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The Leadership Challenge
The most trusted resource on becoming a leader has been completely updated and revised for a new generation. This new edition includes the latest research and case studies, and offers inspiring new and relevant stories of real people achieving extraordinary results.
351 pages, Hardcover
First published October 1, 1987
1720 people are currently reading
13920 people want to read
About the author
James M. Kouzes
294 books95 followersJim Kouzes has been thinking about leadership ever since he was one of only a dozen Eagle Scouts to be selected to serve in John F. Kennedy's honor guard when Kennedy was inaugurated President of the United States. Kennedy's inaugural call to action -- "Ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country." -- inspired Jim to join the Peace Corps, and he taught school in Turkey for two years. That experience made Jim realize that he wanted a career that offered two things: the chance to teach and the opportunity to serve. It was in his first job back in the U.S. training community action agency managers that Jim found his calling, and he has devoted his life to leadership development ever since.
Jim Kouzes is the coauthor with Barry Z. Posner of the award-winning and best-selling book, The Leadership Challenge, with over 3.0 million copies in print. He's a Fellow of the Doerr Institute for New Leaders at Rice University and also served as the Dean's Executive Fellow of Leadership, Leavey School of Business, Santa Clara University. Jim and Barry have coauthored many bestselling leadership books including A Leader's Legacy, Encouraging the Heart, The Truth About Leadership, and Credibility. They are also the developers of The Leadership Practices Inventory—the bestselling off-the-shelf leadership assessment in the world. Their books are extensively researched-based, and over 500 doctoral dissertations and academic studies have been based on their original work.
Not only is Jim a highly regarded leadership scholar, The Wall Street Journal cited Jim as one of the twelve best executive educators in the U.S. He is the 2010 recipient of the Thought Leadership Award from the Instructional Systems Association, listed as one of HR Magazine’s Most Influential International Thinkers, named one of the Top 100 Thought Leaders in Trustworthy Business Behavior by Trust Across America, and ranked by Leadership Excellence magazine as one of the Top 100 Thought Leaders. Jim was presented with the Golden Gavel, the highest honor awarded by Toastmasters International, and he and Barry are also the recipients of the American Society for Training and Development (ASTD) Distinguished Contribution to Workplace Learning and Performance Award, presented in recognition of their extensive body of work and the significant impact they have had on learning and performance in the workplace.
Jim Kouzes is the coauthor with Barry Z. Posner of the award-winning and best-selling book, The Leadership Challenge, with over 3.0 million copies in print. He's a Fellow of the Doerr Institute for New Leaders at Rice University and also served as the Dean's Executive Fellow of Leadership, Leavey School of Business, Santa Clara University. Jim and Barry have coauthored many bestselling leadership books including A Leader's Legacy, Encouraging the Heart, The Truth About Leadership, and Credibility. They are also the developers of The Leadership Practices Inventory—the bestselling off-the-shelf leadership assessment in the world. Their books are extensively researched-based, and over 500 doctoral dissertations and academic studies have been based on their original work.
Not only is Jim a highly regarded leadership scholar, The Wall Street Journal cited Jim as one of the twelve best executive educators in the U.S. He is the 2010 recipient of the Thought Leadership Award from the Instructional Systems Association, listed as one of HR Magazine’s Most Influential International Thinkers, named one of the Top 100 Thought Leaders in Trustworthy Business Behavior by Trust Across America, and ranked by Leadership Excellence magazine as one of the Top 100 Thought Leaders. Jim was presented with the Golden Gavel, the highest honor awarded by Toastmasters International, and he and Barry are also the recipients of the American Society for Training and Development (ASTD) Distinguished Contribution to Workplace Learning and Performance Award, presented in recognition of their extensive body of work and the significant impact they have had on learning and performance in the workplace.
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September 18, 2013
I had to read this for work, which must qualify as some kind of cruel and unusual punishment. Anyway:
The Leadership Challenge – A review in clichés and idioms.
The Leadership Challenge describes itself as an evidence-based primer on the near-universal qualities of excellent leaders. Its authors state that they have conducted years of research on leadership, and have distilled the data into what they have identified as the five practices of successful leaders.
Each of the five practices is then separated into its own section, in which the authors completely fail to clearly define it. Sleeping on this book and attempting to absorb it by osmosis might be a more effective way of digesting its contents.
The following is my interpretation of what the five practices of successful leaders are.
1. Model the behavior that you would like to elicit from your team. Clearly explaining what your values are is important, but talk is cheap. Walk the walk. Actions speak louder than words. Effective leaders expect more out of themselves than they do out of anyone else. Duh.
The authors suggest that the method by which you model the behavior that you would like to see is to first clarify internally what your own strongly held values and principles are, then to figure out how to express those values and principles in your own words, and then to identify and affirm the values you share across the organization. Finally, an aspiring leader must commit to executing on those values personally, in order to model the way for the team. Your time and attention should be spent on the things that you expect your team to find important.
2. Inspire a shared vision in your team with enthusiastic commitment to accomplishing goals. This category is pretty fuzzy, but it seems to suggest that an effective leader first sincerely believes in the pursuit of team goals and achievements, and second, utilizes his or her own enthusiasm to recruit team members into sharing that commitment. This category also involves ensuring that your team understands where you’re going and how you’re going to get there. “Vision” in this sense can be equated with “purpose.”
3. “Challenge the Process.” Again, this is a very fuzzy concept. I interpret it as saying that effective leaders ignore, cut through, and/or find some way to bypass red tape in order to achieve shared goals. As an umbrella concept, this includes fearlessly utilizing new processes, systems, or products, not being hidebound, and thinking outside of the box. Build a better mousetrap, light a candle rather than curse the darkness, etc.
4. Enable others to act. Effective leaders make sure that their team is able to perform to the best of their abilities, and delegate authority and discretion along with tasks. Effective leaders think of themselves as part of their team, rather than the commander of their team, and solicit team opinions and input. This includes giving serious consideration to team opinions and input, not just soliciting input for the sake of saying that you did it.
5. Encourage and appreciate team contributions and efforts. Please and thank you aren’t just for charm school. Who knew.
In addition to looking at the five practices of successful leaders, the authors also examine what “constituents” look for, expect from, and admire in their leaders. Personally, a snappy uniform always does it for me. But for others, in order to inspire people to willingly follow them, a leader must be (in order of importance): (1) honest, (2) forward-looking, (3) inspiring, and (4) competent. According to the book, these qualities can be further defined by one core concept, which is credibility.
1. In all of the research done by the authors, they have consistently found that “honesty” is the most important category. The reason for this is that the category of “honesty” has so many corollary qualities, such as ethics, trustworthiness, and integrity. The honesty of a leader also weighs heavily on a team’s view of its members. That is, following a leader perceived to be dishonest or untrustworthy tends to make a team lose respect not only for its leader but for the team members. Following a leader who is perceived to be trustworthy and honest makes the team feel better about themselves and about their job.
2. The “forward-looking” category mostly relates to a leader’s “sense of direction and concern for the future of the organization.” My sense of this category is that the more that a team feels as though their leader is actually part of the active guiding force in the organization, the better they feel about following that leader’s directions.
3. The “inspiring” category is related to a team’s sense of their leader’s commitment to and enthusiasm for team activities and goals. Teams are more likely to want to follow a leader who is sincerely enthusiastic about the work at hand, and who can positively convey a sense of the meaning and importance of that work to their team.
4. “Competence” is pretty self-explanatory, but generally, it’s difficult for a team to commit to following a leader who isn’t perceived to have the knowledge, experience or skills necessary to set and achieve team goals.
Honestly, I’m pretty sure that the entire book can be distilled down to two concepts. The first is that if you’re in a leadership position, your own behavior has to be exemplary. Your team will only work as hard as they see you working. The second is that you have to know what your team is doing, and you have to support them in doing it. No one wants to work for a leader who they feel is working against them or who simply doesn’t care about what they’re doing. I don’t know why anyone needs a $25.00 book to explain this stuff. Being a human person who recognizes that others are also human persons should be sufficient.
Finally, the book addresses the question of whether any of this really matters. Unsurprisingly, the answer is yes. In terms of employee engagement, productivity, efficiency, and retention of top talent, excellent leadership makes an enormous impact. So, get on it folks.
