Richard Bolden's Outputs (67)

Academic anomie: Implications of the ‘great resignation’ for leadership in post-COVID higher education (2024)
Journal Article

The experience of the COVID-19 pandemic has ignited a near universal rethink of what is tolerable or desirable in work settings. In higher education – where discontent has been exacerbated by the pandemic – the potential for a 'great resignation' is... Read More about Academic anomie: Implications of the ‘great resignation’ for leadership in post-COVID higher education.

Making a difference: Opportunities and challenges for critical leadership studies (2024)
Book Chapter

Critical Leadership Studies (CLS) is founded on the premise that the leader-centrism that characterises traditional approaches to leadership theory, practice and development constrains the ability to work in more inclusive, collaborative and sustaina... Read More about Making a difference: Opportunities and challenges for critical leadership studies.

Three perspectives on leadership in higher education: Traditionalist, reformist, pragmatist (2024)
Journal Article

There is a fragmented and complex literature about higher education leadership representing a diversity of ideological perspectives about its nature and purposes. Internationally, the literature has been strongly shaped by the importation of concepts... Read More about Three perspectives on leadership in higher education: Traditionalist, reformist, pragmatist.

Paradoxes of multi-level leadership: Insights from an integrated care system (2023)
Journal Article

In this paper, we draw on systems leadership, complexity and paradox theory to elucidate the tensions that organisational actors experience when practising multi-level leadership. We explore these issues through a study of the perceptions and experie... Read More about Paradoxes of multi-level leadership: Insights from an integrated care system.

Organisational leadership: Introduction to the special issue (2023)
Journal Article

In this special issue, we focus on the topic of organisational leadership. The call for papers was intentionally quite broad, recognising that what happens in organisations is influenced by societal trends and issues, as well as the particular charac... Read More about Organisational leadership: Introduction to the special issue.

Rise of the machines (2023)
Digital Artefact

ILA Fellow, Professor Richard Bolden (University of the West of England), asked ChatGPT-4 to identify the top implications of AI for leadership. Bolden shares the generative AI’s response as well as some general principles leadership professionals ca... Read More about Rise of the machines.

Exploring Leadership: Individual, organizational and societal perspectives, 2nd Edition (2023)
Book

What is leadership and why does it matter?
Why do people willingly follow some leaders and not others?
How can we develop more inclusive and effective leadership?

Leadership is one of the most talked about yet least understood concepts in busine... Read More about Exploring Leadership: Individual, organizational and societal perspectives, 2nd Edition.

Reflections from advances in global leadership's Emerald Literati award winners (2023)
Book Chapter

The book/journal editors of Emerald Publishing are asked to select the Outstanding Author Contribution in each volume, which is a difficult choice. Before the COVID-19 pandemic, the Emerald Literati Awards were handed out in a ceremony at the Academy... Read More about Reflections from advances in global leadership's Emerald Literati award winners.

Leaving Leadership (2023)
Digital Artefact

ILA Fellow Richard Bolden delves into what the surprise resignations of Nicola Sturgeon and Jacinda Ardern reveal about today’s toxic leadership contexts, what it means to be a “strong leader,” and how leaders transition out of their roles.

Paradoxes of leadership (2023)
Book Chapter

Recognizing the tensions and contradictions within leadership theory and practice is an important starting point for developing more creative and constructive ways of working. The ambiguity, uncertainty and complexity that now permeate all areas of... Read More about Paradoxes of leadership.

Why is collective leadership so elusive? (2022)
Journal Article

This ‘Leading Questions’ thought piece explores the elusive nature of collective leadership. We use our previous experiences to explore issues that tend to go unnoticed and unreported within the academic analysis of collective forms of leadership, in... Read More about Why is collective leadership so elusive?.

Evaluating shifting perceptions and configurations of social capital in leadership development (2022)
Journal Article

Whilst Day's (2000) description of leadership development as an investment in social capital has been widely cited, there has been little subsequent empirical or theoretical work to explore and articulate the nature and purpose of this ‘social capita... Read More about Evaluating shifting perceptions and configurations of social capital in leadership development.

