How to Be a Brilliant Leader, revised 2nd Edition

Foreword

American-born British retailer Harry Gordon Selfridge said:

The boss drives people; the leader coaches them. The boss depends on authority; the leader on goodwill. The boss inspires fear; the leader inspires enthusiasm. The boss says ‘I’; the leader says ‘WE’. The boss fixes the blame for the breakdown; the leader fixes the breakdown. The boss says ‘GO’; the leader says ‘LET’S GO!’

I think of Selfridge’s quote often when Simon Cooper and I are training leaders and managers in the workshops we occasionally run together. Selfridge captures an aspect of leadership that is as relevant today as it was when he was leading at Marshall Fields and later when he opened his own store in London: bosses care about what gets done; leaders care about ...