Leader to Leader (Ltl), Enduring Insights on Leadership from the Drucker Foundation's Award-Winning Journal

by Paul Cohem

"The manager's job is to make human strength effective and human weakness irrelevant." -- Peter F. Drucker "I am often asked by management students and middle managers, 'How can we make the changes you talk about if we are not at the top?' I reply, 'You can begin where you are, whatever your job. You can bring new insight, new leadership, to your team, your group." -- Frances Hesselbein "As they say, 'None of us is as smart as all of us.' That is...

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0787947261
• ISBN13: 9780787947262
• Release Date: February 1999
• Publisher: Jossey-Bass
• Length: 416 Pages
• Weight: 1.55 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.3" x 6.2" x 9.3"

Customer Reviews

A Truly Unique Source of Business Wisdom

Hesselbein and Cohen have assembled and brilliantly edited "enduring insights on leadership" from the Drucker Foundation's award-winning journal. What a superb selection of essays they offer! The Introduction by Hesselbein (all by itself) is well worth the cost of the book. As for the 37 individual essays, they are organized within seven Parts:I. On Leaders and Leadership (eg Peter Drucker, Max DePree, and Herb Kelleher)II. Leading Innovation and Transformation (eg Peter M. Senge, John P. Kotter, and Douglas K. Smith)III. Leadership in the New Information Economy (eg Esther Dyson, Margaret Wheatley, and Kevin Kelly)IV. Competitive Strategy in a Global Economy (eg Rosabeth Moss Kanter, Ann Winblad, and Keniche Ohmae)V. Leading for High Performance (eg Steven R. Covey, Jim Collins, and Noel Tichy)VI. Building Great Teams (eg Warren Bennis, Jon R. Katzenbach, and J. Richard Hackman)VII. Leadership Across the Sectors (eg John W. Gardner, Regina Hetzlinger, and James E. Austin)I know of no other single volume in which so many great business thinkers are represented by so many of their landmark essays. The editors are to be commended for the selections; also for the structure within which those selections are organized. This is "must reading" for leaders and, especially, for whose who aspire to be leaders.

Leading ideas by leaders for leaders.

"People in both in this country and around the world have an enormous hunger for ideas; that's why three years ago the Drucker Foundation launched 'Leader to Leader', a journal of ideas by leaders for leaders."Frances Hesselbein writes, "This hunger among millions of working executives demonstrates their concern for the future and a commitment to make a difference. The incisive thinkers and remarkable leaders who have contributed to the journal and to this book open doors, spark ideas, raise signal flags, and help satisfy that universal hunger."In this context, I summarized partially only four of the thirty-seven essays written by talented thinkers as follows:I. Peter F. Drucker writes: "The three people from whom I learned the most in my work were all very different. The first two were exceptionally demanding; the third was exceptionally brillant. All three taught me a lot...Five lessons I learned from those remarkable men still apply today:1. Treat people differently, based on their strengths.2. Set high standards, but give people the freedom and responsibility to do their job.3. Performance review must be honest, exacting, and an integral part of the job.4. People learn the most when teaching others.5. Effective leaders earn respect-but they don't need to be liked.II. Doris Kearns Goodwin lists ten lessons from the stories of Lyndon Johnson, John Kennedy, and Franklin Roosevelt for leaders of today's organizations.1. Timing is (almost) everything.2. Anything is possible if you share the glory.3. Trust, once broken, is seldom restored.4. Leadership is about building connections.5. Leaders learn from their mistakes.6. Confidence-not just in oneself-counts.7. Effective partnerships reqire devotion to one's partners.8. Renewal comes from many sources.9. Leaders must be talent brokers.10. Language is one's most powerful tool.III. Warren Bennis argues: "I belive that behind every Great Man is a Great Group, an effective partnership. And making up every Great Group is a unique construct of strong, often eccentric individuals. So the question for organizations is, How do you get talented, self-absorbed, often arrogant, incredibly bright people to work together?" And he suggests ten principles common to all Great Groups:1. At the heart of every Great Groups is a shared dream.2. They manage conflict by abandoning individual egos to the pursuit of the dream.3. They are protected from the "suits".4. They have a real or invented enemy.5. They view themselves as winning underdogs.6. Members pay a personal price.7. Great Groups make strong leaders.8. Great Groups are the product of meticulous recruiting.9. Great Groups are usually young.10. Real artists ship.IV. J. Richard Hackman identifies a number of mistakes that managers make in setting up and leading work teams.1. Use a team for work that is better done by individuals. 2. Call the performing unit a team but really manage members as individuals.3. Fall off the

A leading study from the leading thinkers.