Learning from collective lived experience: A case study of an experts by experience group (2022)
Journal Article

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to present a case study tracking the development and engagement of a group of experts by experience (The Independent Futures (IF) Group) who provided a lived experience voice to the Bristol Golden Key (GK) partne... Read More about Learning from collective lived experience: A case study of an experts by experience group.

An emergent process for activating system change: Insights from Golden Key Bristol (2022)
Journal Article

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to present insights into the way in which system change can be activated around the provision of services and support for people experiencing multiple disadvantages in an urban setting. Design/methodology/approac... Read More about An emergent process for activating system change: Insights from Golden Key Bristol.

A systems approach to tackling severe and multiple disadvantage (2022)
Digital Artefact

ILA Fellow Richard Bolden discusses his work leading an independent evaluation of Bristol Golden Key, a collaborative partnership project designed to transform services for people with multiple complex needs such as homelessness and substance misuse.... Read More about A systems approach to tackling severe and multiple disadvantage.

Leadership in global higher education: Findings from a scoping study (2022)
Report

This scoping study was commissioned by Advance HE to inform the development of a higher education (HE) leadership survey, with the aim of investigating what works for leadership in higher education and related organisations. The timing of this study... Read More about Leadership in global higher education: Findings from a scoping study.

Systems change for multiple complex needs: A practical tool (2022)
Report

This tool is intended to be used by anyone who is developing or running a systems change activity or project for people with multiple complex needs. We encourage you to use the tool to identify practical actions in seven key areas which can improve t... Read More about Systems change for multiple complex needs: A practical tool.

Golden key local evaluation - Phase 5 final report (2022)
Report

This final local evaluation report marks the culmination of an intensive eight-years following the work of Golden Key (GK) to transform services for people in Bristol with severe and multiple disadvantage. Previous phases of the local evaluation hav... Read More about Golden key local evaluation - Phase 5 final report.

Supporting innovation and driving system change through compassionate leadership (2022)
Presentation / Conference Contribution

Golden Key is a Bristol-based, eight-year, £10 million system change programme focused on addressing the systemic challenges faced by people experiencing multiple disadvantages. The delivery is partnership-focussed and was reviewed by local and nati... Read More about Supporting innovation and driving system change through compassionate leadership.

Artful ways of building bridges: Using visual metaphors to shine a light on developing the leadership capacity to listen to and bear witness to staff lived experience (2022)
Presentation / Conference Contribution

NHS staff and leaders continue to be under significant pressure to plug the gaps in public service delivery that have been exposed and exacerbated by Covid. With increasing levels of workload comes the kinds of stress and pressure that is damaging em... Read More about Artful ways of building bridges: Using visual metaphors to shine a light on developing the leadership capacity to listen to and bear witness to staff lived experience.

Addicted to leadership: From crisis to recovery (2022)
Book Chapter

This chapter looks at why we default towards toxic types of leadership and compares this behaviour to the drivers behind drug and alcohol addiction. Changing our mental models of leadership, the authors argue, is akin to the process of recovery. They... Read More about Addicted to leadership: From crisis to recovery.

Leadership Development Evaluation (LDE): Reflections on a collaboratory approach (2022)
Journal Article

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to report on the experience of attempting a “collaboratory” approach in sharing knowledge about leadership development evaluation (LDE). A collaboratory intertwines “collaboration” and “laboratory” to create inno... Read More about Leadership Development Evaluation (LDE): Reflections on a collaboratory approach.

Build back better… with care and compassion (2022)
Digital Artefact

As governments and organisations around the world seek to “build back better” from the Covid-19 pandemic, Richard Bolden stresses the importance of making time and space for recovery — where leaders and others can experience the care and compassion n... Read More about Build back better… with care and compassion.

Putting leadership in its place: Introduction to the special issue (2022)
Journal Article

This special issue emerges from a call for papers issued following the 18th International Studying Leadership Conference, hosted at the University of the West of England in December 2019, which addressed the theme of ‘Putting leadership in its place’... Read More about Putting leadership in its place: Introduction to the special issue.

