Customer Reviews

Leadership on the Line: Staying Alive through the Dangers of Leading

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Those who read Heifetz's previously published Leadership Without Easy Answers will be interested to know that the final section in that brilliant book ("Staying Alive") led to the development of this book which Heifetz co-authored with Linsky. "We wanted this second book to be more focused, more practical, and more personal. We hope this book will be accessible, eminently usable, and inspiring in your life and work." The material is presented within three Parts: The Challenge (which explains "why leadership is so dangerous and how people get taken out of the game"), The Response (which provides "a series of action steps designed to reduce the risk of getting pushed aside"), and Body and Soul ("which discusses "ways that people contribute to their own demise"), followed by a Notes section filled with especially informative annotations. Pogo once said "we have met the enemy and he is us." More often than not, I think that is true. I also think that most human limits are self-imposed. That is probably what Henry Ford had in mind when he observed "Whether you think you can or think you can't, you're right."

According to Heifetz and Linsky, "To lead is to live dangerously because when leadership counts, when you lead people through difficult change, you challenge what people hold dear -- their daily habits, tools, loyalties, and ways of thinking -- with more to offer perhaps than a possibility. Moreover, leadership often means exceeding the authority you are given to tackle the challenge at hand. People push back when you disturb the personal and institution equilibrium they know. And people resist in all kinds of creative and unexpected ways that can get you taken out of the game: pushed aside, undermined, or eliminated." Throughout human history, most of the greatest leaders were "eliminated" precisely because they were perceived to be intolerable threats to what James O'Toole calls "the ideology of comfort and the tyranny of custom." Draw up a list of the 10-15 greatest leaders in history. How many of them died of natural causes? On my own list, only Winston Churchill and he was twice voted out of office amidst ridicule and even contempt. One of this book's greatest value-added benefits is the brief summary of key ideas which concludes each chapter. I strongly recommend that the book be re-read within 2-3 weeks; also, that at least the chapter summaries be reviewed weekly thereafter.

It is important to understand that Heifetz and Linsky view the subject of leadership in a much wider and deeper context than one normally encounters in a business book. Consider these brief remarks with which they conclude: " Opportunities for leadership are available to you, and to us, every day. But putting yourself on the line is difficult work, for the dangers are real. Yet the work has nobility and the benefits, for you and for those around you, are beyond measure. We have written this book out of admiration and respect for you and your passion. We hope that the words on these pages have provided both practical advice and inspiration; and that you have better means now to lead., protect yourself, and keep your spirit alive. May you enjoy with a full heart the fruits of your labor. The world needs you."

Those who share my high regard for this book are urged to read Heifetz's previous book, Leadership Without Easy Answers. Also David Maister's Practice What You Preach, James O'Toole's Leading Change, and Larry Bossidy and Ram Charan's Execution: The Discipline of Getting Things Done.

Serious scholars of leadership will already be well-acquainted with the path-breaking work of Ron Heifetz. His "Leadership W/out Easy Answers" and other significant contributions to "The Harvard Business Review," for instance, have already established him as one of the foremost authorities in the field.

I believe that "Leadership W/out Easy Answers" is one of the top 5 works on leadership. I recommend it highly to any and all leaders, managers, and students with professional aspirations. "Leadership on the Line" reiterates several of the previous book's compelling themes--but with a more informal, user-friendlier tone. I'd recommend that discerning readers sample this (more recently published) one first, and then proceed to Heifetz's earlier title (publ'd in 1994) if they're curious to read more.

In their "Introduction" to this new volume, Heifetz and Linsky explain that "We wanted this second book to be more focused, more practical, and more personal [than "L'ship W/out Easy Answers"]. We hope this book will be accessible, eminently usable, and inspiring in your work and life." Happily, they've accomplished their mission this time around, too!

This narrative is even more readable, more anecdotal, and less jargon-laden than its "more academic" predecessor. It should thus reward an even broader audience of readers (including more committed "generalists").

If one of James MacGregor Burns's seminal contributions to the field was the distinction between transactional and transformational leadership, Heifetz's elucidation here of "adaptive vs. technical leadership" merits similar distinction, in my view. "Leadership on the Line" speaks to the heart and soul as well as the mind. Most of us are likely to have plenty to glean from the incisive leadership insights it offers.

"Leadership on the Line" appends and fulfils Ron's original framework first presented in the "Leadership Without Easy Answers". If you didn't study the framework closely, learn it and come back.

