The Leadership Challenge, 4th Edition

I consider Leadership Challenge by Jim Kouzes and Barry Posner to be the best research-based book ever written in the field of leadership.

What I love about this book is that it is actually written for its readers!

Let's face it--very few readers of business books are CEO's of multi-billion corporations. Yet many business books follow the same over-used formula--interviewing CEOs--talking about what they are doing so well--and suggesting that you do the same thing.

Leadership Challenge is based upon learnings from leaders at all levels--and shows how "regular people" can make a huge, positive difference in their organizations. It is written in a way that can help executives, mid-managers, first-line supervisors, project leaders--and even individual contributors--better understand how they can lead--and be able to immediately apply what they have learned in their work.

My favorite movie is The Wizard of Oz. Three of the movie's main characters are seekers: the scarecrow--who is searching for a brain--or wisdom, the tin man--who is searching for a heart--or compassion, and the lion--who is searching for the nerve--or courage. Leadership Challenge helps its readers, who are also seekers, find all three. It shows how real leaders can demonstrate the wisdom--needed to build a vision and show the way, the courage--needed to the challenge the system and do what is right, and the compassion--needed to care for and inspire others.

Although my Ph.D. is in Organizational Behavior, my undergraduate background is in mathematics. I respect people who gather real facts and don't just "shoot from the hip." Jim and Barry have developed the "Leadership Practices Inventory"--which is possibly the world's most widely-respected tool for 360° leadership feedback. They have thoroughly reviewed input from tens of thousands of respondents and used this data to form sound conclusions about what works--and what doesn’t work--in terms of leadership behavior.

My recent book, What Got You Here Won't Get You There, talks about why it can be so challenging for successful people to make the changes that they need to "go to the next level." Jim and Barry have not fallen into the classic "successful author's trap." Given the tremendous success of the first edition of Leadership Challenge, they could have easily thought, "Why change this? It is a huge winner!" Instead they have put in countless hours to make each new edition of this classic better than the previous editions. They have worked to incorporate both what they have learned, through their ongoing research--and what they have observed, through their observations of the changing world of work--to make this edition the best--and most relevant--for today's readers.

My final comment for you as a reader: don't just learn from this book--do something with what you learn. This is a practical guide that can help you lead in a way that makes your organization a better place. Take advantage of this opportunity to make a positive difference in your own life--and in the lives of the people that you lead. --Marshall Goldsmith

FAQs About the Five Practices Model from The Leadership Challenge

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This leadership classic continues to be a bestseller after three editions and twenty years in print. It is the gold standard for research-based leadership, and the premier resource on becoming a leader. This new edition, with streamlined text, more international and business examples, and a graphic redesign, is more readable and accessible than ever before.

The Leadership Challenge, Fourth Edition, has been extensively updated with the latest research and case studies, and offers inspiring new stories of real people achieving extraordinary results. The authors' central theme remains the same and is more relevant today than ever: "Leadership is Everyone?s Business." Their "five practices" and "ten commitments" have been proven by hundreds of thousands of dedicated, successful leaders. This edition, with almost one-third new material, emphasizes the global community and refocuses on business leaders.

Next, the book is filled with good ideas and suggestions for taking a leadership role in any organization. Challenging the Process, Inspiring a Shared Vision, Enabling Others to Act, Modeling the Way, and Encouraging the Heart provide a game plan for leaders to use to positively influence the behavior of others.

Typically, managers consider such stuff as Encouraging the Heart to be too "touchy feely" to be worth serious consideration. Kouzes and Posner demonstrate convincingly, I think, that such encouragement is not "soft soap," but the hardest reality on which integrity and trust are based. Without these attributes a manager is a "menace, unfit to manage" according to no less an authority than Peter Druker, the dean of management thinking and writing for the past forty years.

