The Leader's Companion: Insights on Leadership Through the Ages [Paperback]

J. Thomas Wren (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 1, 1995 | ISBN-10: 0028740912 | ISBN-13: 978-0028740911 | Edition: Original

This book serves as a guided introduction to the rich a diverse perspectives on leadership throughout the ages and throughout the world. Each of the selections, introduced by the editor, presents enlightening thoughts on a different aspect of leadership. Writings by Plato, Aristotle, Lao-tzu and others demonstrate that the challenges of leadership are as old as civilization. Machiavelli, Tolstoy, Ghandi, and W.E.B. Du Bois provide a wide range of insights into the eternal practice and problems of leadership. Modern masters of leadership such as James MacGregor Burns, John Kotter, and Warren Bennis join such leading practitioners as Max De Pree and Roger B. Smith in discussing contemporary issues in leadership theory and practice.

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

Management theories come and go, but the traits and qualities that define good leadership are timeless. Books on leadership often look to the past for their models. Here Wren, a teacher at the University of Richmond Jepson School of Leadership Studies, has compiled a collection of 64 readings from over 2,000 years of writing on leaders and leadership. His "contributors" range from the classic (Plato, Aristotle, and Machiavelli) to the contemporary (John Kotter and Warren Bennis), from historical figures (Gandhi and W. E. B. DuBois) to observers of history (Thomas Carlyle and Leo Tolstoy), and from the academic to the practitioner and the popular. Wren's selections are grouped into 14 different categories (what defines leadership, historical views, modern views, the leadership environment, leading the individual, leading groups, etc.). Among the current spate of books on leadership, Wren's is a uniquely comprehensive yet browsably readable guide. David Rouse --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

About the Author

J. Thomas Wren teaches at the University of Richmond's Jepson School of Leadership Studies. He lives in Richmond, Virginia.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 376 pages
• Publisher: Free Press; Original edition (August 1, 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0028740912
• ISBN-13: 978-0028740911
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.2 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (17 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #26,782 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Getting a grasp on the nature of leadership, February 11, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: The Leader's Companion: Insights on Leadership Through the Ages (Paperback)

I have used this book in an introductory class on Leadership. It provides an outstanding overview of key authors and their thoughts on leadership spanning centuries. Wren offers a readable review of a variety of methodological approaches to the study of leadership presented through the writings of a wide array of authors. Both historical views and modern views are covered in the work and this anthology opens the door for more extensive readings. As a discussion starter it is a goldmine. The arrangement of broad topic areas such as, Historical, Leaders and Followers, Environments, Skills, and most important, writings in Moral Leadership promotes the development of "jigsaw" discussion techniques. Wren presents an excellent introduction to a fascinating topic!

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good leadership reference, January 30, 2010

By 

Pandora76p "insatible reader" (Maine, USA) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Leader's Companion: Insights on Leadership Through the Ages (Paperback)

Had to buy this and another similar book for a doctoral course in leadership. Of the two this was the cheaper, and the better. The sections are extracts from other works compiled for easy research. The format is highly readable - you don't get lost in an over-abundance of paranthetical citations, and the works stand on their own merit. You don't have to read them in any specific order for the readings to make sense, and there is no sense of "This was written to make my colleuge look good and drop a few names." I would recommend this book to anyone interested in leadership theory, and improving/refining their own styles.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Essays on effective leadership, August 19, 2009

By 

Rolf Dobelli "getAbstract" (Switzerland) - See all my reviews
(HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Leader's Companion: Insights on Leadership Through the Ages (Paperback)

Do you know how ancient authorities such as Plato or Machiavelli defined leadership? What about current historians and psychologists such as James MacGregor Burns or John W. Gardner? In this excellent compilation you are sure to find your philosophical kin. Editor J. Thomas Wren presents a series of thoughtful essays on every aspect of leadership by some of the world's greatest thinkers, from Aristotle to Gandhi, and Leo Tolstoy to W.E.B. Du Bois. Each essay seems indubitably to be the last word on leadership - at least, until you get to the next one. getAbstract recommends this book to CEOs, government officials, military commanders, clergy, supervisors, police chiefs and mayors - in short, anyone who leads others.