This is definitely a five-star leadership book for me. The sharing is concise, encouraging and inspiring. And I definitely agree with the last point in the last chapter that it is love that fuels the motivation of being a leader.

The points are very well organised, that exemplary leaders usually practice the following:

1. Model the way
- clarify values: find your voice & affirm shared values
- set the example: live the shared values and teach others to model the values

2. Inspire a shared vision
- envision the future: imagine the possibilities and find a common purpose
- enlist others- appeal to common ideals and animate the vision

3. Challenge the process
- search for opportunists: seize the initiative and exercise outsight
- experiment and take risk: generate small wins and learn from experience

4. Enable others to act
- foster collaboration: create a climate of trust and facilitate relationship
- strengthen others: enhance self-determination and develop competence & confidence

5. Encourage the heart
- recognise contribution: expect the best and personalise recognition
- celebrate the values and victories: create a spirit of community and be personally involved

At the end, leading is doing. There are many moments that we lead: listen more, share more, saying thank you etc.

A lot of practical application based on research - much different than a John Maxwell type of book

Pleasantly surprised by how much I got out of this book. Although slow at times, with perhaps a few too many examples, there was lot of good to take in here. Simple, thoughtful, and approachable.

I just finished reading this for a Leadership Class in college. I also completed the Leadership Challenge Workbook. Although the my peers (while in front of the prof) were keen to talk about how much they got out of this book. I have to say, I just don't see it.

To me, the points made in this book were common knowledge. Yes, sometimes we need to be reminded because it is easy to become desensitized to the bad leadership practices that surround us. But for the most part, bad leadership skills stick out. You know the teams in your company that no one is happy to work with or be a part of.

This book is a basic guide to how to lead other humans in a respectful and responsible way. If you are wondering "Gosh, how do I do that?" then this book is for you.

Required by COL Brown. Not a great start.

Boooo

This book is a great option for university students to prepare themselves mentally for corporate sector. It's a great book for those who want to lead people, who want that people follow them. This book also give some really fantastic tips to newbie regarding Corporate culture, how to put themselves on company's fast track and much more. No doubt Authors (James Kouzes and Barry Posner) had done great research for this book, they conducted interviews of some really great people from different organizations. This book is a must read!

The book is great in that it covers a lot of real-life examples of leadership exhibited in organizations of all sizes and industries all around the world. The principles in it are also key to success. I probably could have skimmed the whole book and gotten a similar level of output. Glad I learned that for future similar texts.

I've been using various chapters of this book for years, but finally got around to reading it cover-to-cover. If you are a leader in any form, this book is required reading. The authors have identified the Five Practices of Exemplary Leadership, and there is a 360 leadership feedback survey that is a companion to this book. After you give your stakeholders the survey, you are able to identify your personal areas of strength (mine is Challenge the Process), as well as your areas of growth (for me, Encourage the Heart). You can flip to the appropriate chapters to identify tangible ways you can improve your leadership in your growth areas, including real-life examples. This book is full-color and a bit pricey, but I have used it so frequently that it was more than worth the cost!

Format: Print (Hardcover)

This is probably the best title I have read on leadership so far, and I am itching to purchase a hard copy soon to own and be able to reference more thoroughly. As I am currently experiencing professional difficulty and self-doubt because I have not been able to develop my leadership and management skills sufficiently, this title has helped highlight what I am missing and need to pay more attention to as I gain more experience. Kouzes and Posner are comprehensive in their analyses of what exemplary leadership is, and their everyday examples truly hammer home how anyone could become an effective leader if they make that their goal and try hard for it. That is truly a goal for me, but I can now recognize how many steps and how much more time I will need to allow myself to get there, and that my situation will unfortunately not allow that to happen. I hope finishing this audio version will just be the first of several reads of this books for me.

I had a three-day course once, called "the leadership challenge". I thought the book would be similar - that the course was based on the book - and in some sense it was. This book gave me a lot to reflect upon. It also gave me support in affirming that some of the ideas I have been nurturing during summer holiday are worthy of implementation. I've mulled over the content and taken notes. Whether this book deserves a five star rating is something I expect I'll find out eventually.

Great collection of good advice for anyone in leadership position at any level in an organization. Embodies many principles that I've come to believe in, through my own comparatively limited experiences with good and bad managers and observing the teams and their behaviors. I specially like the emphasis of the book on human aspects of what managers must do such as inspiring individuals and teams through setting vision and goals, genuinely believing in people and relegating responsibilities to them, knowing individuals well enough to give them personalized feedback and encouragement.