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Rating: 
Summary: There's definitely a theme here
Review: "The Leader of the Future" from the Drucker Foundation and edited by Frances Hesselbein, Marshall Goldsmith and Richard Beckhard is a management "sampler," comprising essays from academics and corporate CEOs about leadership, or specifically the kind of leadership that will be required for success of organizations in the future.Clearly, the writers do not believe in "closed" management (the direct and control sensibility of the days of yore). To a one, they advocate investing in those below you, creating leaders in all sectors and at all levels, trusting, collaborating and "leading with vision." Some particularly interesting essays were "Leading from the Grass Roots" by Sally Helgesen, "Leadership and Organizational Culture," by Edgar H. Schein, the "father" of organizational psychology, and "The Ultimate Leadership Task: Self-Leadership" by Richard L. Leider. In general, the section with essays entitled "Learning to Lead for Tomorrow," which was about education and executive training and development was the most engaging for me. I bought this book because I read a very engaging portrait of Marshall Goldsmith in the New Yorker in April, who is a very successful "executive coach," helping executives with personal problems in their organizations turn their relationships around. The book overall had a kind of hypnotic effect, as it repeated the same message throughout. Here's a representative excerpt: "The challenges ahead will require leaders to identify, promote, reinforce, and live as role models of key core values; inspire diverse groups to common, shared action in which they trade some of their autonomy for a long-term greater common good; and give their best efforts in pursuit of that common good." This is from an essay by George B. Weber who is listed as the secretary-general of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies. It's mildly interesting. I would recommend reading it in bits between other, different books.
Rating: 
Summary: "Leadership must be learned and can be learned"
Review: 'The Leader of the Future' adresses a significant and timely topic. It should be on every manager's must-read list. Peter F.Drucker writes in his foreword, "Leadership must be learned and can be learned-and this, of course, is what this book was written and should be used for." And hence, he defines simple but basic characteristics of effective leaders: 1. The only definition of a 'leader' is someone who has 'followers.' Some people are thinkers. Some are prophets. Both roles are important and badly needed. But without followers, there can be no leaders. 2. An effective leader is not someone who is loved or admired. He or she is someone whose followers do the right things. Popularity is not leadership. 'Results' are. 3. Leaders are highly visible. They therefore set 'examples.' 4. Leadership is not rank, privileges, titles, or money. It is 'responsibility.' After this excellent foreword, Frances Hesselbein, Marshall Goldsmith and Richard Beckhard divide this seminal book into four parts. Here, they note that "These parts have been chosen in a somewhat arbitrary manner. We deliberately gave the authors a free hand, and our revisions have been only mirror. The authors are all experts in their own right, and we wanted you to hear their views in an unfiltered form." It is a great chance to read never before published essays of 37 distinguished authors under one roof. Highly recommended.
Rating:
Summary: "Leadership must be learned and can be learned"
Review: 'The Leader of the Future' adresses a significant and timely topic. It should be on every manager's must-read list. Peter F.Drucker writes in his foreword, "Leadership must be learned and can be learned-and this, of course, is what this book was written and should be used for." And hence, he defines simple but basic characteristics of effective leaders: 1. The only definition of a 'leader' is someone who has 'followers.' Some people are thinkers. Some are prophets. Both roles are important and badly needed. But without followers, there can be no leaders. 2. An effective leader is not someone who is loved or admired. He or she is someone whose followers do the right things. Popularity is not leadership. 'Results' are. 3. Leaders are highly visible. They therefore set 'examples.' 4. Leadership is not rank, privileges, titles, or money. It is 'responsibility.' After this excellent foreword, Frances Hesselbein, Marshall Goldsmith and Richard Beckhard divide this seminal book into four parts. Here, they note that "These parts have been chosen in a somewhat arbitrary manner. We deliberately gave the authors a free hand, and our revisions have been only mirror. The authors are all experts in their own right, and we wanted you to hear their views in an unfiltered form." It is a great chance to read never before published essays of 37 distinguished authors under one roof. Highly recommended.
Rating:
Summary: the best of the leader books
Review: Having read about 6 leadership books in a row, I can say with this limited perspective that this is the best overall. These are great essays by a wide variety of major leaders -- every person has something significant to say about leadership and taken together, the reader can put together a detailed and rich picture about what makes a real leader. One encouraging thought is that great leaders benefit by having and creating other leaders -- no need to fear too many good leaders. So, everyone can benefit by learning how to become a leader and the change will be better for everyone involved. Each essay is short, so taken together, they are very digestible. The writing is good all around, but it's really the insights and examples from proven leaders that makes this so easy to use as a blueprint or study of leadership. Top notch ideas, well presented. Any one who serves or hopes to serve as a leader would do well by reading this book.
