Summary

The most trusted source of leadership wisdom, updated to address today's realities

The Leadership Challenge is the gold-standard manual for effective leadership, grounded in research and written by the premier authorities in the field. With deep insight into the complex interpersonal dynamics of the workplace, this book positions leadership both as a skill to be learned, and as a relationship that must be nurtured to reach its full potential. This new seventh edition has been revised to address current challenges, and includes more international examples and a laser focus on business issues; you'll learn how extraordinary leaders accomplish extraordinary things, and how to develop your leadership skills and style to deliver quality results every time. Engaging stories delve into the fundamental roles that great leaders fulfill, and simple frameworks provide a primer for those who seek continuous improvement; by internalizing key insights and putting concepts into action, you'll become a more effective, more impactful leader.

A good leader gets things done; a great leader aspires, inspires, and achieves more. This book highlights the differences between good and great, and shows you how to bridge the chasm between getting things done and making things happen.

Business is evolving at an increasingly rapid rate, and leaders must keep pace with the changes or risk stagnation. People work differently, are motivated differently, and have different expectations today--business as usual is quickly losing its effectiveness. The Leadership Challenge helps you stay current, relevant, and effective in the modern workplace.

Choice Review

In The Leadership Challenge, Kouzes and Posner (both, Santa Clara Univ.), recognized experts on leadership, demonstrate how leaders are able to encourage themselves and others to accomplish extraordinary things for the betterment of an organization. This 5th edition (4th ed., CH, Mar'08, 45-3877) commemorates the 25th anniversary of this popular publication. Each edition reflects the period in which it was written, with updated research, examples, stories, and cases. This new work is organized into six sections. Following an introduction, each of the remaining five sections deals with one of the five practices of exemplary leadership the authors espouse. They suggest reading chapter 1 first and then reading the remaining chapters in any order. Each chapter concludes with a Take Action section, which allows readers to put into practice the leadership ideas of the chapter. The entire premise of the book is that leadership is a relationship; people will not follow a leader until a relationship is established. A mobile app is available to enhance learning and put into practice the concepts discussed in the book; a "lite" version is free, and one offering more tools and features may be purchased. Summing Up: Highly recommended. Upper-division undergraduate through professional collections. W. A. Garrett Troy University