The Leadership Challenge

Authored by James Kouzes & Barry Posner 2002 Enhanced by Peter/CXO Wiz4biz 6/13

The Leadership Challenge has proven (via its third edition), that it can stand the test of time in what is often seen as a somewhat ‘soft’ subject. In my opinion, the reason for its phenomenal success is that it addresses the subject of leadership – not by looking at examples of famous leaders, but by looking at the traits of leadership through the eyes of ordinary people.

The Original Research for the book was carried out in the 1980’s when the Authors were looking at how individuals mobilise others within their organisations to ‘want to get extraordinary things done’. What they found was that all of the high achievers they met – no matter what level or grade they were employed at within their organization – exhibited common traits which, through their extensive research, they categorized the five (5) practices.
– Model the Behavior, – Inspire a Shared Vision, – Challenge the Process
– Enable Others to Act, – Encourage the Heart

These may sound like simple headings but they get to the very essence of what distinguishes exemplary leaders from everyone else. Indeed, we believe that these behavioral attributes are so well researched and defined, that we use them as the basis for all our leadership training as well as for leadership 360° assessment and feedback for individuals, teams and even whole organizations.

Latest Info in the latest Edition. Although the economic & commercial environments have changed radically between the first edition in the late 1980’s and this edition in 2002, when the Authors asked people ‘what’s new, and what’s different?’, all the responses were identical. Everyone said that while the content of leadership had not changed but the context had.

The Significant Changes in Leadership that people pointed to were: the growth of computing & communications technology, the globalisation of markets, the speed of change & the significant increase in uncertainty – particularly following the tragic events of 9/11. For these reasons the book has been significantly updated such that I would even recommend it to people who possess an older copy.

[Who should read the book? Key leadership Quotes from the Book in Premium Content]