Leadership for the greater good: Reflections on today’s challenges from around the globe. End of the age of arrogance? (2022)
Digital Artefact

People in positions of power and influence, like Prime Minister Boris Johnson, tennis star Novak Djokovic, and Prince Andrew, seem to believe that they are free to operate above the rules. But the tide of public opinion is turning against these egreg... Read More about Leadership for the greater good: Reflections on today’s challenges from around the globe. End of the age of arrogance?.

Book Review - Parker, M. (Ed.), Life After COVID-19: The Other Side of Crisis (2021)
Journal Article

Since the start of the pandemic Bristol University Press have commissioned a series of books on the topic of COVID-19 and its impact on business and society around the world . The first of these – Life After COVID-19: The other side of crisis – is an... Read More about Book Review - Parker, M. (Ed.), Life After COVID-19: The Other Side of Crisis.

No going back! Implications of the pandemic for leadership practice and organisation development in health and care (2021)
Presentation / Conference Contribution

This keynote address will outline findings from two recent studies of leadership practice and organisation development (OD) in the UK health and care system during the COVID-19 pandemic. The first study looks at the lived experience of NHS staff and... Read More about No going back! Implications of the pandemic for leadership practice and organisation development in health and care.

Nottingham & Nottinghamshire Integrated Care System OD Collaborative: Review of evidence & literature (2021)
Report

This document presents outcomes of a review of theory, research, policy and practice (nationally and internationally) completed as part of scoping work for the Nottingham and Nottinghamshire Integrated Care System (ICS) Organisation Development (OD)... Read More about Nottingham & Nottinghamshire Integrated Care System OD Collaborative: Review of evidence & literature.

Golden Key local evaluation: Review of phase 4 system change case studies (2021)
Report

This report summarises findings, insights and recommendations from Phase 4 of the local evaluation of Golden Key, a partnership of statutory and not-for-profit agencies across Bristol who are piloting new approaches to service delivery and mobilising... Read More about Golden Key local evaluation: Review of phase 4 system change case studies.

Developing inclusive leadership: Insights from our work with the NHS leadership academy (2021)
Presentation / Conference Contribution

With a workforce of 1.5 million, the National Health Service (NHS) is the fifth largest organisation in the world. Despite its commitment to provide “a comprehensive service, available to all irrespective of gender, race, disability, age, sexual orie... Read More about Developing inclusive leadership: Insights from our work with the NHS leadership academy.

How do you develop systems leadership in public health? Insights from a scoping study (2021)
Journal Article

Objectives: Systems leadership is widely acknowledged to be needed to address the many ‘wicked issues’ challenging public health systems. However, there is a lack of evidence on how to develop public health professionals into effective systems leader... Read More about How do you develop systems leadership in public health? Insights from a scoping study.

The rhetoric and reality of systems leadership (2021)
Presentation / Conference Contribution

Heralded as a means for improving collaboration and alignment between agencies, communities and providers, ‘system(s) leadership’ is becoming increasingly advocated in public services. In the clamour and enthusiasm with which it has been embraced, ho... Read More about The rhetoric and reality of systems leadership.

Systems leadership in practice: Thematic insights from three public health case studies (2020)
Journal Article

Background:
‘Systems leadership’ has emerged as a key concept in global public health alongside such related concepts as ‘systems thinking’ and ‘whole systems approaches.’ It is an approach that is well suited to issues that require collective actio... Read More about Systems leadership in practice: Thematic insights from three public health case studies.

Leadership, authenticity and representation in troubled times (2020)
Presentation / Conference Contribution

In this paper we draw on insights from political science and leadership studies to explore how dynamics of representation play out within place-based leadership. We focus on a case study of Marvin Rees, the Mayor of Bristol’s response to the topplin... Read More about Leadership, authenticity and representation in troubled times.

