Crossing the Divide

Crossing the Divide

by Todd L. Pittinsky
Released August 2009
Publisher(s): Harvard Business Review Press
ISBN: 9781422152676

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Book description

Bringing groups together is a central and unrelenting task of leadership. CEOs must nudge their executives to rise above divisional turf battles, mayors try to cope with gangs in conflict, and leaders of many countries face the realities of sectarian violence.

Crossing the Divide introduces cutting-edge research and insight into these age-old problems. Edited by Todd Pittinsky of Harvard's Kennedy School of Government, this collection of essays brings together two powerful scholarly disciplines: intergroup relations and leadership. What emerges is a new mandate for leaders to reassess what have been regarded as some very successful tactics for building group cohesion. Leaders can no longer just "rally the troops." Instead they must employ more positive means to span boundaries, affirm identity, cultivate trust, and collaborate productively.

In this multidisciplinary volume, highly regarded business scholars, social psychologists, policy experts, and interfaith activists provide not only theoretical frameworks around these ideas, but practical tools and specific case studies as well. Examples from around the world and from every sector - corporate, political, and social - bring to life the art and practice of intergroup leadership in the twenty-first century.

Table of contents

  1. Also by
  2. Title Page
  3. Dedication
  4. Copyright Page
  5. Table of Contents
  6. Acknowledgments
  7. Introduction - Intergroup Leadership
  8. part I - Insights and Concepts
    1. 1 - Leadership Across Group Divides
      1. Group Membership: Social Categorization and Social Identity
      2. Improving Intergroup Relations: The Common In-Group Identity Model
      3. Challenges of a Superordinate Identity: Multiple Categorizations and Identities
      4. Dual Identity
      5. Challenge of a Dual Identity: Minority and Majority Perspectives
      6. Resolving the Dilemma of Majority and Minority Perspectives
      7. Conclusion
    2. 2 - From Group Conflict to Social Harmony
      1. Social Identity Theory
      2. Social Identity and Leadership
      3. Social Identity and Intergroup Leadership
      4. Transcending Incompatible Identities to Improve Intergroup Leadership
      5. Conclusion
    3. 3 - On the Social Psychology of Intergroup Leadership
      1. Problems of Intergroup Leadership: Striving to Cross Group Boundaries
      2. The Importance of Creating a Shared Group Membership
      3. The Perils of Ignoring Subgroup Memberships
      4. Valuing Subgroup Diversity
      5. Leading and Crossing Boundaries by Being Representative of “Us”
      6. Relative In-Group Prototypicality and Intragroup Leadership
      7. Relative In-Group Prototypicality and Intergroup Leadership
      8. Conclusion
    4. 4 - United Pluralism
      1. The Role of Shared Identity
      2. From Superordinate Group Identification to Intergroup Cooperation
      3. Fair Treatment as a Path to Cooperation Across Subgroups
      4. Implementing Fair Procedures to Build Identification and Boost Cooperation
      5. The Four-Component Model of Procedural Justice
      6. Practicing Procedurally Just Leadership in the Context of Pluralism
      7. Assimilation Versus Biculturalism
      8. Assimilation and the Illusion of Group Identity Conflict
      9. Subgroup Respect as a Catalyst for Superordinate Group Success
      10. Conclusion
    5. 5 - Imaginative Leadership
      1. Leaders’ Responses to Marginalization
      2. When There Are Many Alternatives
      3. When There Are Few Alternatives
      4. Conclusion
  9. part II - Tools and Pathways
    1. 6 - Creating Common Ground
      1. Definitions
      2. Proposition 1: Convening Power
      3. Proposition 2: Transcendent Values
      4. Proposition 3: Future Orientation—Building a New Identity
      5. Proposition 4: Important Interdependent Tasks
      6. Proposition 5: Interpersonal Norms and Emotional Integration
      7. Proposition 6: Inclusiveness and Evenhandedness
      8. Conclusion: Intergroup Leadership as Leadership
    2. 7 - Boundary-Spanning Leadership
      1. The Challenge of Leadership Across Social Identity Boundaries
      2. Tactics for Boundary-Spanning Leadership
      3. Conclusion
    3. 8 - Trust Building in Intergroup Negotiations
      1. Conceptualizing Trust in Intergroup Negotiations
      2. The Benefits of Trust in Intergroup Negotiations
      3. Barriers to Trust in Intergroup Negotiations
      4. What Can Leaders Do to Create and Sustain Trust in Intergroup Negotiations?
      5. Conclusion
    4. 9 - Boundaries Need Not Be Barriers
      1. Barriers to Information Sharing Across Organizational Boundaries
      2. Strategies for Leading Collaboration Across Boundaries
      3. Conclusion
    5. 10 - Operating Across Boundaries
      1. Adaptability
      2. The Commonality of Loss
      3. The Politics of Inclusion: Defining the Groups in Play
      4. Refashioning Loyalties Across Boundaries
      5. Conclusion
  10. part III - Cases in Context
    1. 11 - Leadership for Enhancing Coexistence
      1. Barriers to Coexistence
      2. Leadership: What Government Can Do
      3. Leadership: What Individual Leaders Can Do
      4. Improving Leadership for Coexistence
      5. Conclusion
    2. 12 - Bringing Groups Together
      1. The Botswanan and Mauritian Models
      2. Other, Aberrant Models
      3. Ethnicity and Political Culture
      4. Bad and Good Leadership
      5. A Code of Leadership
      6. Training New Leaders
      7. Conclusion
    3. 13 - The Context for Intergroup Leadership
      1. Conceptual Framework, Method, and Setting
      2. Context Shapes Identity Formation
      3. Context Shapes Opportunities for Collective Action
      4. Changes in Context Create Incentives for Intergroup Leadership
      5. Conclusion
    4. 14 - From Bolted-on to Built-in
      1. U.S. Diversity Management: Background
      2. Barriers to Progress
      3. The Global Perspective
      4. Advancing Diversity Management from Bolted-on to Integrated Inclusion
      5. Conclusion
    5. 15 - Reaching Across the Aisle
      1. Five Innovations from Off-Site Meetings
      2. Applying Innovations on Capitol Hill
      3. Conclusion
    6. 16 - Collective Memory and Intergroup Leadership
      1. Method
      2. Leaders’ Strategic Use of Collective Memory Toward Conflict
      3. Leaders’ Strategic Use of Collective Memory for Reconciliation
      4. Conclusion
    7. 17 - Interfaith Leadership
      1. The Faith Line: Totalitarians Versus Pluralists
      2. Competencies for Effective Interfaith Leadership
      3. Conclusion: Preaching to the Choir
  11. Index
  12. About the Contributors

Product information

  • Title: Crossing the Divide
  • Author(s): Todd L. Pittinsky
  • Release date: August 2009
  • Publisher(s): Harvard Business Review Press
  • ISBN: 9781422152676