While "Leadership Without Easy Answers" explains bit by bit the perils of adaptive change and the importance of orchestrating the conflict, giving the work back, managing appropriate pace and keeping the holding environment, it gives only a quick (not quite sufficient) glance at getting on the balcony, finding partners and distinguishing allies from confidants.

The first six chapters of the "Leadership on the Line" are purposed to complete the framework.

Chapters seven to nine is a highly practical cookbook: how to take the heat and hold steadily, how to manage your hungers and keep sanity, how to deal with sexual and intimacy issues, how to distinguish role from self.

The final, very provocative chapters are philosophical and spiritual. Poignantly, they raise a question: what is this all for? Devote a thought to love, innocence, curiosity and compassion -- the virtues of an open heart.

Let's face it: leadership is dangerous. As Heifetz and Linsky write in their introduction, "Each day brings you opportunities to raise important questions, speak to higher values, and surface unresolved conflicts. Every day you have the chance to make a difference in the lives of people around you. And every day you must decide whether to put your contribution out there, or keep it to yourself to avoid upsetting anyone, and get through another day. You are right to be cautious. Prudence is a virtue. You disturb people when you take unpopular initiatives in your community, put provocative new ideas on the table in your organization, question the gap between colleagues' values and behavior, or ask friends and relatives to face up to tough realities. You risk people's ire and make yourself vulnerable. Exercising leadership can get you into a lot of trouble."

Anyone who is trying to lead people in today's troubled times knows, from brutal experience, that leadership is a risky business. But, of course, in a theological context, proclaiming the gospel has always been risky business. (Remember what happened to Jesus?) Heifetz and Linsky offer an assessment of the dangers that are routinely faced by a variety of different types of leaders -- managers, activists, presidents of countries, CEOs of multinational corporations, parents, executives, career military, teachers, principals, clergy, and many more. The heart of the book describes in detail five effective responses to the dangers. Four concluding chapters offer suggestions of how to take care of yourself, body and soul, in the midst of leadership.

If you are a leader, read this book. And don't just read it and then put it back on your shelf. Absorb this book. Soak in it. Turn to it time and again. You'll be glad you did.

Leadership isn't easy. The best leaders force their followers to face unpleasant realities and then figure out the solutions for themselves. That's why leadership is so risky, argue Ronald A. Heifetz and Marty Linsky in this engaging tome. The authors analyze the successes and failures of leaders ranging from Yitzhak Rabin to Bill Clinton, with stops along the way to examine the leadership styles of former Coca-Cola CEO M. Douglas Ivester and NBA coach Phil Jackson. At times, the authors' rules of thumb seem too general. Yet, their real-world examples blend well with their leadership theory to present a useful guide to leadership. We recommend this excellent book to anyone facing a difficult leadership situation.

Net, I love this book, because it has a few conceptual key points to make me re-think about leadership, and that's very valuable for me.

Before reading this book, I knew leadership is hard, but I never realize leaderhip is dangerous, and that's the most valuable lesson for me. The authors used quite many political examples to show why leadership is dangerous and in what aspects. At the end, the authors also provide some solution to address the danger. I agree some criticism that the solution is somehow vague and not thorough, but I think I can figure out the solution myself because now I've known what issue to handle.

I recommend this book to new leaders and leaders within a very political environment.

For me the measure of a book is whether it breaks through and reaches me in some way. This often occurs when the writing pushes me to think about my experiences in new ways. This book has done that many times over. It goes beyond mechanistic models to help me consider and reconsider my role as leader and as follower.