Systems leadership: Pitfalls and possibilities (2020)
Preprint / Working Paper

Systems leadership​ is heralded as a means for improving collaboration and alignment between those commissioning, providing and using public services. Despite the clamour, however, little attention has been paid to the challenges of such an approach... Read More about Systems leadership: Pitfalls and possibilities.

Leading to achieve social change: An interview with Ruth Hunt, former Chief Executive Officer of Stonewall (2020)
Journal Article

In this interview Ruth Hunt, former CEO of the lesbian, gay, bi and trans equality charity Stonewall and now crossbench peer at the House of Lords, discusses her approach to leadership for social change. She considers the changing context of LGBT rig... Read More about Leading to achieve social change: An interview with Ruth Hunt, former Chief Executive Officer of Stonewall.

The fall of Edward Colston and the rise of inclusive place-based leadership (2020)
Digital Artefact

The killing of George Floyd by a police officer in Minneapolis, USA triggered a wave of protests about racial inequality across the world. In Bristol, UK, it led to the toppling of the statue of Edward Colston, a 17th-century slave trader. The respon... Read More about The fall of Edward Colston and the rise of inclusive place-based leadership.

The rhetoric and reality of systems leadership (2020)
Presentation / Conference Contribution

Heralded as a means for improving collaboration and alignment between agencies, communities and providers, ‘system(s) leadership’ is becoming increasingly advocated in public services. In the clamour and enthusiasm with which it has been embraced, ho... Read More about The rhetoric and reality of systems leadership.

Leadership, complexity and change: Learning from the COVID-19 pandemic (2020)
Digital Artefact

The rise of populism in the last few years has led to a "them vs us" worldview. COVID-19 seems to have reset the dial on this – fostering calls of compassion, solidarity, and collective action. What are the lessons we can take from this and how will... Read More about Leadership, complexity and change: Learning from the COVID-19 pandemic.

Hybridity in higher education: Implications for leadership and management practice (2020)
Book Chapter

Our chapter critically explores the nature of hybridity in higher education institutions (HEI) and the implications for leadership practice. We define hybridity as a boundary condition in HEI whereby competing values and diverse institutional logics... Read More about Hybridity in higher education: Implications for leadership and management practice.

Enhancing patient leadership and community engagement through storytelling: Reflections from rural healthcare in New Zealand (2019)
Presentation / Conference Contribution

Over recent years there has been increasing emphasis on the need for community engagement and patient leadership in order to tackle health inequalities. Active community engagement is widely recognised as an essential ingredient for a successful and... Read More about Enhancing patient leadership and community engagement through storytelling: Reflections from rural healthcare in New Zealand.

Developing systems leadership in public health: A scoping report (2019)
Report

This document reports the outcomes of a scoping project commissioned by Public Health England (PHE) in order to outline possibilities for developing the systems leadership capacity of public health registrars and newly appointed consultants. It has b... Read More about Developing systems leadership in public health: A scoping report.

Inclusion: The DNA of leadership and change (2019)
Report

This report, commissioned by the NHS Leadership Academy, sets out the evidence base for Building Leadership For Inclusion (BLFI) – an ambitious new programme of work that aims to (1) raise the level of ambition, (2) quicken the pace of change,
and (... Read More about Inclusion: The DNA of leadership and change.

Mobilizing Change in Public Services: Insights from a Systems Leadership Development Intervention (2019)
Journal Article

© 2019, © 2019 Taylor & Francis Group, LLC. This paper explores the mobilization of systems change through analysis of a place-based ‘systems leadership’ development intervention aimed to develop the capacity of cross-sector partnerships to tackle... Read More about Mobilizing Change in Public Services: Insights from a Systems Leadership Development Intervention.

Golden key local evaluation - Phase 3: System change (2019)
Report

This report presents findings from Phase 3 of UWE’s Local Evaluation of Golden Key (GK), focused on understanding how GK’s system change activity has developed. The evidence is based on interviews conducted in summer 2018, with a sample of people cl... Read More about Golden key local evaluation - Phase 3: System change.