Rating:
Summary: the best of the leader books
Review: Having read about 6 leadership books in a row, I can say with this limited perspective that this is the best overall. These are great essays by a wide variety of major leaders -- every person has something significant to say about leadership and taken together, the reader can put together a detailed and rich picture about what makes a real leader. One encouraging thought is that great leaders benefit by having and creating other leaders -- no need to fear too many good leaders. So, everyone can benefit by learning how to become a leader and the change will be better for everyone involved. Each essay is short, so taken together, they are very digestible. The writing is good all around, but it's really the insights and examples from proven leaders that makes this so easy to use as a blueprint or study of leadership. Top notch ideas, well presented. Any one who serves or hopes to serve as a leader would do well by reading this book.
Rating:
Summary: The Future Is Now
Review: The Drucker Foundation in 1996 asked leadership experts and proven leaders in the private sector to contribute to a leadership compendium, the proceeds of which would be donated to charity. The theme is clear from the title: what will the leader of the future look like, and what skills will he or she need? Over 30 authors answered the call and together provide a surprisingly consistent - if occasionally contradictory - view of tomorrow's organizations and their leadership needs.
The benefit of this approach is that it forces the authors to cut to the chase. Far too many leadership/management books waste space with folksy anecdotes and maddening metaphors. These are, thankfully, generally absent from The Leader of the Future, leaving almost 300 pages of substance for the reader. Another plus is the reader's ability to find new leadership authors that appeal to him or her that might otherwise have gone overlooked.
According to these experts, the business world is changing at a pace not seen in generations. (This refrain, I admit, gets old rather quickly and makes the experts seem like leaders of the past at points.) In order for organizations to survive and thrive, they need a new type of leadership. Today, CEOs and heads of organizations are the leaders. Tomorrow, they argue, CEOs will need a new set of skills, and anyone at any level in the organization will be called on to lead. Globalization, technology, mobile jobs, and an unprecedented amount of information mean that no one person can be "the" decisionmaker. Instead, organizations need to behave like market-economy nation-states: they need to be less hierarchical, allow internal competition, give their employees more decisionmaking authority, and train their employees to make informed decisions.
The idea of training is key - virtually all of the authors agree that leaders are made, not born. At the same time, they argue that all leaders have certain qualities, including high energy, vision, and other qualities that are hard to teach. Perhaps this is why one chapter focuses on the underanalyzed quality of followership. Certain segments are broad and theoretical, others offer concrete proposals to develop leaders of the future.
What does all of this mean for the average reader? Many organizations are still hierarchical with strict rules and regulations. There is, one could argue, only so far we can go towards decentralizing, flattening and empowering. But that would be yesterday's way of thinking. The leader of the future will find ways to work within these constraints, will have a vision of the organization that will guide him or her, and will allow for the empowerment of subordinates. This somewhat populist view of the leader of the future will at a minimum provoke the reader to consider what kind of leader he or she is and whether he or she is prepared to be a leader of the future.
The Leader of the Future is one of the few books on leadership that is worth buying. Borrow it or buy it, but read it today to be prepared for tomorrow.
Rating:
Summary: It's Christmas morning for the business executive!
Review: This book is a must for anyone interested in becoming a better leader, or understanding a leader better. However, it should be read in the order of your interets, as a good meal is consumed. Read an essay and then think about it. Then read another essay. This is a rich volume, describing many models for successful leadership. I found myself combining ideas from the many wonderful essays to develop more possible future best practices of future leaders.
Rating:
Summary: A Well Articulated Roadmap--By Those Who Have Been There
Review: This book is an outstanding compilation of 31 articles, by current and past organizational leaders, futurist, authors, etc., who share their knowledge and experiences. As they point out, the leader of the future must be serious about communication and not just pay it lip-service, they must share as much of their power, as possible, with members in the organization to make it a more powerful organization. This open communications and power sharing leads to a learning organization, that is inculturated to adapt to the changing enviornment and more importantly help "lead-turn" the organization to ensure a sustained competitive advantage.
Rating:
Summary: A Well Articulated Roadmap--By Those Who Have Been There
Review: This book is an outstanding compilation of 31 articles, by current and past organizational leaders, futurist, authors, etc., who share their knowledge and experiences. As they point out, the leader of the future must be serious about communication and not just pay it lip-service, they must share as much of their power, as possible, with members in the organization to make it a more powerful organization. This open communications and power sharing leads to a learning organization, that is inculturated to adapt to the changing enviornment and more importantly help "lead-turn" the organization to ensure a sustained competitive advantage.
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