What leaders are saying about “Broaden the Vision and Narrow the Focus: Managing in a World of Paradox” by James R. Lucas.

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This is one of the best business books I’ve read in years! Wisdom leaps off nearly every page. I can’t imagine anyone in the world of business not benefiting tremendously from its wealth of practical insights. Jim Lucas deeply understands the paradoxical balancing act that every great leader has to perform, and he clearly shows how, used appropriately, paradox is power. Open this book and meet a great teacher you’ll be very glad to know!
–Tom Morris, Author
True Success, If Aristotle Ran General Motors, and The Art of Achievement

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Straightforward, direct and pragmatic, Lucas’ latest book takes the mystery out of the everyday either/or challenges leaders face. It’s both/and! His clear and insightful prose yields genuinely useful tools to successfully navigate these inherent contradictions.
– Michael V. Harper, Consultant and Co-author
Hope Is Not a Method: What Business Leaders Can Learn from America’s Army

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Jim Lucas’ suggestion that leadership greatness is harnessed in understanding and managing paradoxes is very compelling. The concept is simple but not simplistic. This book arms a business leader with information on how to use the power of paradoxes and provides an approach to successfully applying the paradox principle in our organizations. I believe that developing a competency in managing paradoxes and creating a thinking organization is a leadership imperative. My leadership team and I plan to leverage these principles to access the power of paradoxes and develop a passionate and engaged thinking organization.
–Glenn Hartman, Director of Customer Operations
Procter & Gamble, North America

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Jim Lucas has captured the key leadership issues in Broaden the Vision and Narrow the Focus. Too often leadership books are overly simplified, telling readers that if they only exhibit this one behavior, or perform this one action, then they will be great leaders. The reality is that leadership is based on simple principles, but it is a much more complex subject. This book treats leadership the way it deserves to be treated - thoughtfully, proactively, and with detail appropriate for the complexity of the issue. I certainly plan to keep this book within arm’s reach.
– Dave Hager, Chief Operating Officer
Kerr-McGee Corporation

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This is a must-read book for business leaders at any level. Whether you wish to simply improve the quality of your business operations or move your organization to a world-class level, managing through the power of paradox is both fundamental and provocative. Lucas shows us how effective organizations behave in flexible yet sometimes contradictory ways, and he provides leaders with eight simple steps to improve business decisions and master the paradox principle.
– Robert Barrett, President & CEO
InCharge Institute of America

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Jim Lucas gets it just right in this provocative book. You can’t lead what you don’t understand, and the only way to surmount the challenges of today’s organizations is to master paradox - learning to lead with the heart and the head, in the present and the future. Lucas shows how in this readable and practical guide.
– Lee G. Bolman, Marion Bloch/Missouri Chair in Leadership, Bloch School of Business and Public Administration, University of Missouri-Kansas City
Co-author, Reframing Organizations: Artistry, Choice and Leadership
and Leading with Soul: An Uncommon Journey of Spirit

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This is a remarkable book. It is relevant and rigorous, yet highly readable. Full of perceptive insights. It should be read by all concerned with the future of management, leadership, and organizational performance.
– Bruce Lloyd, Professor of Strategic Management
London South Bank University

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We are inundated with advice - how to live our lives, how to raise our children, how to run our businesses. For all of our dilemmas there are a host of “experts” willing to offer their opinions, but they often contradict each other. Fools rush in, one cautions, while another warns us that he who hesitates is lost. Ironically, almost all of this conflicting advice is true, but we wrestle with its application. In Broaden the Vision, Jim sums up contrasting views of organizational life and shows leaders how to implement paradoxical solutions. He offers leaders excellent guidance as they decide how to handle thorny problems, pulling from the best of a broad array of top-tier ideas.
– Edward T. Reilly, President & CEO
American Management Association

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The topic of thought leadership in a world of paradoxes is complex. Understanding and dealing with this complexity is critical for leaders to unleash the power of both. Jim Lucas takes on this topic in a very practical manner, using twenty examples based around four areas: leadership, culture, talent, and strategy. Without being prescriptive, the book helps leaders think about a diverse range of questions from What does it mean to be customer centric? to Why does innovation and change need to be ubiquitous? Readers will come away with a much deeper understanding of how to balance their brains, hearts, and courage.
– Andrew K. Tipping, Vice President
Organization and Change, Booz Allen Hamilton

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