Heifitz and Linsky write that leading people through difficult change, challenging what they hold dear, can be a dangerous enterprise. They say, "This book is about putting yourself and your ideas on the line, responding effectively to the risks, and living to celebrate the meaning of your efforts" (3). The book is arranged according to three fundamental questions the authors attempt to answer: Why or how is leadership dangerous? How can a leader respond to the dangers? And how can a leader keep his or her spirit alive when leading becomes difficult?
First, why or how is leadership dangerous? One persistent perception in leadership is that most people are resistant to change. Heifetz and Linsky posit that it is not change per se that people resist, but loss (11). Leadership becomes dangerous when leaders question people's habits, values, and beliefs and people cannot see the bright future leaders ask them to sacrifice for, but see only suggested possibilities requiring great loss (12). It is adaptive change rather than technical challenges which cause so much of the danger in leading (13). Technical problems are the ones for which the organization already has the answer. Adaptive challenges require painful transition in attitudes, values, and/or behaviors. Adaptive change must be internalized by the people with the problem. Hearts and minds must change not just preferences or routine behaviors (60). People can push back against leaders during adaptive change in a variety of ways. Leaders are in danger of being marginalized and attacked personally under the assumption that if you take down the leader the issues will go away. Leaders can be seduced by their own human appetites or their need for approval and lose their sense of purpose (32-45).
Secondly, how can leaders respond to the dangers of leading through adaptive change? It is necessary for leaders to practice the discipline of gaining perspective in the midst of battle, including the ability to see the leader's own role in the conflict (51-54). Leaders will also need to learn how to operate in the midst of the various relationships within the organization - including partners, opponents, and the uncommitted mass of people the leader is attempting to move through adaptive change (89-100). Another way leaders can respond to the dangers is to orchestrate the conflict by creating holding environments in which to work through the process of change, knowing how to manage the stress within the organization, pacing the work, and continually casting a vision of the future (102-120). Leaders can also work to take the burden for change off of their own shoulders and appropriately place the work with the people within the organization (123). Leaders must also learn to maintain a steady course throughout the change process by knowing how to take the heat from angry followers, allow for the appropriate time to act on issues, and keep everyone's attention focused on the issues (141-154).
Third question: how can a leader keep his or her spirit alive when leading becomes difficult? Heifetz and Linsky offer four suggestions. Leaders need to learn to manage their natural human appetites, especially the desire for intimacy, and to care for themselves so that they do not contribute to their own demise (163). Another strategy for leaders is to differentiate between the role of leader and who they are personally (187). A third coping strategy is for leaders to be clear on why they are leading and to keep the bigger picture in focus (209). Finally, the authors recommend that leaders continually develop and protect within themselves the qualities of innocence, curiosity, and compassion (225).

The authors succeed in their stated purpose of answering their three fundamental questions. By using honest language and real world examples, some personal and painful, the authors equip readers with a good understanding of the nature of leading through adaptive change. At the same, the authors are honest about how leading is an improvisational skill. They have not written a technical "how-to" book, but an honest assessment of the change process and the things leaders can do in the midst of that process to stay healthy and connected. Because the nature of leadership sometimes involves being out front and guiding others into an unknown future, leaders from all walks of life would benefit from reading this book. Leadership on the Line is about the dynamics of relationships within an organization as people face adaptive change. Leaders who reflect on the issues raised and the suggestions made by the authors will have a better understanding of how to stay connected to themselves and to their followers as they walk together and confront painful transitions.
Ministerial leaders may be hesitant to read Leadership on the Line because it is a secular source not written to specifically address the dynamics of congregational leadership. This would be a mistake, however, because the book is surprisingly relevant to ministerial leadership issues. It is usually accepted as a given that today's churches find themselves in a rough sea of change, and there are countless volumes available making the case for why change is necessary and what the church should look like on the other side of change. But pastors may have a difficult time finding books like Leadership on the Line that describe why their congregation prefers solving technical problems and not embracing the process of adaptive change, and how the pastor can operate through the process.
It may be that church culture does not allow for such an honest discussion on the dangers of church leadership because of the high ideals and expectations involved with beings God's people. But who has not been wounded and scarred by relationships in the body of Christ? Peter L. Steinke writes how people and entire congregations are susceptible to the effects of anxiety, which is heightened during adaptive change, and he echoes Heifetz and Linsky by stating that how the pastor responds to the anxiety and conflict, rather than the conflict itself, will determine the outcome (Peter L. Steinke, Congregational Leadership in Anxious Times: Being Calm and Courageous No Matter What. Herndon, VA: The Alban Institute, 2006). Studies have shown that one of the two main reasons pastors leave local church ministry is because of church conflict (Dean R. Hoge and Jacqueline E. Wenger. Pastors in Transition: Why Clergy Leave Local Church Ministry. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 2005, 76). Seminary courses in pastoral leadership often speak of the reality of dangers in congregational leadership, but often do not give the needed depth of study to equip pastors for the process of adaptive change. This makes Leadership on the Line an important companion because it helps the ministerial leader to think about why leading is so dangerous, what is at stake for congregants, how to operate in the heat of battle, and how to take care of their personal lives and stay connected to others at the same time. It is also a good reminder of the purpose of leading and the joys involved. This is especially true of congregational leadership.

