Customer Reviews

Leadership: Enhancing the Lessons of Experience

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

Can a textbook be delightfully written? This one is. Authors Richard L. Hughes, Robert C. Ginnett, and Gordon J. Curphy explore every aspect of leadership and smoothly weave research conclusions into the narrative. Examples abound, from Colin Powell to Walt Disney. The authors are all psychologists who specialize in leadership issues. They have written conversationally and intelligently, using plenty of sidebar material (even famous cartoons) to bring their reporting to life. We [...] recommend this classic (now in its third edition) to everyone interested.

This was a requirement for my MBA studies. I found the book very informative, well structured, very clear and to the point, with sufficient examples provided to explain the concepts. Leadership is a very broad and deep subject and the authors have managed to make the subject more interesting and engaging. I gained a lot of insight in my own leadership style and was able to identify points that need to be strengthened or revised in my own strategy. I recommend the book very much to all who are interested in leadership

Based on research rather than popular opinion, this book gets down to the nuts and bolts of leadership. The models span nearly any leadership situation and frames the issues within the Leader-Follower-Situation (L-F-S) framework. The book goes into great detail on each aspect of the framework and touches on many current issues. It's by far the best book on leadership I have ever seen and it's based on research rather than opinions like most of the "feel good" leadership books out there. It covers a broad range of topics from ethics and diversity to emotional intelligence, situational leadership, and leading high-performance teams. It also goes into "dark-side" personality traits and talks about how to select the best people for a given assignment. I highly recommend it.

This is an excellent textbook and really is chock full of sophisticated issues not always explored such as ethics, moral reasoning, the glass ceiling, and diversity.

The quote above actually completed reads, "If a man or woman has character, nothing else matters; If a man or woman doesn't have character . . . nothing else matters." Issues such as these are addressed.

Models such as the A-O-R model, fundamental attribution error and self serving bias are examined.

The only observation I have, certainly not a criticism, is that the book is directed more towards a group with a fair amount of life experiences under their belt. For a younger class of college students, it may be too sophisticated and overlooks case studies of more youthful, less seasoned examples.

Yes, this book is used at the Naval Academy. I am a Midshipman there who has just finished my junior leadership course, and I HATE THIS BOOK. It's written for academics and theorists, not practitioners. If you removed the parenthetical citations, the page count of this book would probably be cut in half. I'm sorry that I don't have an alternative for you, but if you actually want to learn how to lead people, the first step is not buying this book.

I think this book is a great way to learn about leadership. As a former Leadership Instructor at the US Naval Academy, we used this for a semester or two to teach our students about leadership. The reading is easy and progression of the book and its topics is logical. It's well worth the several dollar investment.

This is a required text for a business class at Lawrence Tech. University in Michigan. It is full of diagrams and charts and basic jargon-filled info that everyone should know without having to spend $135! And this is in the FIFTH edition, so that used books are hard to come by, and the price just goes up. If you are buying it you are probably forced to. So sorry! BORING, BORING, BORING, and just filled with common sense that one should know if one has ANY experience at all.

Maybe this would be useful for a writing course on how to bore students to death and make money by making new editions with little changes.

What a rip-off!

A practical and academic view of Leadership. Lots of real-life examples and leadership principles that can be used in any organization from the girl scouts to the board room.

If you're buying this book, you probably have no choice. Don't waste your time reading it. It is well written, but most of this stuff is common sense. Also, because of lack of cases, this book can't really stand alone. Leadership is best studied by studying real corporate cases and this book completely lacked those.

I like to read while on the treadmill, but it is difficult w/ this book. The print was way too small. I wish it were offered on the kindle. That would have made it more convenient. It is an ok read though.