most widely used, scientifically-based approaches to assessing personality and improving interpersonal skills.

The Eight Dimensions: Pioneering · Energizing · Affirming · Inclusive · Humble · Deliberate · Resolute · Commanding

The 8 Dimensions of Leadership explores the strengths and weaknesses of each of the above listed leadership styles in depth, and argues that to be a truly effective leader, all eight dimensions need to be incorporated into the leader’s approach. This book will give readers new, research-backed insights into what makes them tick as leaders and how they can continue to improve their skills.

While leadership is often seen as an inherent quality, all leaders need to be able to stretch beyond their primary leadership dimensions to have the greatest impact. By understanding how their individual personalities play a part in their leadership styles and how best to incorporate other dimensions, readers can learn to optimize their leadership capabilities.

About the Authors

Jeffrey Sugerman, Ph.D., is the president and CEO of Inscape Publishing, a leading provider of training materials for the corporate market. Sugerman brings 20 years of experience in senior management, marketing and business development in the technology, training and publishing industries.

Mark Scullard, Ph.D., is the director of research at Inscape Publishing, where he is responsible for product development, research strategies and data analysis. He has over a decade of research and data analysis experience when it comes to the development of psychological evaluation tools and methods. He has also been an instructor at the University of Minnesota, where his curriculum included psychology, experimental psychology and research methods and statistics.

Emma Wilhelm, M.S., joined Inscape Publishing in 2008 as part of the product development team. Her publishing career has included work at PhotoAssist, Inc., Acorn Media, and Human Kinetics, and her work has included research, content development, and book acquisitions. Wilhelm left the publishing industry for several years to pursue a career in collegiate coaching and teaching, where she oversaw NCAA and YMCA leadership programs for undergraduates.

Additional Resources

 8 Different Types of Leadership

Origins of the DiSC Model