Why Leaders Fail And What It Teaches Us About Leadership

In Why Leaders Fail and What it Teaches Us About Leadership Willem Fourie helps us make sense of leaders’ failures and why our expectation of leadership infallibility is misguided Whereas some leadership failures can be rectified, others lead to the failure of teams, organisations or institutions. Using cutting-edge research and reflective practices, Fourie explores leaders’ failure at these personal, interpersonal, group, organisational levels and beyond. He explores five factors that cause leaders to fail: Ignorance of personal weaknesses Overconfidence in their influence over others Destructive bias Bad fit in their organisation Misjudged risk The author shows that our heroic bias – the expectation that leaders should be exceptional, charismatic individuals with a higher level of agency than other people – in many contexts increases the chances of leaders failing. The book offers readers with the tools to understand and respond to leader failure, distilled into seven lessons for post-heroic leaders. This is an ideal book for students and researchers in leadership, leadership development and management as well as professionals seeking to enhance their leadership skills.

Being a leader does not mean we are absent of flaws; on the contrary, it means we have the ability to overcome them. Why then do we fall? Why do great leaders have great failures? How does a successful person face the areas they are not successful in? Are you divinely ordained but still leaning toward the things you should have left behind? Which will reign in you when you have to choose between your divinity and your humanity? Are you tired of being different? WHY LEADERS FAIL is a concise and power-packed book that provides candid answers to these questions and many others. Utilizing the examples set forth in the Bible with such notable heroes as David, Samson, Elijah and Noah, Pastor Ronald Godbee reveals the challenges that leaders face and the scenarios that often occur in the absence of a well-laid plan for success; and helps you explore the limitless possibilities of your leadership so you can discover a continuous realm of greatness.

The "how-not-to" leadership book There is a paradox in leadership: we can only succeed by knowing failure. Every accomplished leader knows there are minefields of failures that need to be navigated in order to succeed. Wouldn't it be great to have the insights to help you prevent from making avoidable mistakes? Unfortunately, in business talking about mistakes can be taboo, and, at a certain level, learning from failure is not an option. Weinzimmer and McConoughey speak frankly about the things that are difficult to talk about – the unvarnished truths necessary to become a successful leader. Based on a groundbreaking 7-year study of what almost 1000 managers across 21 industries really think about lessons from failures Includes exclusive interview material from CEOs at a wide range of organizations, including major firms such as Caterpillar, Priceline.com, and Allstate; startups; and entrepreneurial small businesses Drills down into failure to uncover the strategies that aspiring leaders need in order to avoid the most damning leadership mistakes: unbalanced orchestration, drama management, and reckless vanity Learning from the mistakes of others is a necessary part of the journey of effective leadership, and this book offers an indispensable guide to learning these powerful lessons—without paying the price of failure.

While there are thousands of books about leadership, and while most of them are excellent reads, there are very few - if any - that can show you, with real reliability, how to improve your own leadership performance. This is that rare book. We spent years researching leaders around the world to understand why the best are the best. Along the way, we discovered something amazing: why leaders fail. Leaders fail not because they're bad people, or because they lack the personality traits that make for good leadership. They fail because they have a philosophy of leadership that sets them up to fail. If you understand your own philosophy of leadership and make changes where they are needed, you will improve your leadership performance. It's that simple, and the science is right here.

Co-authoring with Peter Stark

Everyone is looking for leaders who are competent and honest, but they're hard to find. The United States is experiencing a leadership crisis. What's more, most leadership guides simply recycle old ideas. It's time to return to true, value-based leadership that can only be learned through a deep examination of the values and traits of a leader a person who should inspire courage, confidence, integrity, determination and a commitment to excellence. Lloyd J. Edwards Jr., a retired police lieutenant and bureau commander from Huntington Beach, California, provides deep insights on leadership. This guidebook explores how leaders manage people and companies; break through barriers that prevent others from achieving success; and communicate organizational ethics. Explore the interconnections of leadership values and traits in an enjoyable, exciting and understandable format. Learn timeless concepts that anyone can apply to become a leader in business, in a family, and elsewhere. Leaders combine values with skills such as the ability to delegate, teach, inspire, manage time, and communicate vision. It is this combination of the art of leadership and the science of management that produces the quality leader who is capable of inspiring followers.

Do you know the stories of well-known CEOs who failed as executives of major companies? Learn about these colorful derailers who misread symptoms of their own downfall and failed to take corrective action needed to succeed as leaders. Written for leaders, aspiring leaders, and anyone who makes a difference in the lives of others, author and leadership expert Tim Irwin, PhD, examines how failures of character common to even the most capable individuals - including deficits in authenticity, humility, self-management, and courage - repeatedly lead to downfall. By profiling the collapse of CEOs Robert Nardelli (Home Depot), Carly Fiorina (HP), Durk Jager (Proctor and Gamble), Steven Heyer (Starwood Hotels), and more, this book shows how our failings become more dangerous as we take on greater leadership responsibilities, and how they can cause us to ignore glaring warning signs that might otherwise prevent catastrophe. In Derailed, Tim shares; An outline of the key character traits that prevent us from becoming de-railed Assessments and suggestions on how to analyze your “Character Quotient” What made these business executives fail without demeaning their character By asking what we can learn from those who have fallen, and how we can avoid our own failure, Derailed teaches us to stay on track. Often, derailment happens long before the crash. Learn the character qualities that are essential for successful leadership and how to cultivate them so that you can avoid derailing your own life and career.