Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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19 of 21 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
weLEAD Book Review ..., February 12, 2002
Yukl uses his expertise and credibility to write an outstanding book focusing on managerial leadership rather than social or parliamentary leadership. He attempts to include information on both the theory and practice of leadership in modern organizations. This valuable text also includes many recommendations and guidelines for improving the effectiveness of managers and leaders. The book includes a number of cases in an attempt to help the reader understand real world organizational problems and applications. This is a book that is primarily written and mostly reads like a college text book and is indeed used by a number of universities in their managerial or leadership programs. However, it is easy to read and does an excellent job of including the most informative and relative literature, studies and theories available today. Highly recommended for anyone interested in the study of organizational leadership, leading teams, leading change or studying follower-based approaches toward leadership.
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18 of 20 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Leadership Defined, May 26, 2000
Gary Yukl hits dead center of the leadership target. His work begins with the issue of defining leadership and tackling the difference between management and leadership. Laced throughout with extensive reference and research material the book clearly moves from definition of leadership through different levels of leadership to top strategic leadership practices. His lessons and practices are both valuable and usable.Readers will be treated to detailed, relevant discussions of the each leadership issue discussed within the book. Within each issue, Mr. Yukl, glides through the basis of the theories and then details realities of how to achieve the results suggested by those theories. Within several topics, he provides cases studies and questions about those case studies for the reader's consideration. The result is a practical, working manual about leadership. Between the discussions of the leadership issues and the practices there is something here for all readers. More importantly, there is plenty or information within the covers of this book that truly matters. Anyone with a leadership role of any type should read this book.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Comprehensive, informative & enjoyable, April 20, 2009
As the title implies, this book focuses on managerial leadership exclusively; a topic at the center of management research for several decades now and therefore, the information and research available is simply huge. However, despite the extensive research, writing, and theories that seem to litter the field, Gary Yukl manages to cover all relevant aspects in a clear and straight-forward manner. As he mentions in the Preface, "the topic of leadership effectiveness is of special interest..." and therefore, there is a wealth of ideas, guidelines and processes designed to transfer the theoretical research available to practice. Each chapter (with the exception of the introductory and closing chapters) includes review questions and at least one (1) case study. Additionally, most chapters include one or more "Applications" sections that provide practical guidelines for managers based on the theory/research discussed.
Yukl's book does not make for easy reading nor is it a 'basic' book (for that, you're better off with Northouse's Leadership: Theory and Practice) and you would probably enjoy the book (and gain more) if you progress to it from a fundamental-level book.
The introductory chapter (The Nature of Leadership) is an excellent primer on the concept of managerial leadership; the 'types' of theories that deal with leadership; and the difference between management and leadership. I also found the chapters on Strategic Leadership by Executives (Chapter 12) and Developing Leadership Skills (Chapter 13) extremely useful as I do a lot of leadership development programs and I find myself returning to Yukl's text again and again to develop effective programs for my clients.
(Since it is not possible to see the Table of Contents, I'm including hee a brief synopsis)
The book is organized in 15 Chapters:
1) Introduction: The Nature of Leadership - as I mentioned above, this is an excellent primer.
2) The Nature of Managerial Work - Yukl highlights the latest development in management research including managerial roles (Mintzberg) and situational theories.
3) Perspectives on Effective Leadership Behavior - focusing on behavior-based theories.
4) Participative Leadership, Delegation, and Empowerment - includes Vroom & Yetton's models as well as an excellent section on delegation that has become my 'bible' on the topic.
5) Dyadic Role Making, Attributions, and Fellowship - Leader-member Exchange theory, Attributions and Implicit theories.
6) Power & Influence - clear and focused presentation of all aspects of power and influence as they relate to managerial leadership.
7) Managerial Traits & Skills - unlike other textbooks you find on Leadership, Yukl's treatment of the trait-based theories is innovative and useful. He includes the requisite historical development of trait-based theories, but makes the topic more relevant to practitioners by also highlighting trait-based theories used today in selection (the Big Five, for example) and also sections on different types of intelligences (emotional, social, etc.).
8) Early Contingency Theories of Effective Leadership - presents and discusses theories of Fiedler; Path-Goal, Situational Leadership, Leadership Substitutes, Multiple Linkages and Cognitive Resources.
9) Charismatic & Transformational Leadership - very well written chapter introducing the concept of `Charisma' in some detail and follows with transformational theories and applications.
10) Leading Change in Organizations - another excellent chapter that manages to condense a difficult topic without losing value.
11) Leadership in Teams and Decision Groups - the impact of leadership on group processes, decision making and overall team effectiveness.
12) Strategic Leadership by Executives - this is an extremely useful chapter on everything related to strategic leadership in an organization: definitions, barriers, challenges, tools, and processes.
13) Developing Leadership Skills - this is my `blue-print' for developing all the leadership development programs I conduct. To date, I have been unable to locate a better source.
14) Ethical Leadership and Diversity - a concise introduction to the topic including a discussion of gender and cultural issues and their impact on leadership styles and behaviors.
15) Overview and Integration - the closing chapter brings the whole book together through a comprehensive summary of all the topics; ideas on an "Integrating Conceptual Framework" and an overview of the state of the field.
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