The Leadership Challenge – A review in clichés and idioms.
The Leadership Challenge describes itself as an evidence-based primer on the near-universal qualities of excellent leaders. Its authors state that they have conducted years of research on leadership, and have distilled the data into what they have identified as the five practices of successful leaders.
Each of the five practices is then separated into its own section, in which the authors completely fail to clearly define it. Sleeping on this book and attempting to absorb it by osmosis might be a more effective way of digesting its contents.
The following is my interpretation of what the five practices of successful leaders are.
1. Model the behavior that you would like to elicit from your team. Clearly explaining what your values are is important, but talk is cheap. Walk the walk. Actions speak louder than words. Effective leaders expect more out of themselves than they do out of anyone else. Duh.
The authors suggest that the method by which you model the behavior that you would like to see is to first clarify internally what your own strongly held values and principles are, then to figure out how to express those values and principles in your own words, and then to identify and affirm the values you share across the organization. Finally, an aspiring leader must commit to executing on those values personally, in order to model the way for the team. Your time and attention should be spent on the things that you expect your team to find important.
2. Inspire a shared vision in your team with enthusiastic commitment to accomplishing goals. This category is pretty fuzzy, but it seems to suggest that an effective leader first sincerely believes in the pursuit of team goals and achievements, and second, utilizes his or her own enthusiasm to recruit team members into sharing that commitment. This category also involves ensuring that your team understands where you’re going and how you’re going to get there. “Vision” in this sense can be equated with “purpose.”
3. “Challenge the Process.” Again, this is a very fuzzy concept. I interpret it as saying that effective leaders ignore, cut through, and/or find some way to bypass red tape in order to achieve shared goals. As an umbrella concept, this includes fearlessly utilizing new processes, systems, or products, not being hidebound, and thinking outside of the box. Build a better mousetrap, light a candle rather than curse the darkness, etc.
4. Enable others to act. Effective leaders make sure that their team is able to perform to the best of their abilities, and delegate authority and discretion along with tasks. Effective leaders think of themselves as part of their team, rather than the commander of their team, and solicit team opinions and input. This includes giving serious consideration to team opinions and input, not just soliciting input for the sake of saying that you did it.
5. Encourage and appreciate team contributions and efforts. Please and thank you aren’t just for charm school. Who knew.
In addition to looking at the five practices of successful leaders, the authors also examine what “constituents” look for, expect from, and admire in their leaders. Personally, a snappy uniform always does it for me. But for others, in order to inspire people to willingly follow them, a leader must be (in order of importance): (1) honest, (2) forward-looking, (3) inspiring, and (4) competent. According to the book, these qualities can be further defined by one core concept, which is credibility.
1. In all of the research done by the authors, they have consistently found that “honesty” is the most important category. The reason for this is that the category of “honesty” has so many corollary qualities, such as ethics, trustworthiness, and integrity. The honesty of a leader also weighs heavily on a team’s view of its members. That is, following a leader perceived to be dishonest or untrustworthy tends to make a team lose respect not only for its leader but for the team members. Following a leader who is perceived to be trustworthy and honest makes the team feel better about themselves and about their job.
2. The “forward-looking” category mostly relates to a leader’s “sense of direction and concern for the future of the organization.” My sense of this category is that the more that a team feels as though their leader is actually part of the active guiding force in the organization, the better they feel about following that leader’s directions.
3. The “inspiring” category is related to a team’s sense of their leader’s commitment to and enthusiasm for team activities and goals. Teams are more likely to want to follow a leader who is sincerely enthusiastic about the work at hand, and who can positively convey a sense of the meaning and importance of that work to their team.
4. “Competence” is pretty self-explanatory, but generally, it’s difficult for a team to commit to following a leader who isn’t perceived to have the knowledge, experience or skills necessary to set and achieve team goals.
Honestly, I’m pretty sure that the entire book can be distilled down to two concepts. The first is that if you’re in a leadership position, your own behavior has to be exemplary. Your team will only work as hard as they see you working. The second is that you have to know what your team is doing, and you have to support them in doing it. No one wants to work for a leader who they feel is working against them or who simply doesn’t care about what they’re doing. I don’t know why anyone needs a $25.00 book to explain this stuff. Being a human person who recognizes that others are also human persons should be sufficient.
Finally, the book addresses the question of whether any of this really matters. Unsurprisingly, the answer is yes. In terms of employee engagement, productivity, efficiency, and retention of top talent, excellent leadership makes an enormous impact. So, get on it folks.
August 6, 2017
Yet another book on leadership that doesn’t really define what leadership is - other than by a series of anecdotes related to people who are presumably successful leaders. The main problem here for me is that it is never clear that the remarkably positive stories being told reflect something other than the story the leaders might want other people to hear or to tell about themselves. As someone who quite likes to read fiction - even if I haven’t for far too long - the one thing such reading has taught me is that stories can be dangerous things. They can uncover the truth, highlight it, or they can do as much to hide the truth – they can be incredibly self-serving. And that isn’t always just because the person telling the story is nasty in some way. You see, a story demands a narrative arc and that requires a kind of directionality that is often only able to be understood after the event. And we like to shine the best of all possible lights upon ourselves. We don’t want to be remembered as fools or nasty. Rather, it is only after the event that we see what felt at the time like false starts were necessary learnings or incremental steps towards ultimate victory. So, when a book is basically a series of happy stories about success - well, I am left more than a little cold.
Central to this book is the idea that leadership is about change. Having worked in too many organisations where change was more or less randomly imposed - or rather, change was something that was about improving the CEOs CV and proving them a ‘change leader’ than being necessary to the organisation itself - I found this central vision particularly problematic. As soon as someone is convinced that one side of any tension is the only side worth worrying about (change, in this instance) then you just know that ‘consolidation’ is a trap about to come and bite them on the bum. But if success is something that is ultimately defined by where a leader leads you – then they have to lead you somewhere other than where you currently are – no matter how nice that current place is.
So much of this book was about how great leaders find ways to empower those they are leading. And this is something I also found particularly interesting. Not least because it implies very particular kinds of workplaces - workplaces where there is the opportunity for the majority of the workers to actively contribute to the overall success of the company in potentially innovative ways. Now, overwhelmingly, when this kind of ‘leadership as inspiration’ was discussed the people being inspired were mostly people at the top levels of the organisation – second-tier managers, that sort of thing. Only once that I can remember was a ‘lowest-level staff member’ mentioned as someone whose contribution needed to be recognised - and even then only in a patronising sense - you know, we all need to remember the important job the driver does… Yeah, of course. Though, how this person might contribute to the overall direction of the company wasn’t as clear.
The point is that our world is composed of essentially two types of employees. One sort of employee has a series of skills that are costly to reproduce and are not generally available. These employees are often treated remarkably well. Their opinions are highly regarded and they are constantly asked their opinions, the organisation finds as many ways as possible to make the jobs of these employees as pleasant an experience as it can. It offers multiple reward systems, high wages, stock options and god knows what else. The rarity of the skills these employees hold make such considerations essential - and these, I’ve found, are the types of employees who are mostly discussed in books on leadership like this one – that is, employees the company needs to keep and attract.
However, there are a whole class of other employees who are just as invariably never discussed in books like this - and they are the employees whose jobs face the neo-Taylorism of ‘scientific management’. Their jobs are standardised to the point where the employees themselves probably don’t even do all of any single job per se. And their jobs are measured to within an inch of their lives. The division of labour enacted upon these people makes much of what they do personally meaningless to the person doing the work and they have no say in the type, pace or quality of the work they do. Often this lack of voice is quite literal - and with the increasing casualisation of employment this is increasingly true - that is, often these employees are ‘on call’ (yet another ‘just in time’ resource the real employees of the organisation need to manage) and therefore are never available for workplace meetings – neither invited nor welcome. The fact that books like this never make any mention of such employees presumably implies that leading such people requires no skills at all. And this is probably true. The other uncomfortable fact here is that such jobs are on the increase – in fact, the precariousness of most current employment is precisely due to the increase in these ‘gig’ jobs. The course of history seems to be pointing toward either the elimination of most jobs through automation or the increasing automation of the jobs that remain so that they become endlessly mindless and deskilled. This is, after all, the path of Capitalism. That books on leadership make no mention of this makes them read more like moral myths that need to be learnt in theory and disregarded in practice.
