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Exercising adaptive leadership is radically different from doing your job really, really well. It is different from authoritative expertise, and different from holding a high position in a political or organizational hierarchy. It is also different from having enormous informal power in the forms of credibility, trust, respect, admiration, and mora
... See moreRonald A. Heifetz • The Practice of Adaptive Leadership: Tools and Tactics for Changing Your Organization and the World
Thus, while Shackleton was undeniably out of place, even inept, in a great many everyday situations, he had a talent—a genius, even—that he shared with only a handful of men throughout history—genuine leadership. He was, as one of his men put it, “the greatest leader that ever came on God’s earth, bar none.” For all his blind spots and inadequacies
... See moreAlfred Lansing • Endurance: Shackleton's Incredible Voyage
manage that is by speaking directly to their situation and context by excluding everybody else. Far better to be loved by someone than ignored by everyone.
Rob Fitzpatrick • Write Useful Books: A modern approach to designing and refining recommendable nonfiction
Managers, he frequently repeated, do things right—while leaders do the right thing. “My mandate in these jobs has never been to be Mr. Popularity.”
Howard Green • RAILROADER: The Unfiltered Genius and Controversy of Four-Time CEO Hunter Harrison
Red was a great leader because of the trust and respect he had earned among his players. It had everything to do with listening.
David Falkner • Russell Rules: 11 Lessons on Leadership from the Twentieth Century's Greatest Winner
NO OPERATING POLICY has contributed more to Hewlett-Packard’s success than the policy of “management by objective.” Although the term is relatively new to the lexicon of business, management by objective has been a fundamental part of HP’s operating philosophy since the very early days of the company. MBO, as it is frequently called, is the antithe
... See moreDavid Packard • The HP Way: How Bill Hewlett and I Built Our Company (Collins Business Essentials)
Hire managers of one
Jason Fried • Rework
A commander can exhibit leadership, create and inspire followers (rather than have minions), and create new leaders at every level, without using the threat of positional power. Equally, when there is a lack of consensus, a leader may adopt more of a command style, especially if it is to get out of danger or to prompt action due to a lack of consen
... See moreJonathan Smart • Sooner Safer Happier: Antipatterns and Patterns for Business Agility
The second book he bought was Drift into Failure by Sidney Dekker, which he passed out to all his IT infrastructure and operations people. Dekker’s book forces organizational managers to rethink blame and accountability in complex processes. When something goes wrong, it asks, “Should you blame the person? Or is it the system?”2*