Why Should Anyone Be Led By You

Too many companies are managed not by leaders, but by mere role players and faceless bureaucrats. What does it take to be a real leader—one who is confident in who she is and what she stands for, and who truly inspires people to achieve extraordinary results? Rob Goffee and Gareth Jones argue that leaders don’t become great by aspiring to a list of universal character traits. Rather, effective leaders are authentic: they deploy individual strengths to engage followers’ hearts, minds, and souls. They are skillful at consistently being themselves, even as they alter their behaviors to respond effectively in changing contexts. In this lively and practical book, Goffee and Jones draw from extensive research to reveal how to hone and deploy one’s unique leadership assets while managing the inherent tensions at the heart of successful leadership: showing emotion and withholding it, getting close to followers while keeping distance, and maintaining individuality while “conforming enough.” Underscoring the social nature of leadership, the book also explores how leaders can remain attuned to the needs and expectations of followers. Why Should Anyone Be Led By You? will forever change how we view, develop, and practice the art of leadership, wherever we live and work.

Too many companies are managed not by leaders, but by mere role players and faceless bureaucrats. What does it take to be a real leader—one who is confident in who they are and what they stand for and who truly inspires people to achieve extraordinary results? In this lively and practical book, Goffee and Jones draw from extensive research to reveal how to hone and deploy one’s unique leadership assets while managing the inherent tensions at the heart of successful leadership. Why Should Anyone Be Led By You? will forever change how we view, develop and practice the art of leadership, wherever we live and work.

Are you an authentic leader? Too many companies are managed not by leaders but by mere role players and faceless bureaucrats. What would it take to replace these empty suits with real leaders--men and women who are confident in who they are and what they stand for and who truly inspire people to achieve extraordinary results? Rob Goffee and Gareth Jones argue that leaders don't become great by aspiring to a list of universal character traits. Rather, effective leaders are authentic: they deploy individual strengths to engage followers' hearts, minds, and souls. Authentic leaders are skillful at consistently being themselves, even as they alter their behavior to respond effectively to changing contexts. In short, the authors present a powerful case: that it takes "being yourself, in context, with skill" to be a successful, authentic leader--and they show you how to do exactly that. In this lively and practical book, Goffee and Jones draw from extensive research to reveal how to hone and deploy your unique leadership assets while managing the inherent tensions at the heart of successful leadership: when to show emotion and when to withhold it, how to get close to followers while maintaining an appropriate role distance, and maintaining your individuality while "conforming enough" to gain traction and lead change. Underscoring the inherently social nature of leadership, the book also explores how leaders can stay attuned to the needs and expectations of followers. Why Should Anyone Be Led by You? will forever change how we view, develop, and practice the art of leadership, wherever we live and work.

Imagine designing the best company on earth to work for . . . What would that company be like? How would you build and sustain it? As a leader, you need to know. In the past, businesses made people conform to the organization’s needs. But the old paradigm has shifted. Now leaders must transform their organizations so that they attract the right people, keep them, and inspire them to do their best work. How do you create a culture people want to belong to? In this powerful and necessary follow-up to the classic Why Should Anyone Be Led by You?, leadership and organizational sages Rob Goffee and Gareth Jones identify and illuminate the six key organizational attributes to do just that. In separate chapters, they delve deeply into each one: 1. Let people be themselves 2. Practice radical honesty 3. Magnify people’s strengths 4. Stand for authenticity (more than shareholder value) 5. Make work meaningful 6. Make simple rules With vivid stories and examples from global companies, the authors illustrate the kind of strong, attractive workplace culture that leads to sustained high performance. They also provide ways of assessing how your company is doing and describe the tensions and trade-offs that leaders must manage as they transform their organizations. Why Should Anyone Work Here? is the question all contemporary organizational leaders must constantly ask themselves if they want to survive and thrive in the new world. This book will help them answer that question.

This Harvard Business Review digital collection showcases the ideas of Rob Goffee and Gareth Jones, authors of Why Should Anyone Be Led by You? and Why Should Anyone Work Here? In Why Should Anyone Be Led by You?, Goffee and Jones argue that leaders don’t become great by aspiring to a list of universal character traits. Rather, effective leaders are authentic: they deploy individual strengths to engage followers’ hearts, minds, and souls. In Why Should Anyone Work Here?, the authors argue that it used to be that businesses could ask individuals to conform to the organization’s needs but that now today’s leaders are charged with creating the best company on earth to work for: they must transform their organizations to attract the right people, keep them, and inspire them to do their best work.