It is now about a week since I read this book - and I’m struggling to remember any of the little stories here used to justify the 12 of this and the 5 principals of that. I come away from these books basically wanting to hear about Hitler - you know, a counter-example of leader. I want someone to tell me the negative side of leadership and, if it has a negative side, then how might an organisation (or society more generally) go about defending itself from that side of leadership. I also want to hear some discussion of why we need our workplace organisations to be quite so anti-democratic. Why is democracy such a good idea for a nation, but a terrible idea for a company? Are there any examples of democratic organisations that have been successful - oh, I don’t know - like cooperatives in the UK or even small family businesses called something like ‘I Quattro Fratelli’ or something, where there is no ‘leader’ as such, but rather a more democratic means of making key decisions. The primary assumption is always that what we need is a great leader - but as someone who has watched on in horror at US politics over the last few decades - a nation that has prided itself in laying entire nations to waste (think Vietnam, Cambodia, Iraq…) a nation that spends more on its military than all other nations on the planet combined (I think that is right, but won’t even bother checking) and that is currently lead by a madman - then maybe it is time to question putting infinite power into the hands of one person.
And don’t get me wrong - Obama was better than the current loon, but only a little better. Before he was elected he spoke of disarming and reducing the US nuclear weapons arsenal. He went on to dedicate something like a trillion dollars to upgrading those very weapons. We really need to rethink ‘leadership’ in all its forms. It isn’t at all clear to me that we have much time left on this planet - our addiction to ‘leaving the big decisions’ to ‘leaders’ seems to be at least part of the problem we face and one that is leading us to our doom.
None of these problems are discussed in any way here - this is, instead, a book on the glories of leadership. It suffers from the simple mindedness you might expect from such a book.
Central to this book is the idea that leadership is about change. Having worked in too many organisations where change was more or less randomly imposed - or rather, change was something that was about improving the CEOs CV and proving them a ‘change leader’ than being necessary to the organisation itself - I found this central vision particularly problematic. As soon as someone is convinced that one side of any tension is the only side worth worrying about (change, in this instance) then you just know that ‘consolidation’ is a trap about to come and bite them on the bum. But if success is something that is ultimately defined by where a leader leads you – then they have to lead you somewhere other than where you currently are – no matter how nice that current place is.
So much of this book was about how great leaders find ways to empower those they are leading. And this is something I also found particularly interesting. Not least because it implies very particular kinds of workplaces - workplaces where there is the opportunity for the majority of the workers to actively contribute to the overall success of the company in potentially innovative ways. Now, overwhelmingly, when this kind of ‘leadership as inspiration’ was discussed the people being inspired were mostly people at the top levels of the organisation – second-tier managers, that sort of thing. Only once that I can remember was a ‘lowest-level staff member’ mentioned as someone whose contribution needed to be recognised - and even then only in a patronising sense - you know, we all need to remember the important job the driver does… Yeah, of course. Though, how this person might contribute to the overall direction of the company wasn’t as clear.
The point is that our world is composed of essentially two types of employees. One sort of employee has a series of skills that are costly to reproduce and are not generally available. These employees are often treated remarkably well. Their opinions are highly regarded and they are constantly asked their opinions, the organisation finds as many ways as possible to make the jobs of these employees as pleasant an experience as it can. It offers multiple reward systems, high wages, stock options and god knows what else. The rarity of the skills these employees hold make such considerations essential - and these, I’ve found, are the types of employees who are mostly discussed in books on leadership like this one – that is, employees the company needs to keep and attract.
However, there are a whole class of other employees who are just as invariably never discussed in books like this - and they are the employees whose jobs face the neo-Taylorism of ‘scientific management’. Their jobs are standardised to the point where the employees themselves probably don’t even do all of any single job per se. And their jobs are measured to within an inch of their lives. The division of labour enacted upon these people makes much of what they do personally meaningless to the person doing the work and they have no say in the type, pace or quality of the work they do. Often this lack of voice is quite literal - and with the increasing casualisation of employment this is increasingly true - that is, often these employees are ‘on call’ (yet another ‘just in time’ resource the real employees of the organisation need to manage) and therefore are never available for workplace meetings – neither invited nor welcome. The fact that books like this never make any mention of such employees presumably implies that leading such people requires no skills at all. And this is probably true. The other uncomfortable fact here is that such jobs are on the increase – in fact, the precariousness of most current employment is precisely due to the increase in these ‘gig’ jobs. The course of history seems to be pointing toward either the elimination of most jobs through automation or the increasing automation of the jobs that remain so that they become endlessly mindless and deskilled. This is, after all, the path of Capitalism. That books on leadership make no mention of this makes them read more like moral myths that need to be learnt in theory and disregarded in practice.
It is now about a week since I read this book - and I’m struggling to remember any of the little stories here used to justify the 12 of this and the 5 principals of that. I come away from these books basically wanting to hear about Hitler - you know, a counter-example of leader. I want someone to tell me the negative side of leadership and, if it has a negative side, then how might an organisation (or society more generally) go about defending itself from that side of leadership. I also want to hear some discussion of why we need our workplace organisations to be quite so anti-democratic. Why is democracy such a good idea for a nation, but a terrible idea for a company? Are there any examples of democratic organisations that have been successful - oh, I don’t know - like cooperatives in the UK or even small family businesses called something like ‘I Quattro Fratelli’ or something, where there is no ‘leader’ as such, but rather a more democratic means of making key decisions. The primary assumption is always that what we need is a great leader - but as someone who has watched on in horror at US politics over the last few decades - a nation that has prided itself in laying entire nations to waste (think Vietnam, Cambodia, Iraq…) a nation that spends more on its military than all other nations on the planet combined (I think that is right, but won’t even bother checking) and that is currently lead by a madman - then maybe it is time to question putting infinite power into the hands of one person.
And don’t get me wrong - Obama was better than the current loon, but only a little better. Before he was elected he spoke of disarming and reducing the US nuclear weapons arsenal. He went on to dedicate something like a trillion dollars to upgrading those very weapons. We really need to rethink ‘leadership’ in all its forms. It isn’t at all clear to me that we have much time left on this planet - our addiction to ‘leaving the big decisions’ to ‘leaders’ seems to be at least part of the problem we face and one that is leading us to our doom.
None of these problems are discussed in any way here - this is, instead, a book on the glories of leadership. It suffers from the simple mindedness you might expect from such a book.
May 7, 2013
Great Content, Numerous Personalities being Quoted, Very Apt Anecdotes, Easy to Understand Principles and Universal Application is how I would describe what the book ‘The Leadership Challenge’ is all about.
What is this book about?
PART 1
What Leaders do and What Constituents Expect
1. The Five Practices of Exemplary Leadership:
1) Model the way
2) Inspire a shared vision
3) Challenge the process
4) Enable others to act
5) Encourage the heart
2. Credibility Is The Foundation of Leadership:
For people to follow someone willingly, the majority of constituents believe the leader must be honest, forward-looking, inspiring, and competent.
PART 2
Model the Way
3. Clarify Values: Find your voice and affirm shared values.
4. Set the Example: Personify the shared values and teach others to model these values.
Part 3
Inspire a Shard Vision
5. Envision the Future: Imagine the possibilities and find a common purpose.
6. Enlist Others: Appeal to common ideals and animate the vision.
Part 4
Challenge the Process
7. Search For Opportunities: Seize the initiative and exercise outsight.
8. Experiment and Take Risks: Generate small wins and learn from experience.
Part 5
Enable Others to Act
9. Foster Collaboration: Create a climate of trust and facilitate relationships.
10. Strengthen Others: Enhance self-determination and develop competence and confidence.
Part 6
Encourage the Heart
11. Recognize Contributions: Expect the best and Personalize recognition.
12. Celebrate the Values and Victories: Create a spirit of community and Be personally involved.
Part 7
Leadership for Everyone
13. Leadership Is Everyone's Business
- You are the most important leader in your organization.