Place-based leadership: Lessons from the Bristol leadership challenge (2018)
Presentation / Conference Contribution

In recent years there have been calls for an increasing emphasis on the development of place-based leadership to tackle ‘wicked’ issues, improve resilience and meet the needs of local citizens (Budd and Sancino 2016; Grint and Holt 2011; Hambleton 20... Read More about Place-based leadership: Lessons from the Bristol leadership challenge.

Dis-United Kingdom? Leadership at a crossroads (2018)
Book Chapter

This chapter summarises the nature of leadership in the UK, main influences and future trends and challenges.

Leadership paradoxes: An exploratory study in the Singapore public service (2017)
Presentation / Conference Contribution

This paper presents empirical evidence on the nature, causes and coping strategies for ‘leadership paradoxes’ in Singapore public services. A framework is offered that illustrates the challenges of working across different role, space and time dimen... Read More about Leadership paradoxes: An exploratory study in the Singapore public service.

Building connections: Golden key local evaluation phase 2 report (2017)
Report

This report summarises findings from Phase 2 of the UWE Local Evaluation of Golden Key (GK) in Bristol (March 2016 to Feb 2017). GK is one of 12 Big Lottery funded Fulfilling Lives partnerships across the UK, where local organisations are working to... Read More about Building connections: Golden key local evaluation phase 2 report.

Leadership and Creativity in Public Services: An Interview With Lord Michael Bichard, Chair of the National Audit Office (2017)
Journal Article

© The Author(s) 2017. This interview with Lord Michael Bichard, one of the most distinguished public sector leaders in the United Kingdom, explores his ideas around the relationship between leadership, creativity, and innovation. A champion of place-... Read More about Leadership and Creativity in Public Services: An Interview With Lord Michael Bichard, Chair of the National Audit Office.

Digital Disruption and the Future of Leadership: An Interview With Rick Haythornthwaite, Chairman of Centrica and MasterCard (2016)
Journal Article

© 2016, © The Author(s) 2016. Unprecedented changes in the nature and prevalence of digital technology have significant implications for leadership theory, practice, and development that, as yet, remain largely unexplored in mainstream academic liter... Read More about Digital Disruption and the Future of Leadership: An Interview With Rick Haythornthwaite, Chairman of Centrica and MasterCard.

Making the ‘third stream’, mainstream: Facilitating effective higher education-employer engagement in workforce development (2016)
Journal Article

In the past decade successive UK governments have placed a strong emphasis on, and renewed interest in, the role of higher education in skills development. In the light of recent skills policy developments in England and drawing upon the findings of... Read More about Making the ‘third stream’, mainstream: Facilitating effective higher education-employer engagement in workforce development.

Leading in turbulent times: Learning to live with paradox (2016)
Journal Article

In the late 1990s the U.S. Army War College developed the acronym VUCA to refer to the volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous nature of political relations in the post- cold war era. It did not take long, however, for people to realize that thes... Read More about Leading in turbulent times: Learning to live with paradox.

Reaching out: Golden Key local evaluation phase 1 full report (2016)
Report

This report presents a preliminary analysis of the evidence collated for Phase 1 of the local evaluation of Bristol Golden Key. Evidence has been collected between November 2014 and March 2016 through a variety of means, including interviews with aro... Read More about Reaching out: Golden Key local evaluation phase 1 full report.

Reaching out: Golden Key local evaluation phase 1 summary report (2016)
Report

This report summarises the findings from Phase 1 of the local evaluation of Golden Key though the first 18 months of initial development, progress towards delivery and operational services delivery from Autumn 2014 to Spring 2016.

Bristol Golden... Read More about Reaching out: Golden Key local evaluation phase 1 summary report.

Leadership Paradoxes: Rethinking Leadership for an Uncertain World (2016)
Book

Leadership is full of paradoxes, yet many leaders and their organisations either never recognise this or hold onto the belief that these are ‘problems’ to be solved or made to go away. Leadership Paradoxes rejects this view, suggesting that paradoxes... Read More about Leadership Paradoxes: Rethinking Leadership for an Uncertain World.

