Straight Talk FromThe World’s Top Business Leaders: Leading By Example

Well Done: A

Leading By Example is a book contributed and written by various CEO’s, Executives, and Business Leaders all over the U.SA. Leading By Example is part of a the book series The Lessons Learned that was published by Harvard Business School Press in 2007. All the books showcase voices of the world’s experienced leaders, sharing their occurrences of challenges and hard-won lessons learned .Leading By Example is divided into fourteen stories, all told by several “leaders” who have all learned through their own actions of what being a good leader entails in the business world. I feel this book is well done because each story varies in author and profession, making the reader able to relate on different levels. Each story gives a valuable lesson to be learned and at the end of each story the book offers “Takeaways” which basically are the key concepts of the story and what the reader should take from them.

.

For example, one of the chapters, Setting the Right Tone at the Top features Sir Michael Rake, the Chairman of KPMG International. He states, “I think that the basic lesson here is the huge responsibility on any leader to set the right tone at the top, to live the values the company espouses, and to really lead by example.”

.

The audience for book I feel is geared to prospective leaders in the business world who wish to pursue a career in management or supervise a company. I personally would recommend the book because it reads easily, it gives great examples of lessons learned in a daily business oriented world, and it gives a great insight on what it takes to be a respectful leader in any field you are in.

Marissa de la Torre

Primal Leadership: Learning to Lead With Emotional Intelligence

Primal Leadership: Learning to Lead With Emotional Intelligence

Well Done: B

This book creates a language for discussing emotional development in adults, applying real life examples of success and failure in business leadership. Though the authors tell perfect stories to explain the applicable theories, the language itself can be somewhat redundant and cumbersome.

“When people feel good, they work at their best. Feeling good lubricates mental efficiency, making people better at understanding information and using decision rules in complex judgments, as well as more flexible in their thinking.” - Pg 14

This book is essentially an applied business guide to Daniel Golemans' Emotional Intelligence Theory, based on the inability of IQ tests to accurately predict a persons' success beyond education. It was originally designed as a psychological study for the mentally disabled, then highly regarded and disputed in the educational realm for challenging the standards upon which our educational system is based. After Golemans' book Emotional Intelligence became a New York Times bestseller, he became a business consultant for upper management teams, applying his theories to the professional world. Goleman's findings are shaping the way that America understands education, business, and social development. Though his writings often feel emotionless and scientific in nature, the subject matter still revolutionizes the way social interactions are perceived. The structure of the book itself seems to move from theory to theory, example to example. Personally, I mostly enjoyed his inclusion of both success and failure stories to illustrate examples of his theory, and give clarity to the reader.

At the very least, it is worthwhile to pick the book up in a library and photocopy appendix B on page 253 for Golemans' excellent examples of language, such as Organizational Awareness and Change Catalyst, without the less necessary terms like Stealth Learning or Neuroanatomy of Leadership.