- Leadership is learned.
- Leaders make a difference.
- First lead yourself.
- Moral leadership calls us to high purposes.
- Humility is the antidote to hubris.
- Leadership is in the moment.
- The best-kept secret of successful leaders is love: staying in love with leading, with the people who do the work, with what their organizations produce, and with those who honor the organization by using its products and services.
Overall, A simple yet effective book that describes what Leadership is all about and will always remain a as a timeless piece of literature in the non-fiction genre.
Overall Rating – 7.5 out of 10
Loy Machedo
loymachedo.com | loymachedo.tv
July 26, 2018
A lot the points made are similar and super long-winded. I feel like I could have learned the same in 30 pages.
September 22, 2020
Having gained insights into the complex interpersonal dynamics and best practices to cultivate great workplaces, I have been fascinated by the set of skills proposed by Kouzes and Posner (2007) on transformational leadership, which comprises the following five aspects:
1. Challenging the Process
2. Inspiring a Shared Vision
3. Enabling Others to Act
4. Modelling the Way
5. Encouraging the Heart
The role of values in organizations is a highly researched topic by Kouzes and Posner (2007), whilst they indicate a positive relationship among transformational leadership and organizational values. Recommend this book to everyone who are curious about the sensemaking of values within their corporate environments in conjunction with the set of skills proposed by Kouzes and Posner.
1. Challenging the Process
2. Inspiring a Shared Vision
3. Enabling Others to Act
4. Modelling the Way
5. Encouraging the Heart
The role of values in organizations is a highly researched topic by Kouzes and Posner (2007), whilst they indicate a positive relationship among transformational leadership and organizational values. Recommend this book to everyone who are curious about the sensemaking of values within their corporate environments in conjunction with the set of skills proposed by Kouzes and Posner.
April 1, 2015
A cliched and trite trudge. It is somewhat shocking that this book is in its 4th edition, and is mostly composed of common sense platitudes; being required to read this for grad school is some sort of punishment, surely. To be fair, some of the author's points about the dangers of micromanagement and engaging employees on a personal level are well-founded, but perhaps not a lesson that required 350 pages to convey.
July 5, 2013
Fun and engaging book on leadership.
August 11, 2025
The late night lock-in grind went crazy
This book is good, just very much written to a corporate audience. For what it is, it may be the best. It definitely had certain points that were fascinating and altered my perspective, but a lot of points were also repeated ad infinitum in such a way that a way more concise and equally effective book could have been composed. Overall, just not my cup of tea.
This book is good, just very much written to a corporate audience. For what it is, it may be the best. It definitely had certain points that were fascinating and altered my perspective, but a lot of points were also repeated ad infinitum in such a way that a way more concise and equally effective book could have been composed. Overall, just not my cup of tea.
January 16, 2023
Practical, attainable, and credible - makes you want to do a better job and gives you a roadmap to evaluate and execute. The spine looks good on your shelf
February 8, 2020
Really handy and relevant leadership book, but I disagree with the comment that this is a good read for everyone, regardless of where they are in their career. The content is solid, it brings in excellent and evidence-based points, but these are all things that the experienced leader will already be familiar with. I would argue with those reviewers who said that this book doesn't explain the concept of leadership - it does so simply and encouraging heart and sentiment, which reflects its message perfectly. It focuses on the sentiment, initiative and taking-the-people-with-you aspect of leadership, and it flat out says that you can demonstrate it regardless of position or placement.
The chapters are structured based on a set of principles: Model the way, Inspire a shared vision, Challenge the process, Enable others to act and Encourage the heart.
Style-wise, it relies on story-telling. I've read another book by these authors earlier in the year that is much more preachy without having any evidence to support it, but this is such a natural read, it's almost like talking to a friend about their experiences and taking what you need from them. It's easy to get into and it doesn't feel like you are reading something for work.
What pushed it over the line for me in this genuinely being a book I would recommend is that at the end it does bring reality to the surface: even following all of these principles won't automatically make you successful. Overindexing on some of them may bring you to operate in a silo, develop blind spots and not accept differentiating opinions. I appreciated that the end of the book is a warning, rather than a now you've made it, you're the expert type of thing.
The chapters are structured based on a set of principles: Model the way, Inspire a shared vision, Challenge the process, Enable others to act and Encourage the heart.
Style-wise, it relies on story-telling. I've read another book by these authors earlier in the year that is much more preachy without having any evidence to support it, but this is such a natural read, it's almost like talking to a friend about their experiences and taking what you need from them. It's easy to get into and it doesn't feel like you are reading something for work.
What pushed it over the line for me in this genuinely being a book I would recommend is that at the end it does bring reality to the surface: even following all of these principles won't automatically make you successful. Overindexing on some of them may bring you to operate in a silo, develop blind spots and not accept differentiating opinions. I appreciated that the end of the book is a warning, rather than a now you've made it, you're the expert type of thing.
March 2, 2014
I received more from this book then I could have hoped for. Jim Kouzes and Barry Posner wrote the original version of this book in 1987 but that shouldn't scare you because they are on their 5th edition of this book in which they add new case studies, more interviews with other leaders, and other updates.
Every time I read a book like this I check the credibility of the authors and if you do your own research you'd know that these two are more then credible to write a book on leadership. Whenever I read a book of this kind I check to see if it's research based and not based purely on personal opinion. The book cites study, after study. Like frosting on the cake all of the ideas that they present from the studies and questionnaires are supported by stories of leaders around the globe.
I immediately started using the material presented in this book in my workplace and definitely noticed a difference!
Every time I read a book like this I check the credibility of the authors and if you do your own research you'd know that these two are more then credible to write a book on leadership. Whenever I read a book of this kind I check to see if it's research based and not based purely on personal opinion. The book cites study, after study. Like frosting on the cake all of the ideas that they present from the studies and questionnaires are supported by stories of leaders around the globe.
I immediately started using the material presented in this book in my workplace and definitely noticed a difference!
March 31, 2014
Read the headings, read the chapter summaries at the end, but - especially if you're new to leadership - read the last chapter first. Then burn the rest.
Not inexpectedly, it's all one-dimensional feel-good success stories. This might be inspiring to some, but for me, it's just insipid.
Not inexpectedly, it's all one-dimensional feel-good success stories. This might be inspiring to some, but for me, it's just insipid.
July 10, 2023
Boooo👎🏻👎🏻 respectfully, this sukd. had to read for a class, not my thing. Would have gained just as much from reading headings and subheadings than reading the entire book 👎🏻☹️
March 28, 2024
i’m not reviewing this
April 20, 2022
This is an excellent book on leadership, which Kouzes and Posner understand as a process that can be learned, not a matter of inherent traits. They list Five Practices of Exemplary Leadership: Model the Way, Inspire a Shared Vision, Challenge the Process, Enable Others to Act, and Encourage the Heart. This book emphasizes the humility, vision, and personal involvement needed for leaders in creative, well-illustrated, and well-structured ways. While possessing a lot of substance, this book is also well-written and quite readable. I can recommend it to anyone involved in a leadership process in any way.
April 15, 2017
This is a good leadership book. I am tempted to give it a five after reading the last chapter, but the bulk of the book is four-star material. The last chapter is absolutely leadership gold? Intrigued? Pick it up and read it!
November 26, 2023
Read this for a business class. It was OKAY, though it is a commonly recognized and accept staple in a business library. The book is best suited for individuals who have no acquaintance with leadership or managerial practices, as it does do well to cover all the basics, albeit in an ideal scenario. Though, to be fair, many business books are written this way. It lacks fundamental pragmatic approaches and the authors focus on the leader as the focal point in all things related to employee motivation, morale, and disposition toward the organization. I personally find this to be an overreaching mistake the authors make, as well as the generalizations they make throughout the text from their "research."
The biggest leadership challenge I faced in reading this book was getting through it without getting entirely frustrated and abandoning it all together.
The biggest leadership challenge I faced in reading this book was getting through it without getting entirely frustrated and abandoning it all together.
June 28, 2016
Leadership není o pracovní pozici nebo titulu.
Není o rodině, ve které jste se narodili.
Není o tom, že jste hrdina.
