Leading and Leadership (The Ethics of Everyday Life) [Paperback]

Timothy Fuller (Editor)

Product Details

• Paperback: 250 pages
• Publisher: Univ of Notre Dame Pr (September 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0268013276
• ISBN-13: 978-0268013271
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.2 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,261,057 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars The Complexities of Leadership, June 3, 2011

By 

Russell Smith (Washington, DC) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Leading and Leadership (The Ethics of Everyday Life) (Paperback)

Below is the review I wrote for my company's newsletter, on Leading & Leadership. If you'd like more information about Chiefist, please contact us. [...]

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Most of our clients and subscribers have a keen interest in leadership. As investors, you must judge leaders - their abilities, skills, character and performance. As leaders in your firms, you must motivate your teams, make critical decisions and find ways to differentiate your firm and services in a crowded, competitive industry.

At Chiefist, we primarily serve clients in that first role. With our analytical tools, executive profiles and searches, and actionable trading ideas, we support the appraisal of corporate leadership as a key element of investment due diligence. But more broadly, we aid clients by offering unique ideas. And when we find a good leadership idea, we would be remiss not to share it -- in this case, a book of fascinating ideas.

In Leading & Leadership, editor Timothy Fuller surveys some of history's greatest thinking on the subject of leadership. He includes writings from Confucius, Homer, Plato, Machiavelli, Aquinas, Washington, Tocqueville, Frederick Douglass and Woodrow Wilson. It also contains important contributions from modern writers, including Ronald Glassman and Abraham Zaleznik. (Future editions would benefit from adding William Deresiewicz's excellent speech, "Solitude and Leadership".)

The book contains much wisdom about the characteristics and ethos of leadership. Every executive should read Zaleznik on "Managers and Leaders: Are They Different?" Washington's "Farewell Address" should serve as a model for thoughtful succession transitions. The tension between Machiavelli's and Aquinas's conceptions of leadership are played out in organizations every day.

Individual readers will of course find their favorites among the chapters. Taken as a whole, the book offers a useful and needed counterweight to today's often vacuous prattle on the subject. Our study of leadership needs practical advice, analysis of hard numbers and modern examples. But it also requires philosophical reflection, reasoned and dispassionate consideration, and a historical perspective. What emerges is a powerful reminder of the complexities and nuances of leadership. That reminder can only help us both to better evaluate the leaders in investments we're considering, and to more effectively lead our own organizations.

3.0 out of 5 stars Leaders and leadership, April 4, 2007

By 

Johannes Schonberg (Annapolis, MD United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Leading and Leadership (The Ethics of Everyday Life) (Paperback)

This book takes Confucius and Lao Tzu and paraphrases them to a kindergarten level. It is misleading and even misquotes some of the original chapters from the sources.

This is a good general review for the rest of the subjects in the book, but don't take it word for word.