Twelve Take-Aways from the book as given in the appendix;
- Good leadership matters. Good ¼ effective
and ethical. Luck matters for success, but good leaders can help shape their
luck.
2.
Almost anyone can become a leader.
Leadership can be learned. It depends on nurture as well as on nature.
Leadership can exist at any level, with or without formal authority. Most
people are both leaders and followers. They ‘‘lead from the middle.’’
3.
Leaders help create and achieve group
goals. Thus effectiveness requires both vision and interpersonal/organizational
skills.
4.
Smart leaders need both soft and hard
power skills: co-optive and command styles. Both transformational and
transactional objectives and styles can be useful. One is not automatically
better than the other.
5.
Leaders depend on and are partly shaped by
followers. Some degree of soft power is necessary. Presence/magnetism is
inherent in some personalities more than others, but ‘‘charisma’’ is largely
bestowed by followers.
6.
Appropriate style depends on the context.
There are ‘‘autocratic situations’’ and ‘‘democratic situations,’’ normal and
crisis conditions, and routine and novel crises. Good diagnosis of the need for
change (or not) is essential for contextual intelligence.
7.
A consultative style is more costly in
terms of time, but it provides more information, creates buy-in, and empowers
followers.
8.
Managers are not necessarily leaders, but
effective leaders usually need both managerial and organizational skills. They
create and maintain systems and institutions. Leaders are not mere deciders;
they help a group decide how to decide.
9.
Leadership for crisis conditions requires
advanced preparation, emotional maturity, and the ability to distinguish the
roles of operational, analytical, and political work. The appropriate mix of
styles and skills varies with the stage of the crisis. Experience creates tacit
knowledge, but analysis also counts. A cat that sits on a hot stove will not
sit there again, but it will not sit on a cold stove either.
10.
The information revolution and
democratization are causing a long-term secular shift in the context of
postmodern organizations–a shift along the continuum from command to co-optive
style. Network organizations require a more consultative style. While sometimes
stereotyped as a feminine style, both men and women face this change and need
to adapt to it. Empowered followers empower leaders.
11.
Reality testing, constant information
seeking, and adjusting to change are essential for good consequences, but emotional
intelligence and practical knowledge are more important than pure IQ in
judgment.
12.
Ethical leaders use their consciences,
common moral rules, and professional standards, but conflicting values can
create ‘‘dirty hands.’’ Three-dimensional ethical judgments require attention
to goals, means, and consequences for those inside and outside the leader’s
group. Creating identities in intergroup leadership is difficult but crucial
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