Leadership je o budování vztahů, o důvěryhodnosti a o všem, co děláte.
A vše, co vždy budete jako leader dělat, je založeno na klíčovém předpokladu: že vám na tom záleží.
Není o rodině, ve které jste se narodili.
Není o tom, že jste hrdina.
Leadership je o budování vztahů, o důvěryhodnosti a o všem, co děláte.
A vše, co vždy budete jako leader dělat, je založeno na klíčovém předpokladu: že vám na tom záleží.
March 6, 2021
I have lived with insomnia for 16 years.
This book gets 1.5 stars from me as it's an exhausting string of monotonous narratives.
Rounding up because it literally bored me to sleep on more than one occasion, so... there's that I guess.
This book gets 1.5 stars from me as it's an exhausting string of monotonous narratives.
Rounding up because it literally bored me to sleep on more than one occasion, so... there's that I guess.
April 20, 2021
A magnum opus for authors who make their point in the first chapter and then write an extra 270 pages because they can. The frustrating part? Their main point wasn’t even that profound: Being a good leader means being exceptionally committed to the task at hand and helping others get there too.
December 19, 2024
Ugh it took me absolutely forever to finish this book…😅 It was so tedious and through, which I guess is a good thing. Definitely had lots of good tips and tricks!
January 26, 2014
Below are key excerpts from the book that I found particularly insightful:
1- "Whether in their early twenties, late seventies, or anywhere between, leaders told us that the fundamentals of leadership are the same today as they were in the 1980s, and they've probably have been the same for centuries. Yet the leaders were quick to add that while the content of leadership has not changed, the context—and, in some cases, it has changed dramatically. What is this new context, and what are the implications for the practice of leadership? From heightening uncertainty across the world to an intense search for meaning, our connections as people and as leaders are part of this context. Heightened uncertainty...People first...We're even more connected...Social capital...Speed...A changing workforce...Even more intense search for meaning."
2- "Leaders do exhibit certain distinct practices when they are doing their best. This process varies little from industry to industry, profession to profession, community to community, country to country. Good leadership is individual, there are patterns to the practice of leadership that are shared. And that can be learned."
3- "As we looked deeper into the dynamic process of leadership, through case analyses and survey questionnaires, we uncovered five practices common to personal-best leadership experiences. When getting extraordinary things done in organizations, leaders engage in these Five Practices of Exemplary Leadership: Model the Way. Inspire a Shared Vision. Challenge the Process. Enable Others to Act. Encourage the Heart."
4- "Modeling the way is essentially about earning the right and the respect to lead through direct individual involvement and action. People first follow the person, then the plan."
5- " Leaders know well that innovation and change all involve experimentation, risk, and failure. They proceed anyway. One way of dealing with the potential risks and failures of experimentation is to approach change through incremental steps and small wins. Little victories, when piled on top of each other, build confidence that even the biggest challenges can be met. In so doing, they strengthen commitment to the long-term future. Yet not everyone is equally comfortable with risk and uncertainty. Leaders also pay attention to the capacity of their constituents to take control of challenging situations and become fully committed to change. You can't exhort people to take risks if they don't also feel safe."
6- "Constituents neither perform at their best nor stick around for very long if their leader makes them feel weak, dependent, or alienated. But when a leader makes people feel strong and capable— as if they can do more than they ever thought possible—they'll give it their all and exceed their own expectations. When leadership is a relationship founded on trust and confidence, people take risks, make changes, keep organizations and movements alive. Through that relationship, leaders turn their constituents into leaders themselves."
7- "Success in leadership, success in business, and success in life has been, is now, and will continue to be a function of how well people work and play together. We're even more convinced of this today than we were twenty years ago. Success in leading will be wholly dependent upon the capacity to build and sustain those human relationships that enable people to get extraordinary things done on a regular basis."
8- "THE TEN COMMITMENTS OF LEADERSHIP: 1. Find your voice by clarifying your personal values. 2. Set the example by aligning actions with shared values. 3. Envision the future by imagining exciting and ennobling possibilities. 4. Enlist others in a common vision by appealing to shared aspirations. 5. Search for opportunities by seeking innovative ways to change, grow, and improve. 6. Experiment and take risks by constantly generating small wins and learning from mistakes. 7. Foster collaboration by promoting cooperative goals and building trust. 8. Strengthen others by sharing power and discretion. 9. Recognize contributions by showing appreciation for individual excellence. 10. Celebrate the values and victories by creating a spirit of community."
9- "As the data clearly show, for people to follow someone willingly, the majority of constituents must believe the leader is: Honest, Competent, Forward-looking and Inspiring."
10- "To gain and sustain the moral authority to lead, it's essential to Model the Way. Because of this important connection between words and actions, we've chosen to start our discussion of the Five Practices with a thorough examination of the principles and behaviors that bring Model the Way to life. First, in Chapter Three, we introduce you to why it's essential to Find Your Voice—that unique expression of yourself that gives you the inner strength as a leader to «j«v what you will do. Then, in Chapter Four, we'll take a look at how leaders Set the Example, the second half of the formula for establishing credibility. You'll see how leaders must focus on their own personal values and how they must build and affirm shared values. Throughout the chapters and the action steps, you'll also learn methods to align actions with values—the step in the process that communicates with deeds. not just words."
11- " Voice in this context is both a noun and a verb. It encompasses words and speech. There's the message we want to deliver, and then there's the expression of that message. It's about having a voice and about giving voice. To Find Your Voice you must engage in two essentials: Clarify your values, Express your self. To become a credible leader, first you have to comprehend fully the values, beliefs, and assumptions that drive you. You have to freely and honestly choose the principles you will use to guide your actions. Before you can clearly communicate your message, you must be clear about the message you want to deliver. And before you can do what you say, you must be sure that you mean what you say. Second, you have to genuinely express your self. The words themselves aren't enough, no matter how noble. You must authentically communicate your beliefs in ways that uniquely represent who you are. You must interpret the lyrics and shape them into your own singular presentation so that Others recognize that you're the one who's speaking and not someone else."
12- "Values influence every aspect of our lives: our moral judgments, our responses to others, our commitments to personal and organizational goals...Values also serve as guides to action. They inform our decisions as to what to do and what not to do; when to say yes, or no, and really understand why we mean it...Values are empowering. We are much more in control of our own lives when we're clear about our personal values. When values are clear we don't have to rely upon direction from someone in authority...Values also motivate. They keen us focused on why we're doing what we're doing and the ends toward which we're striving. Values are the banners that fly as we persist, as we struggle, as we toil."
13- "People want to be part of something larger than themselves. What we're savings is this: people cannot fully commit to an organization or a movement that does not fit with their own beliefs. Leaders must pay as much attention to personal values as they do to organizational values if they want dedicated constituents."
14- "The Three Stages of Self-Expression: Finding one's voice and finding one's unique way of expressing the self is something that every artist understands, and every artist knows that finding a voice is most definitely not a matter of technique. It's a matter of time and a matter of searching—soul-searching...When first learning to lead, we paint what we see outside ourselves—the exterior landscape. We read biographies and autobiographies about famous leaders. We observe master models and ask the advice of mentors. We read books and listen to audiotapes by experienced executives. We participate in training programs. We take on job assignments so that we can work alongside someone who can coach us. We want to learn everything we can from Others, and we often try to copy their style...Somewhere along the way, you'll notice that your speech sounds mechanically wrote, that your meetings are a boring routine, and that your interactions feel terribly sad and empty. You'll awaken to the frightening thought that the words aren't yours, that the vocabulary is someone else's, that the technique is right out of the text but not straight from the heart. While you've invested so much time and energy in learning to do all the right things, you suddenly see that they're no longer serving you well. The methods seem hollow. You may even feel like a phony...If, as David did, you're fortunate enough to experience an integrative turning point in your development—a point where you're able to merge the lessons from your outer and inner journeys—you move on to becoming an authentic leader, in whatever field you've chosen for yourself. You're able to recognize your own voice from the multitude of other voices ringing in your ears, and you find ways to express yourself in a singular style. You become the author of your own experience."
