Welcome To

The Leadership Reimagination Enterprise

The Leadership Reimagination Enterprise

Based on my life’s experiences and reflection of leadership and living, I have come to the place where I understand Leadership reimagination to be a mode of engagement in which the leader operates with a worldview which is informed by seven principles.  While each principle may be viewed as standing on its own, my reasoning of the construct of leadership reimagination means that these seven principles or characteristics are to be seen as part of a composite whole. Thus, I submit that leadership re-imagination involves:
the creation of a better way of doing things, of being, of living, and of producing improved results is the heart of effective living and leading;
opportunities for finding better alternatives to producing desired results should always be pursued;
being self-critical is a necessary component of growth and is a foundational disposition for the discipline of being able to listen to alternative perspectives and learning from past errors;
pursuing a larger agenda that is beyond personal interests and includes the well-being of others gives greater meaning to life than being consumed with personal interests;
building trustful relationships is at the heart of being effective in leading and influencing others;
leading others through influence and inspiration is a more powerful and sustainable way to lead rather than relying on control and instruction;
being courageous involves standing up for the things in which one believes and pursuing them diligently, even when you are unable to win everyone to buy into your vision as you pursue better ways of doing things; of being; of living; and producing improved results.

Major Publications

Engage Professor Thompson’s views on various topics

My Journey to Re-imagining Leadership

I am the last son in an unbroken line of seven sons.  I often joke that I suspect that when my mother was pregnant with me she was hoping I would be born a girl, and that at my delivery when the mid-wife told her “it’s a boy” she responded, “bway (meaning ‘boy’) again”.  My parents’ first daughter (and the only one for six years) was born less than two years after I was born. Any cuteness I had as the last child would have been eclipsed, not only by the fact that I was no longer the last but more importantly, by the fact that my “natural” competitor was the only one of her kind!

Growing up as a young teen, and in early adulthood, I was often uncomfortable with people who believe that their views or ways of doing things were right, simply because they had the power to say so!  Naturally my sibling rivalries were most times with my sister (the only girl!) and the brother who immediately preceded me.  In my fights with my sister I was most times pronounced wrong, even if I were right.  Soon I found myself making the error of taking on one of my brothers in the hope that since being right seemed to go with being younger, I would be right.  I was to discover that even though I was ‘given’ right, it did not help much since I had already received some blows – physical and emotional.

Books by Professor Canute Thompson on Leadership Re-Imagination are Available on Kindle

Testimonials

Articles