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Lee Bolman

Author • Educator

Leadership. Reframing. Research.

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About Lee Bolman

Professor Emeritus in Leadership & Organization Studies at the University of Missouri-Kansas City, Lee Bolman has dedicated his career to understanding the complexities of leadership and organizational behavior.

With over four decades of experience in academia and consulting, Dr. Bolman has authored numerous influential books on leadership, including the widely acclaimed “Reframing Organizations” series. His research focuses on leadership development, organizational reframing, and educational leadership.

Through his teaching, writing, and research, Lee has impacted thousands of leaders worldwide, helping them develop more effective approaches to leadership challenges through his innovative four-frame model of organizational analysis.

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Books Showcase

“As organizations have become pervasive and dominant, they have also become harder to understand and manage. The result is that managers are often nearly as clueless as their subordinates think they are. The consequences of myopic management and leadership show up every day, sometimes in small and subtle ways, sometimes in blatant catastrophes. A primary cause of managerial failure is faulty thinking rooted in pinched ideas and truncated possibilities. Managers and those who try to help them too often rely on narrow models that capture only one slice of organizational life.”

Discover how to do better in Lee’s books.

2026

Reframing Organizations, 8th ed.

2026
Available at major booksellers!

Reframing Academic Leadership

Available at major booksellers!
2018

Reframing the Path to School Leadership, 3rd edition

2018
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Featured Work & Resources

Dive deeper into Lee Bolman’s research, tools, and educational offerings

Reframing Research

Explore cutting-edge research on organizational reframing and leadership development methodologies

Leadership Orientations Survey

Take the comprehensive assessment to discover your leadership style and organizational perspective

Teaching

Access educational resources, course materials, and insights from decades of academic excellence

Speaking & Workshops

Book Lee Bolman for keynotes, workshops, and organizational development consulting sessions

Discover Your Leadership Style

Take the Leadership Orientations Survey and gain insights into your organizational perspective. This comprehensive assessment will help you understand your leadership approach through Lee Bolman’s four-frame model.

What You’ll Discover:

Structural Frame

Your approach to organization and efficiency

Symbolic Frame

Your approach to culture and meaning

Human Resource Frame

Your focus on people and relationships

Political Frame

Your understanding of power and coalitions

Testimonials

Praise from readers for Reframing Organizations

Reframing Organisations is a powerful book, for those of us who are trying to reshape an organisation to make it more productive and sustainable. …The book provides insightful ideas on how to go about managing organisations by developing leadership skills such as knowing what is going on, how to balance power and deal with political issues.

I strongly recommend this book for managers and leaders!!!

Reframing Organisations is a powerful book, for those of us who are trying to reshape an organisation to make it more productive and sustainable. …The book provides insightful ideas on how to go about managing organisations by developing leadership skills such as knowing what is going on, how to balance power and deal with political issues.
I thoroughly enjoyed reading it. The way they discuss the four frames and tie them in with narrative examples really helps keep the reader interested. The information presented is extremely valuable and has helped me reframe how I see things! I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in leadership!

This book is phenomenal.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading it. The way they discuss the four frames and tie them in with narrative examples really helps keep the reader interested. The information presented is extremely valuable and has helped me reframe how I see things! I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in leadership!
Reframing Academic Leadership is the first book I’ve encountered that explicitly offers practical advice on how to manage conflicts and difficult situations in academia.

A no holds barred look at the messy underbelly of academic leadership.

Reframing Academic Leadership is the first book I’ve encountered that explicitly offers practical advice on how to manage conflicts and difficult situations in academia.
I appreciated the authors' explorations of the issues academic leaders encounter and the frameworks they provide for thinking and working through those challenges. I left the book more interested in academic leadership than ever, not because it's easy or because there's a formula for success, but because it's challenging, dynamic, and impactful.

I Would Recommended Them Thoroughly

I appreciated the authors’ explorations of the issues academic leaders encounter and the frameworks they provide for thinking and working through those challenges. I left the book more interested in academic leadership than ever, not because it’s easy or because there’s a formula for success, but because it’s challenging, dynamic, and impactful.