15- "There are five essential aspects to their behavior and actions that leaders need to be conscious about in their efforts to align shared values through the example of the actions they take: 1) Calendars, 2) Critical incidents, 3) Stories, analogies, and metaphors 4) Language 5) Measurements."
16- "Create alignment around key values. Researchers have demonstrated that there are three central themes in the values of highly successful, strong-culture organizations: High performance standards. A caring attitude toward people. A sense of uniqueness and pride."
17- "When we feel passionately about the legacy we want to leave, about the kind of future world we want for ourselves and for others, then we are much more likely to voluntarily step forward. If we don't have the slightest clue about our hopes, dreams, and aspirations, then the chance that we'll take the lead is significantly less. In fact, we may not even see the opportunity that's right in front of us."
18- "At the beginning what leaders have is a theme. They have concerns, desires. questions, propositions, arguments, hopes, dreams, and aspirations—core concepts around which they organize their aspirations and actions. Leaders begin the process of Envisioning the Future by discovering their own themes. Everything else leaders say about their vision is an elaboration, interpretation. and variation on that theme. Fortunately, there are ways to improve your ability to articulate your own themes and ultimately your visions of the future. Express Your Passion...Explore Your Past...Pay Attention to Your Experiences...Immerse Yourself."
19- "Leaders are possibility thinkers, not probability thinkers. Probabilities must be based upon evidence strong enough to establish presumption. Possibilities are not. All new ventures begin with possibility thinking, not probability thinking. After all, the probability is that most new businesses will fail and most social reforms will never get off the ground. If entrepreneurs or activists accepted this view, however, they'd never start a new business or organize a community. Instead, they begin with the assumption that anything is possible. Like entrepreneurs and other activists, leaders assume that anything is possible. It's this belief that sustains them through the difficult times."
20- "Whether they're trying to mobilize a crowd in the grandstand or one person in the office, leaders must practice these three essentials to Enlist Others: Listen deeply to others. Discover and appeal to a common purpose. Give life to a vision by communicating expressively, so that people can see themselves in it."
21- "If you want to create a climate that sustains personal-best leadership experiences, what situations would you look for? What context would most likely offer the right conditions? What leadership actions are required to establish a culture that is characterized by challenge, energy, excitement. determination, inspiration, and innovation? It's already clear that you need shared values and a shared vision. What else? To Search for Opportunities to get extraordinary things done, leaders make use of four essentials: Seize the initiative. Make challenge meaningful. Innovate and create. Look outward for fresh ideas. Leaders take charge of change. They instill a sense of adventure in others, they look for ways to radically alter the status quo, and they continuously scan the outside environment for new and fresh ideas. Leaders always search for opportunities for ways to do what has never been done."
22- "Leaders raise the bar gradually and offer coaching and training to build skills that help people get over each new level...They challenge people, sometimes to their very cores—and participants come out changed and ready to take on new risks and experiments...In this endeavor, Reno and Randi demonstrate, as do all exemplary leaders, the need to: Initiate incremental steps and small wins. Learn from mistakes. Promote psychological hardiness."
23- "High-stress/low-illness executives made these assumptions about themselves in interaction with the world: 1- They felt a strong sense of control believing that they could beneficially influence the direction and outcome of what was going on around them through their own efforts. Lapsing into powerlessness, feeling like a victim of circumstances, and passivity seemed like a waste of time to them. 2- They were strong in commitment, believing that they could find something important, or worthwhile. They were curious about what was going on around them, and this led them to find interactions with people and situations stimulating and meaningful. They were unlikely to engage in denial or feel disengaged, bored, and empty. 3- They felt strong in challenge, believing that personal improvement and fulfillment came through the continual process of learning from both negative and positive experiences. They felt that it was not only unrealistic but also stultifying to simply expect, or even wish for, easy comfort and security."
24- "Turbulence in the marketplace, it turns out, requires more collaboration, not less. Collaboration is the critical competency for achieving and sustaining high performance—especially in the Internet Age!..Indeed, world-class performances aren't possible unless there's a strong sense of shared creation and shared responsibility. To Foster Collaboration, leaders are essential who can skillfully: Create a climate of trust. Facilitate positive interdependence. Support face-to-face interactions."
25- "To put it quite simply, trust is the most significant predictor of Individuals' satisfaction with their organizations. When leaders create a climate of trust, they take away the controls and allow people to be free to innovate and contribute. Trusting leaders nurture openness, involvement, personal satisfaction, and high levels of commitment to excellence. Be Open to Influence...Make Yourself Vulnerable...Listen, Listen, Listen."
26- "Creating a climate where people are involved and important is at the heart of strengthening others. People must have the latitude to make decisions based on what they believe should be done. They must work in an environment that both builds their ability to perform a task or complete an assignment and promotes a sense of self-confidence in their judgment. People must experience a sense of personal accountability so that they can feel ownership for their achievements. We've identified four leadership essentials to Strengthen Others: Ensure self-leadership. Provide choice. Develop competence and confidence. Foster accountability."
27- "Exemplary leaders understand this need to Recognize Contributions and are constantly engaged in these essentials: Focus on clear standards. Expect the best. Pay attention. Personalize recognition."
28- "Leaders are out there for a reason. One of the reasons, we would maintain, is to show that you care. One way of showing you care is to pay attention to people, to what they are doing, and to how they are feeling. And if you are clear about the standards you're looking for and you believe and expect that people will perform like winners, then you're going to notice lots of examples of people doing things right and doing the right things. In contrast, what happens in organizations where managers are constantly on the lookout for problems? Three things: managers get a distorted view of reality; over time, production declines; and the managers' personal liability hits bottom. Wandering around with an eye for trouble is likely to get you just that. More trouble."
29- "When we're open we make ourselves vulnerable—and this vulnerability makes us more human and more trusted. If neither person in a relationship takes the risk of trusting, at least a little, the relationship remains stalled at a low-level of caution and suspicion. If leaders want the higher levels of performance that come with trust and collaboration, then they must demonstrate their trust in others before asking for trust from others. As discussed in Chapter Nine, when it comes to trust, leaders ante up first."
30- "If leaders are to effectively Celebrate the Values and Victories, they must master these three essentials: Create a spirit of community. Tell the story. Set the example. By bringing people together, sharing the lessons from success, and getting personally involved, leaders reinforce in others the courage required to get extraordinary things done in organizations."
31- "Stories put a human face on success. They tell us that someone just like us can make it happen. They create organizational role models that everyone can relate to. They put the behavior in a real context. They make standards more than statistics; they make standards come alive. By telling a story in detail, leaders illustrate what everyone needs to do to live by the organizational standards."
32- "The process of development should never be intrusive. It should never be about just filling someone full of facts or skills. It won't work. Education should always be liberating. It should be about releasing what is already inside. The quest for leadership is first an inner quest to discover who you are. Through self-development comes the confidence needed to lead. Self-confidence is really awareness of and faith in your own powers. These powers become clear and strong only as you work to identify and develop them. Learning to lead is about discovering what you care about and value. About what inspires you. About what challenges you. About what gives you power and competence. About what encourages you. When you discover these things about yourself, you'll know what it takes to lead those qualities out of others. Sure, we've said already that every leader has to learn the fundamentals and the discipline, and to a certain extent there's some period during which you're trying out a lot of new things. It's a necessary stage in your development as a leader. The point is you have to take what's been acquired and reshape into your own expression of yourself.Sometimes liberation is as uncomfortable as intrusion, but in the end when you discover it for yourself you know that what's inside is what you put there and what belongs there. It's not something put inside you by someone else; it's what you discover for yourself."
1- "Whether in their early twenties, late seventies, or anywhere between, leaders told us that the fundamentals of leadership are the same today as they were in the 1980s, and they've probably have been the same for centuries. Yet the leaders were quick to add that while the content of leadership has not changed, the context—and, in some cases, it has changed dramatically. What is this new context, and what are the implications for the practice of leadership? From heightening uncertainty across the world to an intense search for meaning, our connections as people and as leaders are part of this context. Heightened uncertainty...People first...We're even more connected...Social capital...Speed...A changing workforce...Even more intense search for meaning."
2- "Leaders do exhibit certain distinct practices when they are doing their best. This process varies little from industry to industry, profession to profession, community to community, country to country. Good leadership is individual, there are patterns to the practice of leadership that are shared. And that can be learned."
