Leaders Don't Command: Inspire Growth, Ingenuity, and Collaboration

Introduction

Executive leadership quality can explain as much as 45 percent of an organization’s performance.

—Day and Lord (1988)

“Companies do not get the most out of their people” (Michaels, Handfield-Jones, and Axelrod 2001). When executives were asked if their companies developed their people well, only 3 percent responded positively!

Something is up. If you’re a manager or business owner, you know full well that your job has become an extremely high-risk activity, as much a risk to your professional career as your health. This was not always the case. But today the first decision a manager has to face is “can I apply my previous experience here? And, if so, to what extent?” Managers are fighting the greatest dose of uncertainty in history ...