Customer Reviews

The Language of Leadership

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
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1 star:		(0)

 

 

In these present and certainly confusing times, I've hesitated to review this most important book and talk about how we, as a democratic populace, might come together to consider notions of leadership. However, I've also come to realize how exclusionary our collective (aka..seemingly innocent) language can be, when those in postitions of leadership speak, be it gender or nationality or religiously, or etc. -based.....Examples: our "brother firefighters" ...certainly there were female firefighters lost and/or also engaged in the rescue effort; Words from the President and others that excluded other than-"Christian" engagement in participation. These are times that require most careful attention to our language and our resulting dialogue in order to engage others in our potential cause.

Thus, we must be so very careful to monitor our language and use it most carefully and wisely. Soder directs us toward inclusive and productive leadership language grounded in our predecessors from whom we have much to learn. This is a wise and most careful author calling our attention issues with immense significance.

Soder's book is a resource that needs and deserves the attention of all those attending to the competence of present and future leaders...regardless of areas of expert*ise.and particularly in light of the issues tht David Imig (AACTE) has raised regarding perceptions of leadership among practitioners.

While Soder has given us an exceptionally important and valuable resource, I view it a a rich dessert...to be absorbed most slowly and carefully in order to appreciate its full texture, nuances, subtleties, and meanings....A must read for all those invested in future leaders...regardless of context...

I like this book because it puts leadership in the context of a democracy rather than arguing that leadership is the same no matter what political system you are living in. I like it, too, because of the focus on not only how to persuade the people one is leading, but how to create a better, more thoughtful, public. Soder discusses leadership problems not only in creating and sustaining work, but, just as important, in reconciling and reconstituting when things go wrong between people. This is a reasonable and sensitive book, with many original insights (not all of which are apparent at first glance: this one is worth re-reading.) This book makes one think, and at the same time, offers practical advice for leaders in business or educational settings. I only wish I had read it sooner.

"The Language of Leadership" is a fairly quick and easy read. Soder seasons his account w/ many illustrative anecdotes from classical literary sources. He is very well-read, of course, so his excerpts are aptly chosen. Yet I often found myself skimming ahead through his text in search of "more matter, less art" (to invoke the Bard of Avon!).

Readers seeking more substance on this score would do better to consult another Jossey-Bass title instead: "The Art of Framing: Managing the Language of Leadership" (by Fairhurst & Sarr, 1996). Otherwise, Soder's book has a few new and suggestive insights to offer. Granted, it may be fine--at least as far as it goes. It just doesn't go very far or break much original ground on the subject.