3- "As we looked deeper into the dynamic process of leadership, through case analyses and survey questionnaires, we uncovered five practices common to personal-best leadership experiences. When getting extraordinary things done in organizations, leaders engage in these Five Practices of Exemplary Leadership: Model the Way. Inspire a Shared Vision. Challenge the Process. Enable Others to Act. Encourage the Heart."
4- "Modeling the way is essentially about earning the right and the respect to lead through direct individual involvement and action. People first follow the person, then the plan."
5- " Leaders know well that innovation and change all involve experimentation, risk, and failure. They proceed anyway. One way of dealing with the potential risks and failures of experimentation is to approach change through incremental steps and small wins. Little victories, when piled on top of each other, build confidence that even the biggest challenges can be met. In so doing, they strengthen commitment to the long-term future. Yet not everyone is equally comfortable with risk and uncertainty. Leaders also pay attention to the capacity of their constituents to take control of challenging situations and become fully committed to change. You can't exhort people to take risks if they don't also feel safe."
6- "Constituents neither perform at their best nor stick around for very long if their leader makes them feel weak, dependent, or alienated. But when a leader makes people feel strong and capable— as if they can do more than they ever thought possible—they'll give it their all and exceed their own expectations. When leadership is a relationship founded on trust and confidence, people take risks, make changes, keep organizations and movements alive. Through that relationship, leaders turn their constituents into leaders themselves."
7- "Success in leadership, success in business, and success in life has been, is now, and will continue to be a function of how well people work and play together. We're even more convinced of this today than we were twenty years ago. Success in leading will be wholly dependent upon the capacity to build and sustain those human relationships that enable people to get extraordinary things done on a regular basis."
8- "THE TEN COMMITMENTS OF LEADERSHIP: 1. Find your voice by clarifying your personal values. 2. Set the example by aligning actions with shared values. 3. Envision the future by imagining exciting and ennobling possibilities. 4. Enlist others in a common vision by appealing to shared aspirations. 5. Search for opportunities by seeking innovative ways to change, grow, and improve. 6. Experiment and take risks by constantly generating small wins and learning from mistakes. 7. Foster collaboration by promoting cooperative goals and building trust. 8. Strengthen others by sharing power and discretion. 9. Recognize contributions by showing appreciation for individual excellence. 10. Celebrate the values and victories by creating a spirit of community."
9- "As the data clearly show, for people to follow someone willingly, the majority of constituents must believe the leader is: Honest, Competent, Forward-looking and Inspiring."
10- "To gain and sustain the moral authority to lead, it's essential to Model the Way. Because of this important connection between words and actions, we've chosen to start our discussion of the Five Practices with a thorough examination of the principles and behaviors that bring Model the Way to life. First, in Chapter Three, we introduce you to why it's essential to Find Your Voice—that unique expression of yourself that gives you the inner strength as a leader to «j«v what you will do. Then, in Chapter Four, we'll take a look at how leaders Set the Example, the second half of the formula for establishing credibility. You'll see how leaders must focus on their own personal values and how they must build and affirm shared values. Throughout the chapters and the action steps, you'll also learn methods to align actions with values—the step in the process that communicates with deeds. not just words."
11- " Voice in this context is both a noun and a verb. It encompasses words and speech. There's the message we want to deliver, and then there's the expression of that message. It's about having a voice and about giving voice. To Find Your Voice you must engage in two essentials: Clarify your values, Express your self. To become a credible leader, first you have to comprehend fully the values, beliefs, and assumptions that drive you. You have to freely and honestly choose the principles you will use to guide your actions. Before you can clearly communicate your message, you must be clear about the message you want to deliver. And before you can do what you say, you must be sure that you mean what you say. Second, you have to genuinely express your self. The words themselves aren't enough, no matter how noble. You must authentically communicate your beliefs in ways that uniquely represent who you are. You must interpret the lyrics and shape them into your own singular presentation so that Others recognize that you're the one who's speaking and not someone else."
12- "Values influence every aspect of our lives: our moral judgments, our responses to others, our commitments to personal and organizational goals...Values also serve as guides to action. They inform our decisions as to what to do and what not to do; when to say yes, or no, and really understand why we mean it...Values are empowering. We are much more in control of our own lives when we're clear about our personal values. When values are clear we don't have to rely upon direction from someone in authority...Values also motivate. They keen us focused on why we're doing what we're doing and the ends toward which we're striving. Values are the banners that fly as we persist, as we struggle, as we toil."
13- "People want to be part of something larger than themselves. What we're savings is this: people cannot fully commit to an organization or a movement that does not fit with their own beliefs. Leaders must pay as much attention to personal values as they do to organizational values if they want dedicated constituents."
14- "The Three Stages of Self-Expression: Finding one's voice and finding one's unique way of expressing the self is something that every artist understands, and every artist knows that finding a voice is most definitely not a matter of technique. It's a matter of time and a matter of searching—soul-searching...When first learning to lead, we paint what we see outside ourselves—the exterior landscape. We read biographies and autobiographies about famous leaders. We observe master models and ask the advice of mentors. We read books and listen to audiotapes by experienced executives. We participate in training programs. We take on job assignments so that we can work alongside someone who can coach us. We want to learn everything we can from Others, and we often try to copy their style...Somewhere along the way, you'll notice that your speech sounds mechanically wrote, that your meetings are a boring routine, and that your interactions feel terribly sad and empty. You'll awaken to the frightening thought that the words aren't yours, that the vocabulary is someone else's, that the technique is right out of the text but not straight from the heart. While you've invested so much time and energy in learning to do all the right things, you suddenly see that they're no longer serving you well. The methods seem hollow. You may even feel like a phony...If, as David did, you're fortunate enough to experience an integrative turning point in your development—a point where you're able to merge the lessons from your outer and inner journeys—you move on to becoming an authentic leader, in whatever field you've chosen for yourself. You're able to recognize your own voice from the multitude of other voices ringing in your ears, and you find ways to express yourself in a singular style. You become the author of your own experience."
15- "There are five essential aspects to their behavior and actions that leaders need to be conscious about in their efforts to align shared values through the example of the actions they take: 1) Calendars, 2) Critical incidents, 3) Stories, analogies, and metaphors 4) Language 5) Measurements."
16- "Create alignment around key values. Researchers have demonstrated that there are three central themes in the values of highly successful, strong-culture organizations: High performance standards. A caring attitude toward people. A sense of uniqueness and pride."
17- "When we feel passionately about the legacy we want to leave, about the kind of future world we want for ourselves and for others, then we are much more likely to voluntarily step forward. If we don't have the slightest clue about our hopes, dreams, and aspirations, then the chance that we'll take the lead is significantly less. In fact, we may not even see the opportunity that's right in front of us."
18- "At the beginning what leaders have is a theme. They have concerns, desires. questions, propositions, arguments, hopes, dreams, and aspirations—core concepts around which they organize their aspirations and actions. Leaders begin the process of Envisioning the Future by discovering their own themes. Everything else leaders say about their vision is an elaboration, interpretation. and variation on that theme. Fortunately, there are ways to improve your ability to articulate your own themes and ultimately your visions of the future. Express Your Passion...Explore Your Past...Pay Attention to Your Experiences...Immerse Yourself."
19- "Leaders are possibility thinkers, not probability thinkers. Probabilities must be based upon evidence strong enough to establish presumption. Possibilities are not. All new ventures begin with possibility thinking, not probability thinking. After all, the probability is that most new businesses will fail and most social reforms will never get off the ground. If entrepreneurs or activists accepted this view, however, they'd never start a new business or organize a community. Instead, they begin with the assumption that anything is possible. Like entrepreneurs and other activists, leaders assume that anything is possible. It's this belief that sustains them through the difficult times."
20- "Whether they're trying to mobilize a crowd in the grandstand or one person in the office, leaders must practice these three essentials to Enlist Others: Listen deeply to others. Discover and appeal to a common purpose. Give life to a vision by communicating expressively, so that people can see themselves in it."