What does it mean to be yourself at work? As a leader, how do you strike the right balance between vulnerability and authority? This book explains the role of authenticity in emotionally intelligent leadership. You'll learn how to discover your authentic self, when emotional responses are appropriate, how conforming to specific standards can hurt you, and when you need to feel like a fake. This volume includes the work of: Bill George Herminia Ibarra Rob Goffee Gareth Jones This collection of articles includes: "Discovering Your Authentic Leadership" by Bill George, Peter Sims, Andrew N. McLean, and Diana Mayer; "The Authenticity Paradox" by Herminia Ibarra; "What Bosses Gain by Being Vulnerable" by Emma Seppala; "Practice Tough Empathy" by Rob Goffee and Gareth Jones; "Cracking the Code That Stalls People of Color" by Sylvia Ann Hewitt; "For a Corporate Apology to Work, the CEO Should Look Sad" by Sarah Green Carmichael; and "Are Leaders Getting Too Emotional?" an interview with Gautam Mukunda and Gianpiero Petriglieri by Adi Ignatius and Sarah Green Carmichael. How to be human at work. The HBR Emotional Intelligence Series features smart, essential reading on the human side of professional life from the pages of Harvard Business Review. Each book in the series offers proven research showing how our emotions impact our work lives, practical advice for managing difficult people and situations, and inspiring essays on what it means to tend to our emotional well-being at work. Uplifting and practical, these books describe the social skills that are critical for ambitious professionals to master.

"Leadership and change experts Rob Goffee and Gareth Jones call these invaluable individuals 'clevers'. They can be brilliant, difficult - and sometimes even dangerous. Your organization's competitiveness depends on how well you lead them, but traditional leadership strategies won't be effective. In Clever, Goffee and Jones outline a set of unconventional guidelines for setting up your clevers - and your organization - for success. Based on extensive research inside international organizations in a wide range of industries, the authors identify common traits clevers share and decode the dynamics of clever teams. Through vivid real-world stories, they reveal the secrets to getting the most from clevers."--BOOK JACKET.

#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • Brené Brown has taught us what it means to dare greatly, rise strong, and brave the wilderness. Now, based on new research conducted with leaders, change makers, and culture shifters, she’s showing us how to put those ideas into practice so we can step up and lead. Don’t miss the five-part HBO Max docuseries Brené Brown: Atlas of the Heart! NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY BLOOMBERG Leadership is not about titles, status, and wielding power. A leader is anyone who takes responsibility for recognizing the potential in people and ideas, and has the courage to develop that potential. When we dare to lead, we don’t pretend to have the right answers; we stay curious and ask the right questions. We don’t see power as finite and hoard it; we know that power becomes infinite when we share it with others. We don’t avoid difficult conversations and situations; we lean into vulnerability when it’s necessary to do good work. But daring leadership in a culture defined by scarcity, fear, and uncertainty requires skill-building around traits that are deeply and uniquely human. The irony is that we’re choosing not to invest in developing the hearts and minds of leaders at the exact same time as we’re scrambling to figure out what we have to offer that machines and AI can’t do better and faster. What can we do better? Empathy, connection, and courage, to start. Four-time #1 New York Times bestselling author Brené Brown has spent the past two decades studying the emotions and experiences that give meaning to our lives, and the past seven years working with transformative leaders and teams spanning the globe. She found that leaders in organizations ranging from small entrepreneurial startups and family-owned businesses to nonprofits, civic organizations, and Fortune 50 companies all ask the same question: How do you cultivate braver, more daring leaders, and how do you embed the value of courage in your culture? In this new book, Brown uses research, stories, and examples to answer these questions in the no-BS style that millions of readers have come to expect and love. Brown writes, “One of the most important findings of my career is that daring leadership is a collection of four skill sets that are 100 percent teachable, observable, and measurable. It’s learning and unlearning that requires brave work, tough conversations, and showing up with your whole heart. Easy? No. Because choosing courage over comfort is not always our default. Worth it? Always. We want to be brave with our lives and our work. It’s why we’re here.” Whether you’ve read Daring Greatly and Rising Strong or you’re new to Brené Brown’s work, this book is for anyone who wants to step up and into brave leadership.