The Difference that Makes the Difference - Final evaluation of the first place-based programmes for Systems Leadership: Local Vision (2015)
Report

1. This report outlines findings from Phase 2 of the evaluation of Systems Leadership: Local Vision, conducted by Bristol Leadership Centre on behalf of the Systems Leadership Steering Group. It is the third in a series of reports capturing the lear... Read More about The Difference that Makes the Difference - Final evaluation of the first place-based programmes for Systems Leadership: Local Vision.

Developing and sustaining shared leadership in higher education (2015)
Report

In recent years, concepts of shared and distributed leadership that view leadership ‘as a group quality, as a set of functions which must be carried out by the group’3 have emerged as popular alternatives to heroic and individual approaches. A shared... Read More about Developing and sustaining shared leadership in higher education.

Reframing, Realignment and Relationships - Interim evaluation of the first place-based programmes for Systems Leadership: Local Vision (2015)
Report

In Autumn 2014 Bristol Leadership Centre at the University of the West of England was commissioned to undertake evaluation of the Local Vision programme.

The evaluation is designed in two phases. This interim report sets out our findings for Phase... Read More about Reframing, Realignment and Relationships - Interim evaluation of the first place-based programmes for Systems Leadership: Local Vision.

Ubuntu (2014)
Book Chapter

The concept of Ubuntu is an alternative to individualistic and utilitarian philosophies that tend to dominate in the West. It is a Zulu/Xhosa word, with parallels in many other African languages, which is most directly translated into English as ‘hu... Read More about Ubuntu.

Hybrid configurations of leadership in higher education employer engagement (2014)
Journal Article

Recent literature has emphasised the distributed nature of leadership in higher education (HE) and the multitude of actors and factors that contribute towards organisational outcomes. Gronn suggests, however, that rather than using such evidence to p... Read More about Hybrid configurations of leadership in higher education employer engagement.

Leadership and branding in business schools: A Bourdieusian analysis (2014)
Journal Article

This paper explores the growth of corporate branding in higher education (HE) and its use by academic and professional managers as a mechanism for not only enhancing institutional reputation but also for facilitating internal culture change. It uses... Read More about Leadership and branding in business schools: A Bourdieusian analysis.

Citizens of the academic community? A societal perspective on leadership in UK higher education (2013)
Journal Article

This paper presents a societal perspective on academic leadership by exploring the preoccupations of academics as citizens rather than as employees, managers or individuals. It uses a listening post methodology to ask 'what is it like to be a citizen... Read More about Citizens of the academic community? A societal perspective on leadership in UK higher education.

Academic leadership: Changing conceptions, identities and experiences in UK higher education, London: Leadership foundation for higher education (2012)
Report

This report presents the outcomes of a research project on the leadership of academic work in UK higher education conducted from autumn 2009 to autumn 2011. Findings reveal a high degree of consistency in perspectives on, and experiences of, academic... Read More about Academic leadership: Changing conceptions, identities and experiences in UK higher education, London: Leadership foundation for higher education.

Distributed leadership in organizations: A review of theory and research (2011)
Journal Article

The aim of this paper is to review conceptual and empirical literature on the concept of distributed leadership (DL) in order to identify its origins, key arguments, and areas for further work. Consideration is given to the similarities and differenc... Read More about Distributed leadership in organizations: A review of theory and research.

Exploring leadership: Individual, organizational and societal perspectives (2011)
Book

Leadership is one of the most talked about yet least understood concepts in current business and society. This book explores how theoretical models and views of leadership have
evolved over time; how leadership can be investigated from individual, o... Read More about Exploring leadership: Individual, organizational and societal perspectives.

Leadership, management and organisational development (2010)
Book Chapter

In this chapter I suggest that leadership, management and organisational development are all parts of the same process - namely enhancing the capacity of organisations, and the people within them to better achieve their purpose. As such, they are clo... Read More about Leadership, management and organisational development.