Finally, The Leadership Challenge is filled with suggestions for application. Leadership is a practice and anyone interested in becoming a leader must work each day at building leadership skill. Kouzes and Posner ask readers to 1. Pay attention, really pay attention to what is going on in their organization. 2. Take risks that separate them from the play it safe folks who consider hiding the safest form of management. 3. Seek feedback. As Ken Blanchard says, "Feedback is the breakfast of champions." Kouzes and Posner encourage the reader to talk across boundaries -- Pat Carrigan was a perfect example of this. 4. Accept responsibility. Harry Truman seemed like such an ordinary man, but when leadership presented itself to him, he accepted full responsiblity for his actions and became a fine president.

Forty years ago David McClelland of Harvard espoused these ideas in his book, The Achieving Society, and provided evidence that people who act on these suggestions become effective leaders. Kouzes and Posner do not write like academics such as McClelland. They are popularizers, and good ones. Many of their ideas have stood the test of time and are worth learning and applying.


Best leadership study I've read yet! Outstanding!!   August 11, 1999
D. Baden (California)
25 out of 26 found this review helpful

For leaders who have been in that vocation for some time, this book serves as a refresher, and perhaps the acknowledgment of the methods leaders choose. Focused on long-term organizational growth and health, it reminds one that short term gains are the province of managers, while leaders continually challenge and motivate people to achieve the extraordinary. For the new leader, this is an in-depth primer, broken down into chunks small enough to digest, but full of insight and inspiration. It is not a how-to book per se, but does outline a path towards better leadership, and challenges one to develop themselves with a purpose. I loved it! My copy is note-ridden, earmarked, annotated, and continually referred to for anecdotes and ideas. Buy a copy for every developing leader beneath you, and start a development plan for them all.


The Ten Commitments of Leadership   December 24, 2001
Turgay BUGDACIGIL (Istanbul, Turkey)
28 out of 30 found this review helpful

"Think of the Leadership Challenge as a field guide to take along on your leadership journey." James M. Kouzes and Barry Z. Posner write, "We've designed it to describe what leaders do, explain the fundamental principles that support these leadership practices, provide actual case examples of real people who demonstrate each practice, and offer specific recommendations on what you can do to make these practices your own and to continue your development as a leader...As we looked deeper into the dynamic process of leadership, through case analyses and survey questionnaires, we uncovered five fundamental practices that enable leaders to get extraordinary things done. The individual stories of how ordinary people got extraordinary things done brought the leadership model to life for us, giving it character and color. When they were at their personal best, the leaders we studied were able to challenge the process, inspire a shared vision, enable others to act, model the way, ana encourage the heart. These practices aren't the private property of the people we studied or of a few select shining stars. They've stood the test of time, and they're available to anyone, in any organization or situation, who accepts the leadership challenge."

In this context, Kouzes and Posner say that embedded in the five fundamental practices of exemplary leadership are beheviors that can serve as the basis of learning to lead. And they call these behaviors as the Ten Commitments of Leadership. According to them these ten commitments serve as the guide for their discussion of how leaders get extraordinary things done in organizations and as the structure for what's to follow. Each of these commitments are fully explored in Chapters 3 through 12.

Practice I- Challenging the Process

Commitment 1. Search out challenging opportunities to change, grow, innovate and improve.

Commitment 2. Experiment, take risks, and learn from the accompanying mistakes.

Practice II- Inspiring a Shared Vision

Commitment 3. Envision an uplifting and ennobling future.

Commitment 4. Enlist others in a common vision by appealing to their values, interests, hopes, and dreams.

Practice III- Enabling Others to Act

Commitment 5. Foster collaboration by promoting cooperative goals and building trust.

Commitment 6. Strengthen people by giving power away, providing choice, developing competence, assigning critical tasks, and offering visible support.

Practice IV- Modeling the Way

Commitment 7. Set the example by behaving in ways that are consistent with shared values.

Commitment 8. Achieve small wins that promote consistent progress and build commitment.

Practice V- Encouraging the Heart

Commitment 9. Recognize individual contributions to the success of every project.

Commitment 10. Celebrate team accomplishments regularly.

I highly recommend this business classic on leadership.