Writers On Leadership

'Managers are necessary,' argued field marshal Lord Slim, 'leaders are essential.' Yet there has been extensive discussion and debate about just what makes someone an effective leader. An earlier generation of writers examined the traits true leaders require, the ways they behave and how they adapt the core skills to specific circumstances. More recent authorities have shown us how leaders create their visions, inspire their teams and transform their organizations; others have illuminated the 'dark side' of leadership, and asked whether men and women use the same or different methods to achieve results. Here John van Maurik, one of today's acknowledged experts on leadership, distils the ideas of over thirty 'gurus', academics and practitioners from Douglas McGregor, Kenneth Blanchard and John Adair to Meredith Belbin, Peter Senge, Warren Bennis and John Harvey-Jones. Leaders may be born as much as made, although leadership skills can certainly be developed in those with the right potential. The insights collected here will prove equally invaluable to students and to business people aspiring to leadership roles.