The Leadership Challenge, Third Edition [Hardcover]

James M. Kouzes (Author), Barry Z. Posner (Author)

Book Description

Series: J-B Leadership Challenge: Kouzes/Posner | Publication Date: August 7, 2002

When it was initially written in 1987, few could have predicted that The Leadership Challenge would become one of the best-selling leadership books of all time. Now, faced with the new challenges of our unpredictable global business environment, Jim Kouzes and Barry Posner--two of the country's premier leadership experts--have completely revised and updated their classic book. Building on the knowledge base of their previous books, the third edition of The Leadership Challenge is grounded in extensive research and based on interviews with all kinds of leaders at all levels in public and private organizations from around the world. In this edition, the authors emphasize that the fundamentals of leadership are the same today as they were in the 1980s, and as they've probably been for centuries. In that sense, nothing's new. Leadership is not a fad. While the content of leadership has not changed, the context has-and in some cases, changed dramatically.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

In the 1980s and again in the '90s, James M. Kouzes and Barry Z. Posner published The Leadership Challenge to address issues they uncovered in research on ordinary people achieving "individual leadership standards of excellence." The keys they identified--model the way, inspire a shared vision, challenge the process, enable others to act, encourage the heart--have now been reexamined in the context of the post-millennium world and updated in a third edition. "What we have discovered, and rediscovered, is that leadership is not the private reserve of a few charismatic men and women," write Kouzes, chairman emeritus of the Tom Peters Company, and Posner, dean of the Leavey School of Business at Santa Clara University. "People make extraordinary things happen by liberating the leader within everyone." After explaining their concept and methodology, the authors detail the five essentials noted above in a pair of chapters apiece that bring clarity to their theories with case studies and recommended actions. The specificity of each (motivating through "the meaningfulness of the challenge, not the material rewards of success," for example, and being able to "accept the mistakes that result from experimentation") is enhanced by advice on sustaining the commitment and making leadership skills accessible to all. The results remain as relevant as when they were first published. --Howard Rothman

Review

This reissued and revised classic' is grounded in extensive research& -- Human Resources, January 2003

&this book is an easy read&well produced and despite the research clear of management jargon&well written& -- AccountingWEB.UK, 7 January 2003

"&will take you along a leadership journey of discovery and inspiration&" -- sps.org.uk, The Strategic Planning Society, October 2002

"...will take you along a leadership journey of discovery and inspiration..." (sps.org.uk, The Strategic Planning Society, October 2002)

"...This reissued and revised 'classic' is grounded in extensive research..." (Human Resources, January 2003)

"...this book is an easy read...well produced and despite the research clear of management jargonwell written..." (AccountingWEB.UK, 7 January 2003)

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 496 pages
• Publisher: Jossey-Bass; 3 edition (August 7, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0787956783
• ISBN-13: 978-0787956783
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.4 x 1.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (37 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #241,233 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Real How-To Information, February 26, 2005

By 

Walter H. Bock "Wally Bock - Author, Blogger,... (Charlotte NC) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Leadership Challenge, 3rd Edition (Paperback)

This book has been around in various editions for almost twenty years now. One reason for that is that it is an excellent overview of leadership in organizations and how you can do it yourself.

The book's structure follows its basic recommendations. The authors recommend five fundamental practices, each of which has two commandments, for a total of ten. In general, these are both straightforward and insightful. "Challenge the Process" talks about searching for opportunities, experimenting, and taking risks. "Modeling the Way" talks about setting the example and planning small wins. There is also material on "Enabling Others to Act."

Then there are a couple of weaker sections. Sections on inspiring and encouraging simply are too fluffy and lack the support that is given to other points.

Even having said that, this is a book that's worth reading if you are responsible for leadership in an organization of any size. The reason is the way the book came together.

The authors used two different kinds of research to develop their recommendations. They looked at over five hundred leaders, but they looked at them in a particular way.

In each case, they had asked the leader to talk about his or her actions as a leader when they were doing excellent work. In other words, they looked for excellent examples of leadership and tried to draw lessons from them.

They also went to the other side and talked to followers about what they wanted in leaders. When they put those two kinds of research together, you get recommendations that are both practical and, for the most part, behavioral.

Warren Bennis' recent book, Geeks and Geezers, is an excellent companion for this book. In that book, Bennis talks about crucibles of leadership or experiences, which provide intense stress and learning of leadership that form leadership values.

On the plus side this is good, practical, behavioral and helpful if you're responsible for a group of any kind or size. On the downside, some of the language can be fuzzy and simplistic, and some of the concepts, like "Encourage the Heart" sounds just a tad too New Age for my taste.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Must Read for Leaders And For Those Who Aspire To Lead, October 20, 2002

By 

Alan Spiegelman (San Francsico, California) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Leadership Challenge, Third Edition (Hardcover)

This is an outstanding book and should be required reading for anyone who manages people or who is getting started in their career and will manage in the future. In addition to providing terrific insights into the art and science of leadership, the book serves as an excellent roadmap for those who want to improve their leadership skills and that of their management team. In addition to their extensive research and powerful discussions on what makes great leaders, the book is an absolute delight to read. Kouzes and Posner's command of the language and easy readability, along with their very relevant case studies and analyses, can help all of us improve our leadership skills and develop more effective organizations.

13 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Concepts that have stood the test of time, October 13, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: The Leadership Challenge, 3rd Edition (Paperback)

I am the CEO of a Fortune 500 company who read the original version of this book in the late 1980's. As the five criteria for leadership success discussed in this book, namely -- model the way, inspire a shared vision, challenge the process, enable others to act, and encourage the heart -- have stood the test of decades of exploration and execution, the subtleties explored in this new edition are a welcome addition to my library of leadership books. I strongly recommend this book and additionally, wholeheartedly recommend Optimal Thinking: How to Be Your Best Self as a superlative universal resource for leadership and corporate optimization.