Real Leaders

Forget leadership gimmicks and catch phrases, “instant” leadership manuals and Stalinesque approaches to bottom-line results. Skip the sharp cuts to cope with tough times, too. Real and effective leaders today—from the executive suite to the assembly line—quietly and consistently follow what Dr. Eich has identified as the seven principles of effective leadership.True leaders know how to make ethical judgments in the face of real-world challenges, and recognize what it takes to win loyalty and respect, motivate through passion, develop positive relationships, and enhance open communication.Real Leaders Don’t Boss is an easy-to-understand, practical guide to leadership in the workplace and in life that can help anyone grasp what it takes to inspire, motivate, and lead. With the help of real-life stories and advice from top leaders, it teaches how, with the right direction and guidance, real leaders quietly stand back and, no matter the economic conditions, observe as others achieve success, which creates their own successes.

Too many organizations today play follow the leader: the commander articulates a “vision” and people uncritically go along with it. But this type of leadership—what Dean Williams calls "counterfeit leadership"—generates an unhealthy dependence on an authority figure and relies on dominance, control, and group seduction to get things done. By hampering people's ability to anticipate and react to changing circumstances, it creates a self-limiting cycle. And if the leader's vision is flawed, the entire organization suffers. The true task of a leader, Williams argues, is to get people to face the reality of any situation themselves and develop strategies to deal with problems or take advantage of opportunities. Real leaders don't dictate; they help people face their challenges and make adjustments in their values, habits, practices, and priorities to ensure the enterprise is given its best chance to succeed. Williams details how to apply this new approach to the challenges every organization or community faces. Throughout, he demonstrates the practical application of real leadership in the real world through examples from his own experiences working with organizations as diverse as the government of Singapore, Aetna Life and Casualty, and the nomadic Penan tribe in Borneo, as well as historical examples and the insights gleaned from his many interviews with presidents, prime ministers, and business leaders. At a time when so many “visionary” leaders have led their organizations to disaster, Real Leadership offers a needed, proven alternative.

Leaders Lead. Followers Follow. You Can't Do Both. Acknowledging the great irony that most of today's inspiring entrepreneurs are following the crowd instead of doing what innovative leaders like Richard Branson, Mark Zuckerberg, and Elon Musk did to become successful, Silicon Valley management consultant Steve Tobak delivers some truth: Nobody ever made it big by doing what everyone else is doing. Drawing upon decades of personal experience with hundreds of accomplished entrepreneurs, CEOs, and venture capitalists, Tobak provides a unique perspective on today's technology revolution, exposes popular myths that masquerade as common wisdom and shows you what it takes to become a successful entrepreneur and an exceptional business leaders in today's highly competitive world.

This book examines the central role of negotiation in gaining, exercising, and retaining leadership within organizations, large and small, public and private. Its aim is to instruct readers on the way to use negotiation to lead effectively. For far too long conventional wisdom has proposed that strong leaders refuse to negotiate, viewing negotiation as a sign of weakness. Leading people requires charisma, vision, and a commanding presence, not the tricks for making deals. For many executives, negotiation is a tool to use outside the organization to deal with customers, suppliers, and creditors. Inside the organization, it’s strictly “my way or the highway.” Salacuse explains that leaders can increase their effectiveness by using negotiation in each of the three phases of the leadership lifecycle: 1) leadership attainment, 2) leadership action; and 3) leadership preservation and loss. Drawing on experience in wide variety of settings, including the author’s own leadership positions, the book will examine high profile leadership cases such as the rise and fall of Carly Fiorina at Hewlett-Packard, the skillful negotiations by Warren Buffet to save Salomon Brothers from extinction, and the successful efforts by the partners at Goldman Sachs to negotiate a new vision and direction for that financial giant. Leaders and managers should pick up this book to learn how effective negotiation is essential to both gaining and exercising leadership and to overcoming threats to a leader’s position.

