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(More customer reviews)Gareth Jones is director of Human Resources and Internal Communications at the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) and a former Professor of Organizational Development at Henley Management College in Oxfordshire, England. Robert Goffee is Professor of Organizational Behavior at London Business School. They are the founding partners of Creative Management Associates, an organizational consulting firm in London, England. This article, published in Harvard Business Review's September-October 2000 issue, discusses the research of the authors into leadership (as academics, consultants, and executives).
The authors argue that inspirational leaders share four shared (unexpected) qualities: Leaders show and reveal their weaknesses, rely heavily on intuition and associated timing, manage with tough empathy (passionately and realistically), and reveal (and capitalize on) their differences. Goffee and Jones discuss each of these qualities in detail, explaining why these qualities are so important and how leaders show them. There is a short history of leadership and a discussion of some popular myths about leadership: 'Everyone can be a leader', 'leaders deliver business results', 'people who get to the top are leaders', and 'leaders are great coaches'. In addition, there is a short discussion on female leadership, whereby the authors' advice is that female leaders should stay true to themselves. The final conclusion of the article is that the four discussed qualities cannot be used mechanically. Their advice to executives is: "Be yourselves - more - with skill."
This article is much in line with the latest thinking in leadership: Emotional intelligence (EQ/EI) is as important, or even more important, than traditional intelligence (IQ). I see big relations with the Harvard Business Review-articles by Daniel Goleman (What Makes a Leader?, 1998) and Jim Collins (Level 5 Leadership, 2001), which also emphasize the softer, emotional side of leadership. I did like this article and would recommend it to people moving into management and MBA-students. My main complaint is that the conclusion of this article is somewhat too simple. The article is written in simple English. Please note that this article runs on Acrobat eBook Reader software and is not a .pdf-file.
Click Here to see more reviews about: Why Should Anyone Be Led by You: What It Takes To Be An Authentic Leader
Too many companies are managed not by leaders, but by mere role players and faceless bureaucrats. What does it take to be a real leader-one who is confident in who she is and what she stands for, and who truly inspires people to achieve extraordinary results? Rob Goffee and Gareth Jones argue that leaders don't become great by aspiring to a list of universal character traits. Rather, effective leaders are authentic: they deploy individual strengths to engage followers' hearts, minds, and souls. They are skillful at consistently being themselves, even as they alter their behaviors to respond effectively in changing contexts. In this lively and practical book, Goffee and Jones draw from extensive research to reveal how to hone and deploy one's unique leadership assets while managing the inherent tensions at the heart of successful leadership: showing emotion and withholding it, getting close to followers while keeping distance, and maintaining individuality while "conforming enough." Underscoring the social nature of leadership, the book also explores how leaders can remain attuned to the needs and expectations of followers. Why Should Anyone Be Led By You? will forever change how we view, develop, and practice the art of leadership, wherever we live and work.
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