The book is a critical assessment of the managerial mystique practiced in business and taught in business schools. It seeks to make the case for bringing the human character back to center stage in the drama of bbusiness.

Every nation likes to believe myths about itself. Americans' belief in the superiority of their managerial know-how seemed to be among those most solidly based in reality. Yet, Locke argues, despite its universal claims, American managerialism has never been more than a cultural peculiarity, one whose claims to superiority had not been proved but assumed, on the premise that the best economy must have the best management. That premise, moreover, has not served American managerialism particularly well, for in the 1970s a gap opened up between the mystique of American management and the realty of a mediocre American managerial performance. The 'mystique' collapsed and those looking for best practice began to look elsewhere. Locke traces the evolution of American management in the postwar era - the phenomenon once described by Churchill as that 'clear cut, logical, mass production style of thought'. He goes on to discuss in detail the views of such business writers as Chandler, Reich, Senge, and Deming. But the force of his critique rests on a thorough examination of alternative forms of management that grew up in West Germany and Japan during the past decades. He argues that these alternative management forms have done a better job managing capitalist economies since the 1970s than has American managerialism. But the book is not an essay in negativism. In the final chapter the author suggests paths that American management can follow in order to fulfil its original promise.

As a member of the board of directors of several major international financial services corporations, Patricia Pitcher was in a privileged position to observe the inner workings of the corporate world. What she witnessed was a crisis of leadership rooted in a misunderstanding of what leading is all about. Not content to simply offer an opinion-opinions come cheap-she embarked on an eight-year research project to document the reasons for the rapid collapse of a global giant. That collapse, she shows us, began with one critical succession error and was compounded by a chronic failure to understand the importance of personality in the leadership equation. One wrong person at the helm turned a dream into a nightmare. In The Drama of Leadership, Patricia Pitcher shares her findings and, in the process, explodes a number of popular myths about leadership, including the one that leadership and vision are qualities that can be taught in management seminars. She refutes the common belief that leaders are in short supply and proves that the corporate talent pool abounds with potential leaders whose talents either go unrecognized or are tragically undervalued. And she explains why, at a time when vision, innovation, humanity, and passion are so desperately needed, so many companies cast in leadership roles people who possess none of these qualities, and who distrust anyone who does. But who are the good and bad leaders, and how do you identify them? In answer to this question, Patricia Pitcher identifies three types of leaders: Artists, who are people-oriented, open-minded, intuitive, and visionary; Craftsmen, to whom the adjectives "humane," "dedicated," and "wise" best apply; and Technocrats - brilliant and well-schooled in the latest theory, they are detail-oriented, rigid, methodical, self-centered, and, when left in control, pose a serious threat to corporate competitiveness. The power struggles between these types are dramas being played out in companies everywhere. Whether the story has a happy or an unhappy ending depends entirely upon which type gets top billing. The author also offers her wise recommendations on what companies can do to protect themselves against a technocratic hegemony and how to cultivate the talents of Artists and Craftsmen. She also tells you how to determine what type of leader you are and how to interact with other types to achieve both personal and corporate success. The Drama of Leadership is an articulate, insightful, passionate appeal to develop the kind of leaders and organizations that can take us into the twenty-first century.

Find out what really makes charismatic leaders tick. Here, author Jay Conger analysis the things leaders do that make their subordinates more self-assured, optimistic and productive. He reveals how the charismatic leader's qualities can revitalize organizations damaged by long periods of inertia, and why we need charismatic leadership now more than ever before. He also offers advice on how to select and train charismatic leaders?including specific suggestions on how every manager can develop these skills.

Managing Humans is a selection of the best essays from Michael Lopp's popular website Rands in Repose(www.randsinrepose.com). Lopp is one of the most sought-after IT managers in Silicon Valley, and draws on his experiences at Apple, Netscape, Symantec, and Borland. This book reveals a variety of different approaches for creating innovative, happy development teams. It covers handling conflict, managing wildly differing personality types, infusing innovation into insane product schedules, and figuring out how to build lasting and useful engineering culture. The essays are biting, hilarious, and always informative.

A "Business Week" bestseller, this original, contrarian philosophy challenges today's leaders to look past the quick fix and deal thoughtfully with the real complexities of managing people.