Amazon.com Review
Sidle's ambitions become clear early in the book, when he quotes not just pedestrian business leaders but Czech playwright and Nobel laureate Vaclav Havel. "The salvation of this world lies nowhere else but in the human heart…Without a global revolution of consciousness nothing will change for the better, and the catastrophe towards which this world is headed will be unavoidable." Sidle's leadership theory begins from a sweeping view of human nature and what he describes as the "evolutionary urge to become." The Cornell professor uses historical examples from a variety of fields to illustrate his point that when this urge becomes directed only to self-aggrandizing ends, people become dissatisfied. We must search for greater purpose. In that purpose, Sidle argues, leadership finds it truest extensions, and society finds its greatest value.
The "leadership wheel" to which the book's title refers rests on 5 roles, or stages, through which leaders develop. Sidle has developed his research on the roles through an extensive consulting practice and years of work with Cornell's MBA students, and many businesspeople will find the concepts familiar and resonant with other, similar exercises they may have done. Like many good business books, Sidle's calls not just for reading but active participation. The text contains numerous exercises and quizzes on which readers can explore their leadership personae and "fit" with different segments of the leadership wheel, and many will appreciate this hands-on approach to learning.
Throughout the text, Sidle exhorts his audience to embrace the emergent realities of the leadership environment: the fact that old command-and-control structures have lost ground to less hierarchical and more democratic organizational designs, and that leadership students are increasingly required to understand and even to speak language of self-actualization, both for themselves and their followers. While not all will agree with Sidle's ideas, few will be able to deny their popularity in today's world, and the need to adapt to them in one way or the other. Reading The Leadership Wheel provides a good start. --Peter Han
Review
"The Leadership Wheel reaffirms the critical importance of having the basis for leadership development being self awareness, self-discovery, and a deep inner journey that circles back through life to enhance one's self development, the development of others, and performance. The Leadership Wheel demonstrates through numerous exercises how leadership development can be learned each and every day."--Bruce Avolio, Director, Gallup Leadership Institute
"The Leadership Wheel reveals an inspiring and original five point picture of what it takes to be an emotionally intelligent, resonant leader. Clint Sidle has managed to combine fresh and important insights with practical advice for developing resonant leaders, great teams, and vibrant, successful organizations. Great exercises!"--Annie McKee, Co-Chair of the Teleos Leadership Institute
"Clint Sidle's model offers an inspiring and genuinely new approach to servant leadership. This lively, engaging book challenges people to rethink their roles and the purposes of business. The Leadership Wheel clearly demonstrates that financial success and socially responsible business are not mutually exclusive. Best of all, chapter exercises guide the reader on how to make it happen at the individual, team, and organizational levels."--Ken Blanchard, co-author of The One Minute Manager® and The Servant Leader
" . . . if more business scholars and business people would actually practice the approach outlined by Sidle it just might revolutionize the way business is conducted because it would significantly alter the way leaders are trained and developed!" --Dr. David L. Luechauer and Dr. William B. Locander of Jacksonville University
