Analysis of Atwater and Waldman´s Leadership, Feedback, and the Open Communication Gap

Leadership is an important attribute in individuals such as managers, academic experts, and researchers. The topic of leadership continues to gain popularity and importance in almost all sectors. The way leaders in managerial positions communicate determines their effectiveness and success in achieving high levels of performance and success in their organizations. There are numerous books that provide an insight into effective leadership and communication. One of such books is by Atwater and Waldman (2012). This paper provides a summary, contextual analysis and critique of the book.
The book gives an insight into leadership to boost the understanding of managers regarding open communication and feedback. The elements explained concerning these processes include: the impact that provider’s and recipient’s characteristics have on the open communication process and the expected outcomes of negative feedback and their effects on leadership (Atwater & Waldman, 2012, pp. 2-9). The book also explains when it is appropriate for managers to engage in open organizational level communication and how to deal with negative feedback from their followers. The book provides communication guidelines to assist managers and other practitioners in boosting their leadership skills (Atwater & Waldman, 2012, pp. 13-45).
The book emphasizes on the existing knowledge base relating to open communication for individuals holding managerial positions. In its last and concluding chapters, it provides extensive literature reviews and theories that explain how open communication can be undertaken by managers. It explains that open communication occurs as a leadership dilemma across all management levels within an organization and entails a substantial array of...

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...t uses are not up-to-date. For example, while discussing self-esteem and self-efficacy, it uses old references that were published before 1960 such as Heider (1958) and others published earlier than 1990 like McCarty (1986) and McFarlin and Blascovich (1981) (Atwater & Waldman, 2012, p.15). This can be easily interpreted by readers as lack of extensive research, which, in turn, can destroy their confidence and interest in the book.
The book, provides very important approaches to leadership and ways of dealing with dilemmas, negative feedback, and other management issues. Although it has a few minor short comings, the book is well-written and properly structured, making it easy for the target readers to understand its content.

Works Cited

Atwater, L. E., & Waldman, D. A. (2012). Leadership, feedback and the open communication gap. New York, NY: Psychology Press.