New book addresses 'The Good Politics of Interdependent Leadership'

School of Education and Human Services’ professor of Organizational Leadership David Strubler,  Ph.D., often asks his Oakland University doctoral students, professionals working in many sectors of the economy, if “good politics” exist.

He is not shocked when often hearing an emphatic “No!” from these brilliant and skeptical students. However, Strubler offers some enlightening and unexpected answers to that question in his new book, “The Good Politics of Interdependent Leadership,” edited by Juna Kotori, an OU doctoral student herself. In the book, he teaches the five principles of interdependent leadership.

“Over time, I became a more purpose-led and interdependent leader focused on getting to really know and engage people,” Strubler says. “My goal became to help identify a common purpose and work together civilly to co-create innovative solutions and opportunities – and to do it for a purpose greater than ourselves. It was about redemptive transformation.”

The book took five more years of research, working and learning with real community leaders. And, as a result of his work, Strubler has come to know and appreciate dozens of good leaders, especially here in southeast Michigan. Strubler says, “In one sense, everyone is a leader because you cannot NOT influence those around you for better or for worse.”

Strubler attributes his first awareness of interdependence to his mountaineering days during which he says “our lives depended on civil collaboration under stress.” Literally being tied together with a rope for over three weeks on narrow ridges, exposed Strubler and his fellow mountain climbers to extreme temperatures and thin air on Alaska’s Mt. Denali. It also taught him a lesson. “It’s not just about me,” he says.

More recently, he’s led the building of a tiny house with five young men looking for career direction, a collaborative project that morphed into a grant-funded pre-apprentice program for young adults through the Oakland University-Pontiac Initiative.

Strubler’s professional career encompasses thirty-five years in academic and industry leadership positions, with roles ranging from a human resource director to a dean of business to an associate vice president. He has successfully led turn-arounds in private non-profit, public and private education, and the automotive industry.

Find “The Good Politics of Interdependent Leadership” at Amazon.com in audio, paperback and Kindle.

All after-tax proceeds of Strubler’s new book are donated to his family’s Tapestry Scholarship fund for OU Organizational Leadership and Human Resource Development students. Interested individuals can also donate to the Tapestry fund here.