DEVELOPING LEADERS

 

by DON O'NEAL
January 2009, 174 pages, $16.95
ISBN 978-0-89641-471-6

 

Developing Leaders is written to bridge the gap between the academic world, with its theories of how to lead more effectively, and the world of working managers, professionals, and individuals who can apply those theories in ways that will utilize their time, effort, and resources more efficiently. Unlike most textbooks on leadership, this book discusses ideas and information in contexts that are likely to be more useful to practitioners, and downplays those aspects that tend to be primarily of interest to academics and their graduate students. It is intended to be useful not only as a classroom text but also as an ongoing reference manual for organizational managers and professionals.

“Developing Leaders” has a dual meaning. On one hand, it refers to what I believe should be the primary purpose of a leader: developing those for whom the leader is responsible, to help them realize their full potential. But before you can hope to be effective leading others, you have to make that sure you, yourself, have developed to the point where you are the kind of example that others will want to follow. Applying the concepts of this book to organizing and directing your own development efforts will help you become that type of leader.

The book has been developed in four parts: Part I, Leadership Overview, includes Chapters 1and 2, covering an introduction to leadership. Part II, Self-Leadership, includes Chapters 3-8, which discuss individual leadership traits. Part III, Leading Others, includes Chapters 9-13, describing what a leader has to know and do to understand people, and to persuade them. Part IV, Leading into the Future, includes Chapters 14 and 15, discussing cross-cultural leadership, and leading change.

The concepts of leadership can apply to leadership in any type of organization: private-sector companies (both product and service); not-for-profit organizations; and governmental organizations (local, municipal, state, federal), as well as organizations of any size, from those that employ only a few people to those with thousands. And, of course, they can apply to any individual, even if (s)he has no intention of leading others. In other words, understanding the fundamentals of leadership can make anyone more effective, at any level, both inside and outside of formal organizations.

Part I—Leadership Overview is a broad overview of leadership, intended to set the context of the chapters and discussions that follow. Chapter 1 is an introduction to leadership, including some history, discussion of the dominant theories, the differences between leadership and management, and what we mean by “strategic thinking.”  Chapter 2 is a discussion of leadership characteristics/traits, the relationship and differences between self-leadership and leading others, and a discussion of charisma.

Before a person can expect to lead others effectively, he must first demonstrate effective self-leadership. He must personally exemplify leadership to the extent that those who follow him will do so because they respect him, based on the example he sets. The chapters in Part II—Self-Leadership discuss the personal characteristics/traits that are essential to effective leadership. Self-leadership requires vision (Chapter 3), integrity (Chapter 4), self-development (Chapter 5), action (Chapter 6), decisiveness (Chapter 7), and courage (Chapter 8).

Part III—Leading Others: Beyond the personal characteristics that are necessary to earn the respect of followers, there are two additional characteristics that are essential for those who intend to lead others: an understanding of people, and the ability to persuade them.
Understanding is necessary for developing people (Chapter 9), for delegation/empowerment (Chapter 10), and for effective communication (Chapter 11). Persuading people to follow requires inspiration (Chapter 12), and motivation (Chapter 13).

Chapters in Part IV—Leading into the Future describe elements of leadership that are essential to our ability to lead organizations forward in today’s increasingly-turbulent global environment. Chapter 14 discusses the challenges of cross-cultural leadership, and Chapter 15 describes the essentials necessary for successfully leading change.

CONTENTS