Leadership is an Art (Paperback)

by Max Depree (Author) "My father is ninety-six years old..." (more)
Key Phrases: roving leadership, pink ice, covenantal relationships, Herman Miller, Charles Eames, George Nelson (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly
Rather than offering a how-to manual on running a business, DePree, CEO of Herman Miller Inc., a manufacturer of office furniture, details, in deceptively simple but imaginative language, a humanitarian approach to leadership. The artful leader, he argues, should recognize human diversity and make full use of his or her employees' gifts. Further, he believes, a leader is responsible not just for the health of a company's financial assets, but for its ethics. Advocating management through persuasion, and the exercise of democratic participation rather than concentrated power, he favors covenantal relationships with employees that rest on shared purpose, dignity and choice. The author stresses the need for communication, but his only direct guidance concerns the need for job performance reviews and self-evaluation.
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Review
"This book is thoughtful, personal, human, persuasive. Give to a daughter, son, or Fortune 500 chairman. They should bless you for years to come."
--Tom Peters

"Max DePree has written two books: Leadership Is an Art and Leadership Jazz. I highly commend them to al of you. They are very well done and very much worth the cost of the books. They're astonishing."
--Bill Clinton -- Review

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 176 pages
• Publisher: Dell (August 10, 1990)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0440503248
• ISBN-13: 978-0440503248
• Product Dimensions: 8.1 x 5.4 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars See all reviews (37 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #173,716 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

22 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Leadership Is About Liberating People, December 17, 2005

By	Lightman (New York) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)

This review is from: Leadership Is an Art (Paperback)

On page one of Leadership Is an Art Max Depree writes, "The book is about the art of leadership: liberating people to do what is required of them in the most effective and humane way possible". This is a theme that runs throughout this very wise and in every way excellent work. The following quotes provide some of the flavor of Depree's enlightened and inspiring thinking:

* The first responsibility of a leader is to define reality. The last is to say thank you. In between the two, the leader must become a servant and a debtor.

* In addition to all of the ratios and goals and parameters and bottom lines, it is fundamental that leaders endorse a concept of persons. This begins with an understanding of the diversity of people's gifts and talents and skills.

* Understanding and accepting diversity enables us to see that each of us is needed. It also enables us to begin to think about being abandoned to the strengths of others, of admitting that we cannot know or do everything.

* Leaders don't inflict pain; they bear pain.

* First, as a Christian I believe that each person is made in the image of God. For those of us who have received the gift of leadership from the people we lead, this belief has enormous implications.

* Leaders owe people space, space in the sense of freedom. Freedom in the sense of enabling our gifts to be exercised.

* Participative management is not democratic. Having a say differs from having a vote.

* Interestingly, though in organizations like ours we need a lot of freedom, there is no room for license. Discipline is what it takes to do the job.

* One of the important things leaders need to learn is to recognize the signals of impending deterioration.

* Without forgiveness, there can be no real freedom to act...

Depree has given us an abiding philosophy of leadership. Actually operating in alignment with these principles demands a very high level of integrity - one that few leaders ever do attain. Those that do so unleash forces of transformation resulting in high performance high involvement organizations.

This book characterizes a commercial arena filled with vocational potential. I give it the highest recommendation.

16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Artful & Philosophical Leadership, October 26, 2004

By	Matthew Dodd (Virginia, USA) - See all my reviews

Thoughtful and thought-provoking, Max DePree's easy-to-read classic, "Leadership is an Art," was one of the best leadership books I have read. I recommend it to brand-new leaders to help lay a solid leadership foundation upon which to build, and to seasoned leaders and managers interested in sharpening their leadership skills and refining their approach to leadership.

This book is a series of interdependent philosophical essays that are part of a holistic view of effective leadership. DePree defines the art of leadership as "liberating people to do what is required of them in the most effective and humane way possible," and that definition is a theme that runs throughout the book. Another closely related common theme in these non-sequential yet complementary essays is that leaders must abandon themselves to the strengths of others in order to serve them and allow them to realize their full potential.

DePree put a lot of emphasis on people and fostering leadership environments in which trusting, respectful, and effective relationships flourish. His ideas and beliefs about leadership, some that I have never really read anywhere else, were refreshing and stimulating. One largely ignored insight that particularly stood out to me was that "much of a leader's performance cannot be reviewed until `after' the fact." In today's common short-term focus/instant gratification world, such insights deserve our uncommon attention.

Although originally published in 1989, DePree's thoughts, ideas, and approach to leadership are timeless. While some people may argue that DePree's writings are idealistic, I found them to be realistic given the nature of people and the frenetic pace of our hyper-competitive professional environments. Every leader owes it to him- or herself, and to those who allow themselves to be led, to read and reflect on the leadership wisdom contained in this small and powerful book.

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Perfect for Some, good for others, February 7, 1999

By A Customer

This book has been an incredible resource for me personally in my leadership development. Every time I feel I need a "refresher" on leadership or what I'm doing in my leadership positions, I pick it up and learn something new. However, it is not for everyone. This is a philosophical, "touchy-feely" book. For someone who tends to be more of a hands-on leader who leads with caring and compassion, it is great! Others who are looking for more of a formula approach to leadership won't find it helpful. It doesn't have lists of do's or don'ts. It isn't the 7 traits that make a leader (like you could ever nail it down to any given number...).

I loved this book, and it has truly helped me in my leadership development. I recommend it to anyone that is looking for something out of the norm of leadership and management books.