Think about the most powerful speech you’ve ever heard a leader give. What made that speech–and that speaker–memorable was likely a mix of authenticity, stage presence, masterful delivery, and–above all–an inspirational message. Nobody ever walked out of a great speech saying, “I loved the way she used PowerPoint.” Yet, all too often, speakers rely on tools like it to carry them through a presentation. Real leaders speak to make a difference, to promote a vision, to change the way people think and feel and act. Their ability to lead goes hand in hand with their ability to get their message across, no matter what size audience they’re addressing. Drawing on his years of experience in coaching executives, Christopher Witt shows not just how to make a speech but why and when you should make one. His practical advice on how to take your game to the next level includes: • You are the message. Who you are–your character, experience, values–shapes the message your listeners hear. • Content is king. Delivery is important, but it is only the helpful–or unhelpful–servant of your message. So build each speech around one, and only one, “Big Idea.” • A confused mind always says no. When you want your listeners to say yes, you’ve got to make them understand what you want them to do and why they should care. • Dare to do the unexpected. Leaders know the rules, and they know when, why, and how to break them. In chapters that can be read in five minutes or less and in a book that can be gone through in one sitting, Witt shows you how to become more confident, more commanding, more compelling speakers. But this isn’t just a book about speaking. It’s about leadership and about how people–CEOs and PTA presidents, small business owners and sales reps, middle managers and techno geeks–can present themselves and their ideas with greater impact.

What makes an effective leader? It’s a popular belief that the world of leadership is some mysterious arena where only the strong, fearless and gifted can survive. But this isn’t necessarily true, and it’s certainly not been the experience of Organisational Psychologists Karen Meager and John McLachlan. In Real Leaders, Karen and John unpack and examine all the psychological and behavioural traits that characterise many great leaders. Through an accessible mix of pragmatic and practical guidance, they demonstrate how to adopt and adapt these common attributes, develop your own, authentic leadership style and - whether you’re an existing or aspiring leader - coach you on how you can elevate your skills and create success. Eye-opening new research carried out for this fully revised second edition underlines how leaders are, above all, human. They don’t fall into standard leadership stereotypes or a 'one size fits all' approach. Using a powerful range of updated concepts and models, it’s now easier than ever for you to evolve and grow as you harness the essential qualities of effective leadership.

Plan your path to leadership with insight from real women at the top In Real Women, Real Leadership, twenty-four women leaders describe their personal journeys to the top, providing deep insight and a fascinating perspective on "making it" as a woman in the male-dominated business environment. They discuss their experiences and offer guidance on topics such as balancing family and career, building alliances, mentoring and being mentored, and overcoming obstacles in the business world which is still dominated by men in the senior levels of management. Drawn from a range of industries including higher education, technology, law, the military, politics, the media, and more, these stories provide the details that every ambitious woman needs to know. You'll learn which skills, attributes, and relationships served these women best, how they overcame the obstacles thrown into their paths, and the people they credit as instrumental along the way. A self-assessment chapter helps you discover your own leadership attributes, and determine which skills you need to acquire as you formulate your own personal roadmap to the top. There are many books about women who have been excellent leaders, but Real Women, Real Leadership provides the personal, relatable testimonials from women who have navigated the opportunities and pitfalls of the business world. Each story sheds light on women's unique leadership attributes, and provides guidance for professional women charting their own professional advancement. Learn from women leaders in a diverse range of industries Discover the leadership attributes that make the biggest impact Gain insight into work/life balance, mentors, relationships, and more Discover your leadership strengths and develop a plan forward Studies have shown that companies with three or more women board members dramatically outperform the competition in returns on equity, sales, and invested capital — yet women only claim a tiny percentage of boardroom seats and top executive positions. Why? And why, when they do achieve leadership positions, do women tend to make such outstanding leaders? Real Women, Real Leadership tackles these questions and more from an in-the-trenches perspective to help you become the leader you want to be.

Real Leaders, Real Schools tells the stories of five urban public school principals who led their schools through profound and transformative changes. In each of these cases, their efforts resulted in dramatic improvements in student achievement—improvements that occurred within the current environment of high-stakes tests. The revealing and often gripping narratives that form the heart of this remarkable book offer unprecedented insights into the meaning and practice of effective school leadership. The stories themselves are often inspiring but they are never idealized. All of these principals met with frustrations as well as successes, setbacks as well as breakthroughs. All regularly reassessed their policies and practices, and all acknowledged—and learned from—their errors along the way. Yet all believed in their staffs and their students, and all found innovative ways to transform and improve their schools. These are true stories of successful leadership against enormous odds. They provide countless lessons for today’s school leaders and all who are committed to education reform.