This book is not neccessarily comprehensive on the topic of leadership. As a person who has read around 10 books on leadership, I am beggining to realize the topic is far more complex to be contained in a single book. This book addresses on aspect of leadership, change managment, better than any book I have read. As the book points out, leadership is about change (which is too categoric for me to totally agree). A good leader brings change only at a rate which the stakeholders of the change can absorb it, and failure to do so will result in the ousting of the leader. This simple concept was quite revealing to me and deserving of the price of this book.

Let's imagine it is your boss reading Heifetz and Linsky's Leadership on the Line. Let's also imagine he (for the sake of argument) is thoroughly impressed with the book, has taken its message on board, and is now putting its advice into practice. What does this mean for you?

First of all, your boss has learned that leadership is dangerous, and the danger is - you. Why? There are two types of leadership challenge: technical challenges, and adaptive challenges. The technical challenges are straightforward, and simply involve using your organization's current resources to make the change. However, many changes also include an adaptive challenge - that is, getting people to change what they do, and the way they do things. According to the book, you do not like this. You are not afraid of change per se, but of loss: loss of your "values, beliefs, or habits of a lifetime" (p. 12) if you have to make a change. You represent a threat to your boss because you will resist his attempts to bring change to your organization. You will oppose him in various ways. You may try to marginalize him, to make him irrelevant by pushing him to the sidelines. You may try to divert him from his leadership task by sending other concerns his way. Perhaps you will attack him: you may attack his character, his competence, his family; or you may distort or misrepresent his views. And finally, you may try to seduce him into losing his sense of purpose. In resisting your boss in these ways, you will try to "maintain the familiar, restore order, and protect (yourself) from the pains of adaptive work" (p 48). Do not try to argue with this characterization of you; for Heifetz and Linsky, it is axiomatic.

In order to succeed, your boss needs to survive the dangerous environment that you will create. He has learned a number of strategies from the book. He will try to build relationships, among both those on his side, and those, like you, on the opposing side. He will try to leverage these relationships to bring about the changes he wants to see. (Be aware of this when he starts to make nice with you - it's not because he likes you.) He will also talk about `your loss,' and try to convince you that he understands what it is like to be you in this process. He will manipulate the environment to keep you on your toes and moving in the right direction. He will be aiming to keep you in "the productive range of distress," (p. 108) in the belief that you require a certain amount of distress in your life to stay motivated. And, lest there be a risk that part of his plan for change goes awry and he might wind up looking bad, he is going to "give the work back" (p. 122), that is, to you. By doing so, he will be deftly "reducing the extent to which (he becomes) the target of people's frustrations" (p. 139). He will try these and a number of other strategies to deal with the danger of leading - that is, the danger of leading dangerous, threatening you.

Is there anything wrong with this picture? I think so. Heifetz and Linsky - not leaders themselves, but Harvard faculty and self-styled leadership consultants - assume an `us versus them' view of leadership that places the leader in a heroic role and disdains subordinates as spoilers. And although you the reader could well be the leader they are addressing, it is equally likely - because most of us report to someone - that the `them' here is you. You are conceived of as an opponent of the leader, not because the leader's ideas may be awful, or because the leader is not a nice person, or because you know more about the organizational culture than he does, or because he has been promoted beyond his abilities. None of this is even considered by Heifetz and Linsky. No, you resist his leadership because you are afraid, afraid of change, afraid of losing what you deeply value and cherish. And because of this, he is going to have to try all kinds of strategies and tricks - all illustrated with a miscellaneous hodgepodge of examples from business, political, and social contexts - to coerce you into accepting and implementing his will.

A major weakness of the book is that it fails to establish a firm ethical basis for leadership. A white supremacist could read this book and use all its lessons, even those toward the end of the book about "(making) a difference in people's lives," (p. 210) and finding meaning in life. While failing to ground leadership in sound moral principles, the authors set up those led as a threat to the leader. They must be won over in various calculated ways. For all that Heifetz and Linsky talk about love in Chapter 10, if your loved ones caught you treating them like this, they would resent you for it. There is something Machiavellian in their promotion of values and a modus operandi specific to the workplace.

If you are on the receiving end of bad leadership, read this book for clues about the kind of bad advice she or he may be getting. If you are a leader, read with a critical eye, and keep in mind that your own boss could be using the same dismal tactics against you.