The content is a series of essays in recent leadership perspectives. It is not bad information but it is also vague and generic. I found it is possible to often imagine the exact opposite of the stated “key factor for leadership” when referring to actual historical leaders. Worth reading but with grains of salt... ( )

Research on change management and this popped up, so… Management books tend to lose value over time… fads fade, new ideas supplant old ones, new knowledge enlightens. Leadership books seem to have more staying power. They aren’t without room for improvement, but generally have lasting stuff. This collection of essays is a good example. I like that HBR provides a BLUF with each - Bottom Line Up Front, and a Further Reading section with good jumping off points.

I’ll not address each article. I admit I am not a big fan of Daniel Goleman’s work but his essay here, “What Makes a Leader?”, is a pretty good synopsis of most of his salient points. But, I highlighted one part: “That story illustrates two other common traits of people who are driven to achieve. They are forever raising the performance bar, and they like to keep score.” The emotional intelligence guru notes this like it is a good thing? “Keeping score” is a slippery slope.

I just finished a book by John Kotter and of course, he’s in this collection.(Harvard, an all). His article is titled, “What Leaders Really Do” and the italicized summary on the front page is good: “They don’t make plans; they don’t solve problems; they don’t even organize people. What leaders really do is prepare organizations for change and help them cope as they struggle through it.”

“The question ‘Why should anyone be led by you?’ strikes fear in the hearts of most executives. With good reason.” I think if you come up in a culture of leadership, that is rarely a question to ask.

I’m going to blame the editors for the teaser to Robert Goffee and Gareth Jones’s “Why Should Anyone Be Led by You?”: The question “Why should anyone be led by you?” strikes fear in the hearts of most executives. With good reason. I think if you come up in a culture of leadership, that is rarely a question to ask or be asked. ( )