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The Leadership Challenge summary

Name: The Leadership Challenge
Rating: 4.3 (94 reviews)
Author: James Kouzes and Barry Posner

James Kouzes and Barry Posner

How to Make Extraordinary Things Happen in Organizations

4.3 (94 ratings)

24 mins

Topics

Coaching Leadership Teamwork

Table of Contents

The Leadership Challenge
Summary of 11 key ideas

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Key idea 1 of 11

What’s in it for me? Learn how to be the best leader you can be.

At some point or another in our lives, most of us have had a superior who was a terrible leader: a tennis coach who always yelled at you when you didn’t win or a boss who used to pass off your good work as his own.

What was it that made these people such bad leaders? Was it simply their character? To put it bluntly, no. They simply didn’t stick to the important rules of good leadership behavior.

The Leadership Challenge tackles exactly this problem by asking the following question: What do you have to do to be a good leader? After all, good leadership can tremendously boost team performance and impact team members’ behavior for the better. When it comes down to it, we all learn from watching the people we admire, so leaders should serve as good role models.

In these blinks, you’ll learn

how to lead by example;
how to throw your team a party;
why just asking your team what their favorite dish is can improve performance; and
how one garbage pail transformed an entire company’s culture.

Everybody’s watching you: leaders should be conscious of the influence their behavior has on others.

When you think about the most important role models in your life, different people might spring to mind: your grandfather, a professor, etc. And when it comes to leadership, role models are equally diverse.

Leadership role models are not necessarily businessmen in a suit and tie. Theoretically, anyone could be a leadership role model.

Although it seems reasonable to assume that celebrities or sportsmen are the most likely candidates to be teenagers’ leadership role models, it’s actually not true. It turns out that the people we have direct contact with have a much stronger influence than strangers. Research has shown that family members are the most important leadership role models. Teachers, coaches and business leaders also rank high.

So since there’s a pretty good chance we’ll be a leadership role model for someone sooner or later, we’d all better start learning how to be good leaders.

But what makes a good leader? Leadership isn’t an inherent part of our character but something defined by our behavior. And, as the authors argue, anyone can learn to be a good leader if they’re driven to become one and have a lot of patience.

Researchers from Florida State University found that, in general, the best performance in all fields wasn’t due to extraordinary intelligence or talent alone, but to effort and continuous practice. And this also holds true for leadership.

Avoid flip-flopping: leaders should be clear about their own and the team’s shared values.

Have you ever known people who constantly change their opinion depending on who’s around? Chances are you don’t feel comfortable placing a whole lot of trust in them.

As a leader, it’s critical to be clear about your opinions. Doing so inspires trust and increases good work performance in teams.

Show, don’t tell: exemplary behavior is a more effective leadership style than just giving orders.

If your boss always comes to the office in shorts and a T-shirt but demands you wear a suit, you might be reluctant to follow his orders. Conversely, you’d probably feel out of place wearing a T-shirt and shorts when your boss dresses formally to make a better impression on clients.

If you’re gonna talk the talk, you gotta walk the walk. That means leaders need to make sure that they themselves act according to their team’s values.

Use your imagination: leaders need to picture possibilities in order to create remarkable outcomes.

It’s always easier to work toward a future goal if you can picture it clearly. So if you want to lead successfully, you have to be able to think ahead about future possibilities.

Albert Einstein himself said that intelligence is less important than having a vivid imagination.

Get everybody on board: recruit others to take part in your collective vision.

Leaders need to motivate and inspire their team with common ideals that everyone will support, like the pursuit of happiness, freedom, world peace or even just more confidence and self-respect.

Certain ideals make us feel like we’re doing something meaningful. When we recognize that our actions matter, we feel proud of our work. Good leaders inspire these ideals and pride in their team members.

Pave your own way: good leaders need to actively look for challenges and opportunities.

While it’s only natural to want to stay within our comfort zone, sometimes we have to venture out into the unknown if we want to be a successful leader.

All the best leaders step forward to seize new opportunities and challenges. Frequently, things lag just because nobody thinks about the possibility of change. Someone needs to take the initiative to bring about positive change.

Small wins should be emphasized – even if you risk a big failure.

Part of being a good leader is taking chances and keeping your team behind you when you take them.

But you can spend a long time taking big risks in pursuit of big achievements before you get concrete results, so it’s important for leaders to emphasize small wins. When tasks feel achievable, we feel more certain and motivated when completing them.

Good teamwork and a supportive team climate should be high on any leader’s agenda.

Sure, we all know that Rome wasn’t built in a day. But it wasn’t built by one person, either. So teams and leaders need to work together in order to achieve great things. And one essential factor for good teamwork is trust between team members and their leaders.

Research on trust and organizational performance agrees: in organizations where employees trust their leaders and organizations, profitability and performance are higher and people are more innovative.

When leaders empower their team members, the result is outstanding achievement.

Imagine you had a colleague or boss who was always taking credit for your good work. You’d probably feel less motivated to continue striving for good results because it’d make you feel weak and insignificant.

Leaders should instill in their team members a sense of ownership of their own work.

Feedback and recognition of great work are some of the most powerful tools for motivating team members.

As we have seen, giving staff the freedom to make their own choices is very important. But, as a leader, you should also make it your duty to acknowledge when your team members have done a good job.

Leaders can bring out the best in their team members and will motivate them more by communicating that they expect everyone to perform exceptionally. They should explain what their idea of an exceptional performance is and openly praise very good work, while staying positive and giving employees everything they need to complete their tasks.

Leaders should encourage their team to celebrate its own values and successes.

People love celebrating. So why shouldn’t leaders take advantage of that in the workplace? Company celebrations unite people around goals and values, and create a sense of community that leaders can foster.

Communities are important for us humans. Extensive research shows that when people have many active social connections, they’re happier and wealthier, more trusting, and share more information.

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What is The Leadership Challenge about?

In The Leadership Challenge, James Kouzes and Barry Posner explain how anyone can become a better leader. Citing various examples from their 25 years of experience and extensive research, the authors present their theories on what makes a successful leader, and give practical advice on how to learn good leadership behavior.

Best quote from The Leadership Challenge

Leading by example is more effective than leading by command.

—James Kouzes and Barry Posner

Who should read The Leadership Challenge?

Anyone in a management position
Anyone leading a team of any size
Anyone interested in becoming a better leader

About the Author

James Kouzes is the Dean’s Executive Fellow of Leadership at Santa Clara University’s Leavy School of Business and gives lectures and speeches on leadership worldwide. He has won many awards for his work, including the 2010 Thought Leadership Award.

Barry Posner is the Accolti Professor of Leadership at Santa Clara University’s Leavy School of Business, where he served as dean from 1997 to 2000. He has been a visiting professor at several other universities worldwide and has received various awards for his work.

The authors have worked together for over 30 years, lecturing on and researching leadership.

James M. Kouzes and Barry Z. Posner: The Leadership Challenge] copyright 2012, John Wiley & Sons Inc. Used by permission of John Wiley & Sons Inc. and shall not be made available to any unauthorized third parties.

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