John Eric Adair

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John Eric Adair (born May 18, 1934 ) is a British military, sailor , instructor in the British Military Academy Sandhurst (RMAS) and the world's first, now emeritus, professor of "Leadership Studies" at the University of Surrey .

Career

As platoon leader of the Scots Guards , Adair served in Egypt . He later became the only British military man to serve in the Arab Legion , where he became an adjutant to a Bedouin regiment. After completing his military career, he became a seaman and worked on a fishing cutter. He later worked as a nurse in the operating room.

Adair left the job market to study at the University of Cambridge . Following his studies, he became an instructor for military history and leadership topics at RMAS. He became Director of Studies at St. George's House in Windsor Castle. Two years later he became Deputy Director of the Industrial Society , where he presented his concept of Action-Centered Leadership. In 1979, Adair was named the world's first Professor of Leadership Studies at the University of Surrey. From 1981 to 1986, Adair worked with John Harvey-Jones on a strategic realignment of ICI and helped it become the first UK company to generate a billion pound sterling profit.

During his career, Adair earned a Masters of Letters from the University of Oxford and a PhD in Philosophy from King's College London .

Work and effect

Adair is best known for his work on leadership, which in his opinion, and similar to what Warren Bennis described, is differentiated from management and is a learnable skill. In Adair's model, the Action Centered Leadership, three overlapping circles are shown for the main tasks of leadership. The circles contain the tasks:

  • accomplish the task
  • build the team and stick together
  • promote the individual

To this end, Adair names management functions that the leader should fulfill:

  1. Definition of the task - Tasks must be broken down into clear ( SMART ) instructions.
  2. Planning: Planning requires the search for alternatives and is ideally achieved with an open mind in multifunctional teams.
  3. Briefing : Informing the team is a core function that the leader must fulfill.
  4. Control: The good leader controls himself, delegates and monitors the delegated tasks efficiently.
  5. Evaluation: The leader must learn to assess the consequences of his actions.
  6. Motivation: Adair attributes motivation to six factors (be motivated, choose motivated employees, set realistic, challenging goals, remember that progress motivates, reward fairly and show your appreciation).
  7. Organize: Good leaders organize themselves, their team and the organization.
  8. Let me give you an example: Good leaders live out their credo towards individuals and teams.

According to Adair, these functions must be continuously developed and practiced in order to be successful as a leader in the long term. Not only because of the active marketing of his ideas, Adair is considered one of the leading British experts on leadership topics. He works as a consultant for the British Armed Forces and Scottish Police Units.

Honors

Adair was awarded a scholarship from St. Paul's School at the University of Cambridge. He is a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society . He was awarded an honorary doctorate from a Chinese university for his outstanding research and contributions to leadership.

Bibliography (selection)

Adair has published over 40 books, some of which have been translated into multiple languages.

  • The Pilgrims' Way: Shrines and Saints in Britain and Ireland , 1978
  • The Art of Creative Thinking: How to be Innovative and Develop Great Ideas , 1990
  • Decision Making & Problem Solving Strategies , 1997
  • Time Management and Personal Development, 1999
  • Inspiring Leadership: Learning from Great Leaders , 2002
  • The John Adair Handbook of Management and Leadership , 2004
  • Develop your Leadership Skills , 2007
  • Strategic Leadership , 2011
  • The John Adair Lexicon of Leadership: The Definitive Guide to Leadership Skills and Knowledge , 2011

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d e f g h i j k biography on John Adair's website , accessed April 7, 2014.
  2. ↑ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n John Adair ( Memento of the original from September 13, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. on the British Library's Management and Business Studies Portal; accessed on September 4, 2016.  @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / mbsportal.bl.uk
  3. ↑ a b John Eric Adair on www.onpulson.de; accessed on September 4, 2016.
  4. ↑ a b Action-Centered-Leadership at www.onpulson.de; accessed on September 4, 2016.
personal data
SURNAME Adair, John Eric
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Adair, J .; Adair, John Eric; Adair, John E .; Adair, JE; Adeyr, Con; Edeirs, Džons
BRIEF DESCRIPTION British trainer in leadership
DATE OF BIRTH May 18, 1934