Customer Reviews

The Inspiring Leader: Unlocking the Secrets of How Extraordinary Leaders Motivate

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With all the leadership books burgeoning shelves it's no wonder another leadership book seems like, well, just another book. Not so with The Inspiring Leader! The rigorous research is right on the money and the developmental applications are attainable for any leader willing to put forth the persistent effort to inspire others. The "matter of fact" data reveals what inspiring leaders actually do to combine a certain set of strengths and actions and thus "magically" inspire others to follow them. The authors combine their own strengths to create a great read that is; seamless, immediately informative, academically inclusive, interesting, and yes, in a word, INSPIRING! Get this book and give it your best shot! It may inspire you too!

Dr. S. Brett Savage
President/CEO
Next Phase Leadership
[...]

The Inspiring Leader is one of those rare books on Leadership: it is at once immensely practical (ideas to use NOW) and at the same time grounded in the best research and models pertaining to that illusive thing called leadership. And instead of avoiding the topic of inspiration which has long been held to be immeasurable and therefore not a topic to discuss, Dr Jack Zenger courageously and successfully breaks apart this key to leadership success so that we can all understand it and make positive use of our understanding. Outstanding book for leaders! Give it to your boss!

This book is an easy read, and gives valuable tips on how to lead properly. Great for large or small team leaders, and really a great tool to learn how to motivate. Even for those who are seasoned leaders, tips in the book provide additional tips on how to do your job even better.

While I was initially a bit skeptical about this book after reading Extraordinary Leader (which was great!), it appeared to be a really exceptional book - the authors did a great job (again!) in demystifying inspiration and breaking this down into simple and manageable components based on data and facts. It is not just another leadership - it is informative, fact-based, very well structured, logical and what I found most helpful (at least for myself) - it is actionable. I don't want to say that you could just turn on the "inspiration switch" right after you've read it, however by providing a deeper understanding of the nature of inspiration and its components, which are manageable, the authors inspire you for action.

The authors' findings sadly contribute nothing to the large body of leadership literature. Kouzes & Posners' "Five Practices of Exemplary Leadership" (documented in their book, "The Leadership Challenge"), for example, mapped out this territory and findings decades ago. The primary value will be to HR, organizational development, and leadership development experts who want even further proof (and from another set of eyes) of the essential behaviors leaders must demonstrate to be credible and effective.

In the history of the business world, the subjects of inspiration and passion in the workplace have been long avoided and discredited because they are considered to be immeasurable. Mr. Zenger, Folkman & Edinger site evidence that is indisputable; an employee's commitment & loyalty to the organization is undoubtedly greater when they have a leader that they consider inspiring.

The Inspiring Leader reminds me of a chapter in my book titled; Passion. Where Passion is lacking, success will be lacking as well. Passion stimulates energy, desire, confidence, and faith in the ability to achieve extraordinary
results. Passion Inspires!

- Gerry Czarnecki - Author, Lead with Love

In every type of organization and in every culture, people want to follow leaders who motivate them to achieve difficult goals. In The Extraordinary Leader, the authors' previous, highly acclaimed book, John H. Zenger, Joseph R. Folkman and Scott K. Edinger examined the 16 core competencies that distinguish superior leaders from merely good ones. In this new work, they employ statistical data and empirical evidence to prove conclusively what people intuitively know: The ability to inspire is, by far, the most salient leadership trait. The authors discuss the strategies that great leaders employ to motivate others and explain how to use them. getAbstract recommends their book to managers, executives and others who want their organizations to accomplish great things.

The mark of a great leader is someone who gets the job done with quiet confidence, as well as unyielding honesty & integrity. Clearly, charisma is not necessarily a part of the equation; however, building trust is critical. That's why we liked Ike. We didn't have to worry about him doing something dishonest or stupid. We felt safe with him in the Oval Office.

By 2009, we've seen a variety of leaders in all sectors of society come & go. Some were wonderfully inspiring; some not so great. In defining the qualiities that make up an "inspiring leader", authors Zenger, Folkman & Edinger have collaborated on this gem, which is about as good as it gets in covering the issue.

I'm not so sure the qualities that make up a great leader are all that "secret", however, they are vital. Very few have been able to attain the level of greatness achieved by the likes of Lincoln or Churchill; what they seemed to possess, along with other great leaders in politics or business, is a quality of unyielding honesty & integrity. Nowadays, those qualities seem to be difficult to find in so many of our current leaders; perhaps they should read this book to get a clue.

What's the difference between an average leader and a truly great one? "The Inspiring Leader: Unlocking the Secrets of How Extraordinary Leaders Motivate" is John Zenger and his collaborators Joseph R. Folkman, and Scott K. Edinger discussing what an important and inspiring leader should be. Outlining what one needs to do to establish themselves as a leader optimizing everything they need such as empathy, long term planning and goal setting, cooperation, and more, there is much to motivate and inspire someone to motivate and inspire others. "The Inspiring Leader" is a top pick and recommended reading for anyone faced with the task of leadership.

An updated interpretation of what makes for superior leadership drawn from multi-rater feedback assessments of 20,000 managers as validated against work group performance. Reveals evidence that individuals who report to leaders they regard as inspiring are as much as 400% more likely to be commited to the enterprise and 250% less likely to thnk about quitting. Codifies what an "inspiring leader" is in terms of concrete behaviors that can be learned as skills, and debunks the notion that motivation requires a honey-tongue. A great coaching template for managers of managers. Authors Zenger, Folkman and Edinger offer lots of best practice examples, as well as illustrations of what can go wrong when motivational intentions are based on faulty assumptions.