"People both in this country and around the world also have an enormous hunger for ideas; that's why three years ago the Drucker Foundation launched 'Leader to Leader', a journal of ideas by leaders for leaders."Frances Hesselbein writes, "this hunger among millions of working executives demonstrates their concern for the future and a commitment to make a difference. The incisive thinkers and remarkable leaders who have contributed to the journal and to this book open doors, spark ideas, raise signal flags, and help satisfy that universal hunger."In this context, I partially summarized only five of the thirty-seven essays written by thirty-seven talented thinkers.I. Peter F. Drucker writes: "the three people from whom I learned the most in my work were all very different. The first two were exceptionally demanding; the third was exceptionally brillant. All three taught me a lot...Five lessons I learned from those remarkable men still apply today:1. Treat people differently, based on their strengths.2. Set high standards, but give people the freedom and responsibility to do their job.3. Performance review must be honest, exacting, and an integral part of the job.4. People learn the most when teaching others.5. Effective leaders earn respect-but they don't need to be liked.II. Doris Kearns Goodwin lists ten lessons from the stories of Lyndon Johnson, John Kennedy, and Franklin Roosevelt for leaders of today's organizations:1. Timing is (almost) everything.2. Anything is possible if you share the glory.3. Trust, once broken, is seldom restored.4. Leadership is about building connections.5. Leaders learn from their mistakes.6. Confidence-not just in oneself-counts.7. Effective partnership require devotion to one's partners.8. Renewal comes from many sources.9. Leaders must be talent brokers.10. Language is one's most powerful tool.III. John P. Kotter argues: "No organization today-large or small, local or global-is immune to change. To cope with new technological, competitive, and demographic forces, leaders in every sector have sought to alter fundamentally the way their organizations do business. These change efforts have paraded under many banners-total quality management, reengineering, restructuring, mergers and acquisitions, turnarounds. Yet according to most assessments, few of these efforts accomplish their goals. Fewer than fifteen of the one hundred or more companies I have studied have successfully transformed themselves." Hence, he lists eight critical steps to transform your organization:1. Establish a sense of urgency.2. Form a powerful guiding coalition.3. Create a vision.4. Communicate the vision.5. Empower others to act on the vision.6. Plan for and create short-term wins.7. Consolidate improvements and produce still more change.8. Institutionalize new approaches.IV. Warren Bennis argues: "I believe that behind every Great Man is a Great Group, an effective partnership. And making up every Gre

A comprehensive collection of current leadership thought!

The Leader to Leader magazine, from The Drucker Foundation, is consistently one of the best magazines for insightful leadership thinking. Now the 'best of the best' has been gathered for this handbook. Harvard Business School Professor John Kotter's insight into the four most common mistakes that cause change efforts to fail are superb and right on the money -- and his chapter is just one of thirty-seven. I wish this book had been available when I started my leadership journey many years ago! Whether you are just beginning your leadership journey or you are well on your way to becoming a SmartLeader, this book is a resource that you will benefit from today and in the days ahead.

Profound Wisdom in Convenient Pieces

I have read many of these chapters in their web form on the Drucker Foundation site. Now everyone can use their Reader's Guide and enjoy 37 chapters by Peter Drucker, Warren Bennis, Frances Hesselbein, Rosabeth Moss Kanter, and others.These chapters explore leadership, innovation, and leading transition. I loved the chapter by Doris Kearns Goodwin, and the interview with Max De Pree.I'm nominating this book for my leadership book club.