Leadership Book Summaries

No matter how good a leader you are, one can always learn from other people's experiences and what better way to do this than to read about them. The problem is some of us (like myself) are not too fond of reading or may not have the time to do so. Well now there is a solution, BusinessSummaries.com, a service my organization subscribes to, summarises business leadership related books and provides them in various convenient formats including Audio and Video formats. Do check it out.

What do you think is the best way to learn about leadership?

Leadership Development

Leadership Development should be a critical part of every organization if they want to succeed in the long run. In the most common cases it addresses the aspect of succession planning. This requires that high potential employees be groomed to replace out going senior executives. These individuals have normally worked for long durations with the company across different divisions which give them a good idea about the organizations goals and directions.

Do you believe your company has an adequate succession plan?

Leadership Training

Leadership Training can take many forms; from class room based, to on the job training, to self study. The effectiveness of each of these methods would depend on an individual's preference and learning style. Ideally some combination of the three would be the best approach. You will come across many professional development courses offered by a variety of insitutions but before choosing one it would be a good idea to do some background checks before picking one that best suits your organization.

What is your experience when it comes to leadership training?

Leadership vs Management

The terms Leadership and Management have been used interchangeably at times but there are certain key differences. Leadership involves inspiring people to achive a certain vision while Management involves assigning tasks to subordinates and ensure that they have been carried out. Ideally managers should have some leadership skills in order to be good managers. 

Do you think your manager (or you as a manager have) have suffecient leadership skills?

Leadership Skills

Communication skill would have to be one of the most significant qualities which a great leader should possess. This is due to the fact that they need to inspire individual to believe in a vision and strive to make it a reality. Some other skills which every successful leader needs to have are people skills, ability to set goals and articulate a vision, motivate people and inspire change.

In your opinion what is the best way to improve one's communications skills?

Leadership Styles

There are a number of different leadership styles which various leaders adapt. Some are Authoritarian while other are Transformational. Authoritarian leaders 'rule' from the top down, they hold total power and command unconditional loyalty. Transformational leaders engage, motivate and inspire their followers and lead by example.

What leadership style did you favourite leader follow?

Leadership Qualities

You will find that most leaders will have certain common qualities such as drive, motivation, honesty, integrity and self-confidence. While some leaders might be born with these qualities other might have to cultivate them.

Which leadership quality would you like to cultivate?