Scott T. Allison

George R. Goethals

Heroes permeate our culture. But what makes a hero? And what makes heroes 'heroic'? This exciting and innovative study explores how charisma and human needs create images of individuals as heroes and villains.

The Romance of Heroism and Heroic Leadership

James K. Beggan

Olivia Efthimiou

Heroism is a rich, elusive phenomenon. Any adequate understanding of heroic behavior requires a new type of scholarly imagination, one that taps into human artistic sensibilities as much as it does the rigors of scientific inquiry. In an important sense, we invoke a meta-version of the call to heroic imagination by Franco, Blau, and Zimbardo (2011), who describe such imagination “as a mind-set” and “a collection of attitudes” (p. 13) that can steer everyday people toward heroic achievement. This eBook also merges our understanding of heroism with heroic leadership, demonstrating that heroic leadership applies the principles of heroism in moving groups toward noble collective goals. This eBook represents an effort by a distinguished group of authors to unleash their own creative mindsets, attitudes, and imaginations in their scholarship on heroism and heroic leadership.

The Art and Science of Heroism and Heroic Leadership

Abraham Lincoln, Princess Diana, Rick in Casablanca--why do we perceive certain people as heroes? What qualities do we see in them? What must they do to win our admiration? In Heroes, Scott T. Allison and George R. Goethals offer a stimulating tour of the psychology of heroism, shedding light on what heroism and villainy mean to most people and why heroes--both real people and fictional characters--are so vital to our lives. The book discusses a broad range of heroes, including Eleanor Roosevelt, Walt Kowalski in Gran Torino, Senator Ted Kennedy, and explorer Ernest Shackleton, plus villains such as Shakespeare's Iago. The authors highlight the Great Eight traits of heroes (smart, strong, selfless, caring, charismatic, resilient, reliable, and inspiring) and outline the mental models that we have of how people become heroes, from the underdog who defies great odds (David vs. Goliath) to the heroes who redeem themselves or who overcome adversity. Brimming with psychological insight, Heroes provides an illuminating look at heroes--and into our own minds as well.

What They Do and Why We Need Them

Heroes

David M. Messick

An exploration of both classic and contemporary conceptions of leadership, focusing on social psychological approaches to central questions such as the way people think about leaders and leadership, the personality attributes of leaders, power and influence, trust, and the qualities that sustain positive relationships between leaders and followers.

Enduring Ideas and Emerging Insights

Conceptions of Leadership

Roderick M. Kramer

Over the past decade, research and theory on heroism and heroic leadership has greatly expanded, providing new insights on heroic behavior. The Handbook of Heroism and Heroic Leadership brings together new scholarship in this burgeoning field to build an important foundation for further multidisciplinary developments. In its three parts, "Origins of Heroism," "Types of Heroism," and "Processes of Heroism," distinguished social scientists and researchers explore topics such as morality, resilience, courage, empathy, meaning, altruism, spirituality, and transformation. This handbook provides a much-needed consolidation and synthesis for heroism and heroic leadership scholars and graduate students.

Handbook of Heroism and Heroic Leadership

Heroic Leadership is a celebration of our greatest heroes, from legends such as Mahatma Gandhi to the legions of unsung heroes who transform our world quietly behind the scenes. The authors argue that all great heroes are also great leaders. The term ‘heroic leadership’ is coined to describe how heroism and leadership are intertwined, and how our most cherished heroes are also our most transforming leaders. This book offers a new conceptual framework for understanding heroism and heroic leadership, drawing from theories of great leadership and heroic action. Ten categories of heroism are described: Trending Heroes, Transitory Heroes, Transparent Heroes, Transitional Heroes, Tragic Heroes, Transposed Heroes, Transitional Heroes, Traditional Heroes, Transforming Heroes, and Transcendent Heroes. The authors describe the lives of 100 exceptional individuals whose accomplishments place them into one of these ten hero categories. These 100 hero profiles offer supporting evidence for a new integration of theories of leadership and theories of heroism.

An Influence Taxonomy of 100 Exceptional Individuals

Heroic Leadership

Craig T. Kocher

Abraham Lincoln's iconic phrase, 'the better angels of our nature', revealed his belief that the noblest qualities of humanity would heal a divided nation. In Frontiers in Spiritual Leadership, an interdisciplinary group of leading scholars from the University of Richmond explore these noble qualities and how leaders such as Lincoln make that expression possible. They review the landscape of spiritual leadership and the spiritual principles that are fundamental to effective and inspired leadership, emphasizing the values of love, forgiveness, purpose, trust, sacrifice, equality, and liberty, among others. Through an analysis of historical examples and contemporary issues, this book celebrates the many gifted and enlightened individuals whose leadership embodies the most exquisite qualities of humanity. It outlines the conceptual linkage between leadership and spirituality within groups and organizations and will appeal to students and scholars of leadership, ethics, religion, philosophy, psychology, and human growth potential.

Discovering the Better Angels of Our Nature

Frontiers in Spiritual Leadership

Using the lens of popular culture, Heroes explores the ways that our perceptions of heroism and villainy affect the way people behave in heroic and villainous ways. Allison and Goethals use psychology to explore how these important concepts shape our lives and our world.

Scott T. Allison

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