Leadership: The Inner Side of Greatness (Jossey-Bass Management) [Hardcover]

Peter Koestenbaum (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 1555422187 | ISBN-13: 978-1555422189 | Publication Date: May 31, 1991 | Edition: 1

Offers an insightful look at the characteristics great leaders have in common--realism, vision, ethics, and courage--and identifies the strategies all managers can use to achieve and sustain both personal and organizational greatness. Challenges managers to give meaning to their lives through the quality of their work, revealing how personal growth can translate into organizational profits.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

Like most books about leadership, this one improves when the author finishes up with generalities and gets down to specifics. Whether it fulfills its "promise" ("to double your business leadership effectiveness on any measure you choose") is debatable; still there are pickings in the book for the would-be leader of a kind not to be found in the many other treatises on the subject. Believing that leadership is a "mindset and a pattern of behaviors" that can be learned and taught, Koestenbaum presents and illustrates the meaning of his "Leadership Diamond." This consists of "four strategies for greatness": vision (thinking big and new), reality (having no illusions), ethics (providing service), and courage (acting with sustained initiative). The "greatness" theme becomes a bit tedious, but there are many compensations. For management collections.
-A.J. Anderson, Graduate Sch. of Lib. & Information Science, Simmons Coll., Boston
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Review

Praise for Peter Koestenbaum

"This is the thinking person's leadership book. It makes my Top-10 list if for no other reason than it quotes the likes of Shakespeare and Kierkegaard. But Koestenbaum's message is profoundly simple: Leadership begins within the self and focuses on rejecting mediocrity." —Tom Brown, Tom's "Top Ten" Column, Industry Week

"Provocative and challenging." —Booklist

"Koestenbaum explains how age-old questions apply to the new world of work." —Minneapolis Star Tribune --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 392 pages
• Publisher: Jossey-Bass; 1 edition (May 31, 1991)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1555422187
• ISBN-13: 978-1555422189
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.3 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,124,289 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

91 of 92 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Philosophy in Business...and life, May 18, 1998

By 

Micael Cimet ([e-mail]) (Brazil) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Leadership: The Inner Side of Greatness (Jossey-Bass Management) (Hardcover)

For the intelligent business person tired of easy recipes, and yearning for a deeper approach to the paradoxes of modern business, here is a work by an original thinker, Psychologist and Philosopher, applying the ages-old wisdom of Philosophy to the challenges of leadership in today's business world. Koestenbaum presents his approach in a didactic manner, yet never underestimating his audience, utlizing a model for Leadership values in the form of a four vertex diamond: Vision, at the top, encompassing the ability to think strategically, but also to understand others with different cultures and realities than our own; Courage at the bottom, which surprisingly represents not heroic, one-time achievements but rather sustained initiative, the ability to focus on an objective throughout life; Reality on the left, comprehending the ability to deal with hard facts, but also the understanding of the paradoxical nature of life; and, last but not least, Ethics, which beyond anything represents empathy and stewardship, service to others as the ultimate way of realizing greatness.

Two fundamental concepts guide the whole book: Greatness, the embodiment of one's potential for life; and Free Will, the simple but powerful recognition of every human being's ability to take charge of his own life and the consequences of his decisions. Dealing with each of the four dimensions of the leadership diamond at increasing levels of depth, Koestenbaum allows the reader to approach practical problems in everyday's business life with new, enriching perspectives, staying away from oversimplifying, or establishing any orthodox "right" answer, but rather recognizing the paradoxical nature of many apparently easy questions in the business arena of today. The quest for Leadership is defined then by the search to achieve balance between those four dimensions, as the ability to recognize and deal effectively paradox in modern life, not only in business, but in every sphere of life: business, family, personal, community. ! As a Psychologist, Koestenbaum brings an original perspective to the bussiness leader's career: the importance of his awareness to other's people's perceptions of his behavior. This ability to understand the leader's own "market" and to attract and receive feedback becomes an essential requisite in he learning and teaching of leadership. Koestenbaum's teachings bring a humanist approach to business, the recognition that the tranformation of enterprises starts and ends with the decisions of individuals to transform themselves. (Yes, another paradox, for we are tryng to transform that of which we are a part of). Most importantly, this book offers the modern businessperson a way to make our position in a company,and the way we deal with leadership, become the very vehicle by which we can trascend,the means by which we can give meaning to our lives.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Harnessing Vision, Reality, Ethics, and Courage to Build a Great Leadership Mind, December 28, 2006

By 

Serge J. Van Steenkiste (Atlanta, GA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Leadership: The Inner Side of Greatness, A Philosophy for Leaders, New and Revised (Hardcover)

Peter Koestenbaum correctly adopts a holistic, philosophical approach to leadership that has a better chance to resist the grinding effect of time than an approach built on the last ephemeral buzzword. Leadership means greatness in all one does. Koestenbaum stresses that leadership is not limited to the work sphere. Koestenbaum identifies the six areas of leadership that he calls work, family, self, social responsibility, ecological responsibility, and financial strength.

Koestenbaum links his leadership model in part to philosophy because of its depth, perennial strength. Koestenbaum does not believe in born leaders. Leadership is rooted in one's free will, which underpins both responsibility and accountability. Just having money or authority does not turn anyone into a true leader. Character strength ultimately separates aspirants from authentic leaders who have a personality strong enough for translating mere words into actions.

Koestenbaum builds his leadership model in the form of a diamond whose beating heart is greatness that rests on standards. Four competing styles of thinking shape how the leadership diamond looks like: Vision, reality, ethics, and courage. Vision gives someone a larger view; reality is built on pragmatism; ethics reflects a concern for feelings; courage is rooted in free will. Koestenbaum associates supporting tactics at the professional, social, psychological, and philosophical levels with each of these four styles of thinking. Koestenbaum helps his audience build individual and organizational skills mostly through good examples.

To summarize, Koestenbaum gives his readers building blocks that they can assemble like a Lego. Anyone looking for the proverbial silver bullet will be disappointed. Leadership is shrouded into ambiguity, polarity, and uncertainty. Greatness in leadership is a lifelong endeavor which is open to anyone who has the character strength it takes to make a real difference.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Top 5 business books, November 21, 2002

By 

R. C. Kopf "curtis kopf" (Seattle, WA United States) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Leadership: The Inner Side of Greatness, A Philosophy for Leaders, New and Revised (Hardcover)

I've read a ton of business books and 80% are rehash, obvious garbage. This is a keeper. Inspiring, will make you excited to go to work again.

Read it!