A psychiatrist puts leadership “on the couch,” with a provocative exploration of its crucial, often ignored, psychological and personal character foundations. Elias Aboujaoude’s distinctive exploration of leadership provides unusual insight into understanding who should and should not be striving for leadership positions. Dr Aboujaoude takes on the culture at large, explaining how our cult-like obsession with leadership gives narcissists an edge and results in leadership failure everywhere we look—and how resisting the imperative to rise at all costs can leave many with an inferiority complex. His takedown of the “leadership industrial complex,” an unholy alliance of gurus, coaches, business school professors, and TED-talkers, from Harvard on down, pokes a very sharp elbow into an industry seemingly united in a modern form of alchemy to create leadership gold—a waste of time, money, and effort, since leadership cannot be taught through books or coaching and cannot be bought. Rather, Dr Aboujaoude vividly illustrates, leaders emerge from a unique combination of personal, psychological, and situational factors that may not be easily controlled. To a large degree, great leaders are born, or happen, with the help of innate temperament, talent, opportunity, circumstances, and timing. Frank and unflinching, this refreshing take on a classic subject, with its focus on the art of knowing yourself, provides new insight into whether your psychology is aligned with the requirements of effective and happy leadership. The effect is to empower readers to understand themselves and step up if they have what it takes to lead—or find equally rewarding, often superior, ways to achieve fulfillment and leave their mark if they don’t.

Inspirational Leadership takes us on a journey through the new world of work and a new definition of leadership, one in which leaders inspire their followers to find new meaning in their work lives. Citing a wide range of examples, Lance shows how leaders can help their followers find their callings within the workplace and reach new heights in professional fulfillment. Casting aside old, outdated mission statements and aggressive self-serving agendas, new style leaders will work to serve their followers and bring out the best in each member of the team.This deeply felt, truly spiritual book arrives just as the new millennium approaches. Author Lance Secretan urges us to recognize this fundamental change as a priceless gift, one that calls for a new vision of balance between the mind and the heart, between the personality and the soul. The time is right for a radical redesign of leadership, organizations and work.

The New ROI In Return on Integrity: The New Definition of ROI and Why Leaders Need to Know It,author John G. Blumberg asks CEOs and top leadership to dig deep, to discover the most untapped strategic resource available to you as a leader. It is an intriguing invitation to truly discover the core values you live by and, in turn, to engage an impactful set of core values for the organization you lead. Core values have been featured in countless books over the last decade, but none has taken the search as deep or has focused on the intersection of leaders’ personal values and those of your organization. At this intersection, Return on Integrity reveals the linchpin of leadership . . . and legacy. Through in-depth introspection and a continual renewal, you can lead your organization beyond profit to a more truthful and fulfilling bottom line. Core values are not just a guide; they should be the basis of every decision and action in your organization. The new ROI is the value built between personal and organizational core values—a stronger organization built on a stronger base. The new ROI is also the return CEOs and your leadership team experience by living and leading with integrity. Blumberg clearly demonstrates his commitment to personal and professional integrity and to helping CEOs achieve it. Sample worksheets and agendas guide your progress, as do links to numerous support resources on the author’s website. Return on Integrity will inspire you to pick up your shovel and start digging deep.

In this time when "change is everything," leaders and people at all levels of organizations need guideposts to live, work and grow by - unshakable principles that can be relied upon implicitly, irrespective of how much technology and globalization drive people to change. Today, organizations and individuals alike need a compass with which to set a course that is true and that they can believe in no matter what. In this groundbreaking book, Laurence Ackerman reveals that identity - the unique characteristics that define who we are-is such a compass. Surprisingly, Identity Is Destiny shows that organizations who are best able to adapt to change are those whose leaders understand and "invest in"-rather than change-their companies' unique identities. It is when leaders align strategic development and day-to-day operations with their company's unique, value-creating capacities that identity truly becomes destiny. The author illustrates how identity gives rise to culture, that identity precedes strategy, and that, most important, companies like individuals, can never be other than who they are. Ackerman describes three features that mark organizations who are led according to their true identities: grand efficiency - having all parts of the enterprise working in sync; integrity - in the sense of unity, or "wholeness;" and endurance-the possibility of the company living in perpetuity. The author goes on to provide a comprehensive blueprint for "identity-based management"-everyday decision-making and action-that reveals a path to authentic leadership. When it is clear who a company is, Ackerman explains, everything else follows naturally: making acquisitions that fulfill their promise; hiring and retaining people who "fit in;" developing marketing and product strategies that make sense for customers and the company alike; establishing partnerships that work.

Acknowledged as the outstanding business leader of the late twentieth century, Jack Welch made General Electric one of the world's most competitive companies. This dynamic CEO defined the standard for organizational change, creating more than $400 billion in shareholder value by transforming a bureaucratic behemoth into a nimble, scrappy winner in the global marketplace. Here, Tichy and Sherman extract the enduring leadership lessons from the revolution Welch wrought at GE. Of these, the most essential is the limitless power of learning. Leadership has its mysteries, but it is a skill that anyone can acquire and enhance. Above all, great leaders select great people and lure them into an endless process of learning and adaptation. Jack Welch's Six Rules Control your destiny or someone else will. Face reality as it is, not as it was, or as you wish it were. Be candid with everyone. Don't manage, lead. Change before you have to. If you don't have a competitive advantage, don't compete.

A brief biography of the Indian chief who is best known for his military retreat of 1877.