21- "If you want to create a climate that sustains personal-best leadership experiences, what situations would you look for? What context would most likely offer the right conditions? What leadership actions are required to establish a culture that is characterized by challenge, energy, excitement. determination, inspiration, and innovation? It's already clear that you need shared values and a shared vision. What else? To Search for Opportunities to get extraordinary things done, leaders make use of four essentials: Seize the initiative. Make challenge meaningful. Innovate and create. Look outward for fresh ideas. Leaders take charge of change. They instill a sense of adventure in others, they look for ways to radically alter the status quo, and they continuously scan the outside environment for new and fresh ideas. Leaders always search for opportunities for ways to do what has never been done."
22- "Leaders raise the bar gradually and offer coaching and training to build skills that help people get over each new level...They challenge people, sometimes to their very cores—and participants come out changed and ready to take on new risks and experiments...In this endeavor, Reno and Randi demonstrate, as do all exemplary leaders, the need to: Initiate incremental steps and small wins. Learn from mistakes. Promote psychological hardiness."
23- "High-stress/low-illness executives made these assumptions about themselves in interaction with the world: 1- They felt a strong sense of control believing that they could beneficially influence the direction and outcome of what was going on around them through their own efforts. Lapsing into powerlessness, feeling like a victim of circumstances, and passivity seemed like a waste of time to them. 2- They were strong in commitment, believing that they could find something important, or worthwhile. They were curious about what was going on around them, and this led them to find interactions with people and situations stimulating and meaningful. They were unlikely to engage in denial or feel disengaged, bored, and empty. 3- They felt strong in challenge, believing that personal improvement and fulfillment came through the continual process of learning from both negative and positive experiences. They felt that it was not only unrealistic but also stultifying to simply expect, or even wish for, easy comfort and security."
24- "Turbulence in the marketplace, it turns out, requires more collaboration, not less. Collaboration is the critical competency for achieving and sustaining high performance—especially in the Internet Age!..Indeed, world-class performances aren't possible unless there's a strong sense of shared creation and shared responsibility. To Foster Collaboration, leaders are essential who can skillfully: Create a climate of trust. Facilitate positive interdependence. Support face-to-face interactions."
25- "To put it quite simply, trust is the most significant predictor of Individuals' satisfaction with their organizations. When leaders create a climate of trust, they take away the controls and allow people to be free to innovate and contribute. Trusting leaders nurture openness, involvement, personal satisfaction, and high levels of commitment to excellence. Be Open to Influence...Make Yourself Vulnerable...Listen, Listen, Listen."
26- "Creating a climate where people are involved and important is at the heart of strengthening others. People must have the latitude to make decisions based on what they believe should be done. They must work in an environment that both builds their ability to perform a task or complete an assignment and promotes a sense of self-confidence in their judgment. People must experience a sense of personal accountability so that they can feel ownership for their achievements. We've identified four leadership essentials to Strengthen Others: Ensure self-leadership. Provide choice. Develop competence and confidence. Foster accountability."
27- "Exemplary leaders understand this need to Recognize Contributions and are constantly engaged in these essentials: Focus on clear standards. Expect the best. Pay attention. Personalize recognition."
28- "Leaders are out there for a reason. One of the reasons, we would maintain, is to show that you care. One way of showing you care is to pay attention to people, to what they are doing, and to how they are feeling. And if you are clear about the standards you're looking for and you believe and expect that people will perform like winners, then you're going to notice lots of examples of people doing things right and doing the right things. In contrast, what happens in organizations where managers are constantly on the lookout for problems? Three things: managers get a distorted view of reality; over time, production declines; and the managers' personal liability hits bottom. Wandering around with an eye for trouble is likely to get you just that. More trouble."
29- "When we're open we make ourselves vulnerable—and this vulnerability makes us more human and more trusted. If neither person in a relationship takes the risk of trusting, at least a little, the relationship remains stalled at a low-level of caution and suspicion. If leaders want the higher levels of performance that come with trust and collaboration, then they must demonstrate their trust in others before asking for trust from others. As discussed in Chapter Nine, when it comes to trust, leaders ante up first."
30- "If leaders are to effectively Celebrate the Values and Victories, they must master these three essentials: Create a spirit of community. Tell the story. Set the example. By bringing people together, sharing the lessons from success, and getting personally involved, leaders reinforce in others the courage required to get extraordinary things done in organizations."
31- "Stories put a human face on success. They tell us that someone just like us can make it happen. They create organizational role models that everyone can relate to. They put the behavior in a real context. They make standards more than statistics; they make standards come alive. By telling a story in detail, leaders illustrate what everyone needs to do to live by the organizational standards."
32- "The process of development should never be intrusive. It should never be about just filling someone full of facts or skills. It won't work. Education should always be liberating. It should be about releasing what is already inside. The quest for leadership is first an inner quest to discover who you are. Through self-development comes the confidence needed to lead. Self-confidence is really awareness of and faith in your own powers. These powers become clear and strong only as you work to identify and develop them. Learning to lead is about discovering what you care about and value. About what inspires you. About what challenges you. About what gives you power and competence. About what encourages you. When you discover these things about yourself, you'll know what it takes to lead those qualities out of others. Sure, we've said already that every leader has to learn the fundamentals and the discipline, and to a certain extent there's some period during which you're trying out a lot of new things. It's a necessary stage in your development as a leader. The point is you have to take what's been acquired and reshape into your own expression of yourself.Sometimes liberation is as uncomfortable as intrusion, but in the end when you discover it for yourself you know that what's inside is what you put there and what belongs there. It's not something put inside you by someone else; it's what you discover for yourself."
January 24, 2022
This book isn't 5 stars because of its prose or its persuasion. It is a very mundanely delivered book. It gets 5 stars because it is so right. I think I read the 5th edition, by the way. It just nails core-leadership. It hits the 5 main attributes, it delivers two actions on each, it goes into what it means to be developed in each of the 5 areas, it has a couple 'regular' corporate leader examples, and then it moves onto the next area. It's just rock solid leadership exposition, made very practical, backed with lots and lots of qualitative evidence. I want to go through this with a fine tooth comb and just list it all out outline-style. Like, you know it is so spot-on classic leadership traits that you wish there was some extra sauce out there that really makes the leader. And while creativity adds the flair and sees the end goal, it really comes down to mastering the application of these five areas. Definitely need to get the workbook and get at this one.
December 20, 2024
This book was given as a recommendation from someone who absolutely loved it. I’ve read plenty of leadership books at this point and I see this as a decent guide for a person in a position of power utilizing their personal power of influence as well. It’s nothing ground breaking however to me, I found that its depth was particularly helpful and would serve as a guide in my future. Not bad not great.
July 5, 2023
I rarely read non-fiction but thought I'd give this a go. This is an excellent book and so much of what they wrote makes sense. Creating relationships takes a lot of hard work whether it's at work, family or friends and we must strive to put in that work the best we can. Being a leader means that you can't make it about yourself. It must be about lifting others.
January 25, 2025
The content of the book is not necessarily wrong (who could argue that to be a good leader you need to listen to your employees or be competent?), but it is nothing new, and the book unnecessarily repeats its points over and over. This was my first book on the topic, and frankly I do not know if I am going to read more of the same kind, because I fear that I might see the same formula applied: take some common sense advice, and stretch it for 400 pages.
February 17, 2019
من کتاب صوتی ش رو از نوار کرفتم و گوش کردم. صدای گوینده به شدت نامناسب برای خوانش چنین کتابی بود به طوریکه نمی تونستم موضوع رو دنبال کنم.
تا جایی که تونستم با کتاب ارتباط برقرار کنم یک کتاب درباره رهبری با موضوعی تکراری بود.
تا جایی که تونستم با کتاب ارتباط برقرار کنم یک کتاب درباره رهبری با موضوعی تکراری بود.
October 29, 2017
A lot of practical application based on research - much different than a John Maxwell type of book
January 16, 2018
The book is great in that it covers a lot of real-life examples of leadership exhibited in organizations of all sizes and industries all around the world. The principles in it are also key to success. I probably could have skimmed the whole book and gotten a similar level of output. Glad I learned that for future similar texts.
November 11, 2020
Assigned reading for a business school class. Thought it was fine, but lots of themes I’ve heard before
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