On Leadership [Paperback]

James G. March (Author), Thierry Weil (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 4, 2005 | ISBN-10: 1405132477 | ISBN-13: 978-1405132473 | Edition: 1

In this series of lectures, previously unpublished in English, and here translated from a French reconstruction and interpretation by noted scholar Thierry Weil, leading organizational scholar James March uses great works of literature to explore the problems of leadership.

Uses great works of literature to explore the problems of leadership, for example War and Peace, Othello, and Don Quixote.

Presents moral dilemmas related to leadership, for example the balance between private life and public duties, and between the expression and the control of sexuality.

Encourages readers to explore ideas that are sometimes subversive and unpalatable but may allow organizations to adapt in a rapidly changing world.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"One of the most refreshing, insightful and thought-provoking books on leadership. This intelligent treatment opens up many new lines of inquiry and offers many new theoretical and practical insights." John Storey, The Open University Business School

“This is a book for leaders, and for those of us who watch our leaders with appreciation, distaste, empathy, and frustration. Professor March shakes the foundations of how we think about leadership…This book will not offer you six easy steps to becoming an effective leader, but it will provoke, amuse, challenge, and irritate you. It will force you to think about leadership in ways that will destroy your innocence.” Joanne Martin, Stanford University

Book Description

For over 50 years, James G. March has made a sustained and innovative contribution to the study of organizations. In his renowned course on leadership at Stanford University he explores the problems of leadership using works of great literature, such as War and Peace and Don Quixote. These essays are based on March's notes for his course lectures. The notes have been interpreted by Thierry Weil, and translated here from his original French interpretation. March uses literature to examine a set of dilemmas related to leadership - questions concerning the balance between private life and public duties, between ingenuity and innocence, between diversity and integration, and between the expression and the control of sexuality. He encourages us to explore ideas that are sometimes subversive and unpalatable, but may allow organizations to adapt in a rapidly changing world.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 144 pages
• Publisher: Wiley-Blackwell; 1 edition (November 4, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1405132477
• ISBN-13: 978-1405132473
• Product Dimensions: 8.1 x 5.6 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #905,322 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A concise summary of leadership as a dilemma, January 4, 2007

By 

Aaron Ping "ajping" (Singapore) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: On Leadership (Paperback)

This book is exactly what it says it is: a short course on leadership. While it is a short course, it is not a beginner's course. The topics covered are deep, each sentence is densely packed with thought-provoking ideas, and the language used to describe them is precise (and often in the form of a question). This book is not prescriptive; it asks more questions than it answers.

March describes leadership as an extension of everyday life, and as such, something we can relate to through everyday kinds of problems and everyday kinds of thinking. He rejects the idea of a heroic leader as a successful leader (War and Peace) and points to the need for the poet leader, or romantic leader (Don Quixote).

The book is fascinating but a little too short. It would have been great if March had supplemented some of the questions he asks at the end of each chapter with one or two short essays from his students or himself. These questions are very interesting and I would have liked to see some attempts at answering them even though I understand there is no 'right answer'.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars great analogies between leadership and heroes from history, May 31, 2011

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estibalitz ortiz - See all my reviews

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This review is from: On Leadership (Paperback)

excellent book and very interesting. Specially if you want to foster discussions around leadership using the workshop methodology. You can encourage the participants to read the books mentioned (Don Quijote, War and Peace..etc) and then you help them to open the window of their own vision about what leadership implies. By doing this, they will learn that leadership in business environment represents just a small part of what being a leader means.

rgds
estíbalitz

0 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars leadership, January 12, 2007

By 

Luigi M. G. Bianchi "Luigi Giavina-Bianchi" (Brazil) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: On Leadership (Paperback)

A Book on leadership in the context of human life. one of the best books on leadership that I have ever red.