Against the Storm: How True Leaders Prevail When the World Shakes - Hardcover

by Thomas A. Kolditz (Author), Mariana Khomitska (Author)

An original framework for leadership in uncertainty and crises

Against the Storm: How Leaders Prevail When the World Shakes delivers exclusive insights on leading during extreme uncertainty, the threat of chaos where life or livelihood hangs in the balance. Written by retired Brigadier General, accomplished social psychologist, and strategic leader, Tom Kolditz, and highly professional Ukrainian leader developer, Mariana Khomitska, this book draws upon a wealth of real-world experiences to show readers how to lead throughmarket collapses, prioritize employee wellbeing while making necessary strategic pivots, and communicate transparently to maintain stakeholder confidence, such as during a company's response to a sudden and unexpected supply chain disruption.

Using a practical framework that can be applied across industries and roles, this book discusses how to:

• Lead in uncertain times, when followers are driven solely by trust
• Adeptly control dialogue in meetings when the pressures of crisis are apparent
• See ahead and prevent unanticipated catastrophic failures
• Prevent the adoption of flawed plans
• Empower others while maintaining the necessary control over outcomes
• Navigate the nature of guilt and shame in crisis leadership
• Leading through medical uncertainty that emerges in family lifeWork through tragedies in crisis, such as bankruptcies, collapsing relationships, and deaths

Revealing a completely original approach to crisis leadership that other, less-experienced authors simply do not have the experience to formulate, Against the Storm is an eye-opening book for all executives and business leaders seeking true wisdom on how to handle the hardest challenges that will come their way.

Front Jacket

When extreme uncertainty strikes and life or livelihood hangs in the balance, conventional leadership approaches fail. Against the Storm delivers an original framework for crisis leadership drawn from the real-world experience of Tom Kolditz, a retired Brigadier General, former Department Head at West Point, and founder of five leadership programs at institutions including Yale and Rice University. As a recognized authority on "in extremis" leadership, Kolditz brings battlefield-tested judgment and rigorous research to a challenge every executive will eventually face.

This book provides a practical framework applicable across industries and roles for leading when followers are driven solely by trust. Readers learn how to adeptly control dialogue in high-pressure meetings, see ahead to prevent unanticipated catastrophic failures, and prevent the adoption of flawed plans. The framework addresses how to navigate market collapses, prioritize employee well-being while executing strategic pivots, and communicate transparently to maintain stakeholder confidence during sudden disruptions.

Against the Storm also explores the psychological dimensions of crisis leadership that other frameworks overlook. Kolditz examines how to empower others while maintaining necessary control over outcomes, navigate the complex dynamics of guilt and shame that arise during crises, and lead through personal medical uncertainty that emerges in family life. The book provides guidance for working through tragedies including bankruptcies, collapsing relationships, and deaths--the hardest moments leaders will confront.

Written for executives and business leaders seeking substantive wisdom on handling their hardest challenges, Against the Storm offers a distinctly original approach to crisis leadership rooted in decades of military and institutional experience. Whether facing supply chain disruptions, economic recessions, or organizational upheaval, leaders will find a tested framework for providing stability, building trust, and focusing on essential tasks that ensure survival amidst extreme adversity.

Back Jacket

PRAISE FOR AGAINST THE STORM

"Against the Storm offers leaders practical, relevant, insightful, and battle-tested (literally) approaches for navigating the intense heat and pressure of modern times. Tom Kolditz and Mariana Khomitska have been there; they know what they are talking about. This book is incredibly timely, insightful, and accessible."
-- JIM KOUZES, co-author of the bestselling and award-winning The -Leadership Challenge

"Mariana Khomitska and Tom Kolditz draw on some of the most extreme leadership conditions of our time. Against the Storm is a timely and important book for anyone who wants to lead well in the world as it actually is."
-- DR. MARSHALL GOLDSMITH, Thinkers50 #1 Executive Coach and New York Times bestselling author of The Earned Life, Triggers, and What Got You Here Won't Get You There

"General Kolditz is one of our great leadership sages. If you invest seriously in learning from Kolditz, you cannot help but become a better leader."
-- JIM COLLINS, author of Good to Great and What to Make of a Life

"I am breathing more steadily and hold more confidence in uncertainty after reading this book. It is a must-read for executives and teams."
-- JEN GRACE BARON, CRO and Co-founder, InspireCorps

"In an era defined by uncertainty, Kolditz and Khomitska offer a compelling and practical guide to leadership when it matters most. It is an essential resource for anyone seeking to lead with purpose in an unpredictable world."
-- DAVID V. DAY, PhD, Academic Director of the Kravis Leadership -Institute, Steven L. Eggert '82 P'15 Professor of Leadership, Claremont -McKenna College

Author Biography

TOM KOLDITZ is a retired Brigadier General and accomplished social psychologist who served as Department Head at West Point. A globally recognized speaker and author on "in extremis" leadership, he founded five influential leadership programs, including the West Point Leadership Center, the Leader Development Program at the Yale School of Management, and the Doerr Institute for New Leaders at Rice University.

MARIANA KHOMITSKA is an organizational development and leadership expert with over 19 years of experience in executive development and learning strategy. As Learning & Development Director at N-iX, she helps build leadership capability and develop L&D as a strategic business function in conditions of constant change and uncertainty. Her work and perspective have been shaped by leading through the COVID-19 pandemic, the full-scale war in Ukraine, the energy crisis, and large-scale organizational transformation.