Tempered Radicals: How Everyday Leaders Inspire Change at Work

by Debra E. Meyerson

"Very well researched, very readable. Anyone who feels they don't fit in or who manages those who don't fit in will want to take a look." -Inc. Magazine In this engaging book, Debra E. Meyerson reveals how adaptive, family-friendly, and socially responsible work places are built not by revolutionaries but by those she calls "tempered radicals," a group of people that balance company conformity with individual rebellion. While their differences often put them at odds with the "mainstream" organizational culture, Meyerson argues that these "everyday leaders" act as crucial sources of new ideas, alternative perspectives, and organizational learning and change. Drawing from fifteen years of research and the compelling stories of tempered radicals in a variety of organizations, Meyerson illustrates a spectrum of innovative ways that individuals use to "rock the boat" from inside the corporate ship-and steer a course for powerful, positive change.

Genres: Business, Leadership, Nonfiction

256 pages, Paperback

First published August 15, 2001

About the author

In 2010, when I was a professor at Stanford, I suffered a severe stroke. I lost all movement of my right arm and leg; even worse, I lost all ability to communicate.

While I won my struggle to survive, much of my identity – as a Stanford professor, a speaker and writer, an athlete, a mother and a wife – was taken from me. My mind was working but I was trapped inside a broken body, unable to do what I used to do. And maybe even worse, I couldn't tell anyone what I was experiencing.
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With hard work and a lot of help I regained enough mobility to again be independent, and have recovered some ability to speak. But I have come to accept that I will never again have all the capabilities I once had.
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Seven years later, I'm still slowly recovering more of my abilities and am continuing to rebuild my identities. I've found few resources to help with the emotional piece of this journey, and have heard the same from many of my fellow survivors. That is why I'm writing Identity Theft: Rediscovering Ourselves after Stroke.

As a professor, I studied and taught about how small, everyday actions can disrupt what’s normal, chip away at the status quo, and create positive change. That work led me to write Tempered Radicals, first published in 2001.

​Now, in a very different context, I live by the message I previously taught. With small, deliberate efforts, and a lot of conscious choices, I continue my slow recovery, discover more about myself, and shape my new identities.

Reviews

[Jerry · Rating 2 out of 5]

Self-help drivel

[Carol · Rating 2 out of 5]

I think this would be a good primer for someone who has never studied social justice and change agents. I was a bit bored with it and skimmed it.

[Michelle Flanagan · Rating 3 out of 5]

read it for a final paper but it’s not half bad