books
This rising quantity of quantification has surely improved our understanding of what superior leaders can achieve , and has given organizations valuable information to use when hiring and developing talent . But has it improved the quality of leadership in the real world ? High turnover rates and a paucity of effective leaders suggest either that there ’ s no correlation between studying leadership and leading or that the scientific approach could benefit from a bit more art . After all , no one depicted leaders with greater penetration than Shakespeare , who never conducted a 360-degree assessment .
Interpreting data insightfully is surely as important as compiling and presenting it . So it ’ s no surprise that this year ’ s best business books on talent and leadership merge art with science to offer distinctive insights that are useful in everyday life and that resonate with human experience . Two of the books — new offerings by the famously skeptical Jeffrey Pfeffer and the influential team of James M . Kouzes and Barry Z . Posner — document and lament the shortage of outstanding leaders and propose wildly contrasting remedies . The third , a noteworthy debut by Amy Cuddy , takes a novel approach to helping individuals project the confidence that research shows is a chief characteristic of leadership . Each of these books is valuable and deserves recognition , but I choose Learning Leadership as the best business book of the year on this topic — for its humanity and grace , and its ability to find truth in a blend of art and science .
The Problem with Myths
With their five editions of The Leadership Challenge , Kouzes and Posner have set the standard for much of leadership writing over the last 30 years . The database that informs their work , based on millions of responses to detailed assessments delivered in thousands of organizations in every sector in both developed and developing countries , offers an unmatched resource in documenting what constitutes effective leadership .
Their new book , Learning Leadership : The Five Fundamentals of Becoming an Exemplary
Leader , is written with passion and insight derived from decades of practice as well as research : Kouzes is ranked as one of the top executive educators and is an executive fellow at the Leavey School of Business at Santa Clara University , where Posner holds an endowed professorship . A glance at the book ’ s table of contents might suggest a fairly generic offering — a framework with five fundamentals , all of which sound more aspirational than concrete . But the authors ’ wisdom and humanity set their book apart . So , too , does their conviction that good leadership is a skill that can be learned by anyone who seeks it , and that such learning contributes substantively to the sum of human happiness and fulfillment .
In addressing the perennial question of whether leaders are born or made , the authors tartly observe that they ’ ve never met a leader who wasn ’ t born , which is to say that everyone has the ability to become a better leader . Leadership is not a trait , nor is it reserved for those with charisma — those who , in the original meaning of the word , were kissed by the gods at birth . The “ born leader ” trope , in the authors ’ view , is antithetical to the way real-life leaders operate . It functions as a fable or folk legend that discourages people at every level from working to become better leaders .
The authors unpack five myths that support these legends . My favorite is the talent myth , known in training and development circles as just finding the right person . Bluntly stating that “ talent is overrated ,” Kouzes and Posner cite research indicating that “ getting better ” bests “ being good ” when it comes to leading ( and pretty much everything else ). Their own experience interviewing thousands of people who have led others to make extraordinary things happen demonstrates that a desire to achieve excellence , the grit to persevere , and a willingness to engage people broadly in one ’ s effort are far more important than innate talent .
They also make quick work of the strengths myth , which holds that people increase their chances of success by playing to their strengths and outsourcing what they are weak at . This approach all too often results in people saying things like “ I ’ m not a visionary , so I ’ m going to avoid sharing my perspective ” or “ I ’ m not a natural at giving praise , so why bother ?” In fact , Kouzes and Posner ’ s research demonstrates that successful leaders make a habit of challenging themselves on their weaknesses .
Leadership , they argue , is within everyone ’ s reach , and the five fundamentals offer a template for how to get better by thoroughly analyzing a situation and critiquing your own performance in a constructive way . Self-awareness and a willingness to keep learning from every experience are the basic requirements , and the authors provide selfcoaching exercises and reviews throughout that are useful , commonsensical , and free from jargon .
Anyone with a desire to improve his or her own leadership skills can benefit from reading this deeply encouraging
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