HBRs 10 Must Reads on Leadership by Harvard Business Review

HBRs 10 Must Reads on Leadership Reviews

• 
  Mark Muckerman

  Read it, but read it with caution, thoughtfulness, emotionally balanced introspection, and with no expectation of "an answer".
  
  The Harvard Business Review deserves its outstanding reputation. With that comes the risk of every word being looked to as gospel (because "it's the HBR"), or read with an overly critical eye and an unconscious need to "find flaw with those pretentious bastards at HBR".
  
  However, this collection of articles is well written (as expected), but also well compiled to provide a comprehensive overview of Leadership styles and information, all on point, yet all very diverse.
  
  What it is: It is a collection of insights and offerings on varying aspects of leadership styles, traits, and insights on personal leadership development for success, based on a plethora of studies and analyses. An emotionally mature reader seeking broader and deeper insight on the various components of "leadership" will find value in gaining a wider lens on leadership, and therefore possible some insight into self, as well as help in identifying some aspirations for personal growth.
  
  What it is not: It is not a roadmap. It is not a self-help. It is not a book for brand new leaders, as the content requires some experience. It is not a "how to be a better leader in 12 pages". It doesn't even offer guidance on how to find those tools (likely because there IS no silver bullet.
  
  All that being said, if you are a leader and looking to grow, knowledge is never a bad thing.
  
  Recommended read (although it's probably a $12 book with a $25 price tag because, after all, it IS from the HBR. . .
• 
  Emma Angeline

  I super enjoyed this. Some articles are defo more useful than others but I’m sure that’s down to taste and style.
  I will say tho how apparent I found that this is written for men. The most pressing advice seems to be the prizing of self-awareness, self-regulation, empathy. Women are conditioned to do these thing constantly in all areas of our lives from the outset. Imagine them being treated as a novelty? The answer to so many of the problems in this is just good old fashioned therapy, something an article pointed out successful leaders benefitted from deeply. No shit. It’s really almost as if we should promote woman to positions of power and let them do their jobs.
  Did really rate this tho. Remember ladies ✨girlkeep gatelight gassboss✨
• 
  Peter

  As a person not really interested in business school, I mostly read this to remind myself of how feudalism is alive and accepted in modern life. Believe it or not feudalism has evolved since it became a passe form of popular government, in the form of corporate governments. This book is a terrific introduction to a world that most of us ignore, or complain about in an under-educated way. I think its important to read the same articles that the heads of these institution are reading, in the same way that its important for white Americans to read Peggy McIntosh or Zora Neale Hurston.
  
  When modern liberals say that "corporations are ruining America", we owe it to them to consider this statement and understand the causes. This book provides only one aspect, but I think it helps us refine this statement to "bad leadership is ruining America."
  
  So lets assume that the "great person" view of history is valid. If you are trying to find analogies between corporate success and historical success (of nations or peoples), leadership is the place to find the answer, in this view, and this book seems to back this up and confirm everything. Every single article, 100% of the time, spanning 30 years (?) of HBR essays, ties the CEO directly to the performance of the company. So, great leader = great company, end of discussion, as far as this book is concerned.
  
  Now, getting back to the progress in feudalism, all of these articles concern themselves with the identification of the traits of good leaders and bad ones, and we can write up some taxonomies of leadership characteristics and styles. Various authors highlight different things, and you can see, if you pay close attention, to how things have changed in 50 years from a more austere style to more "authentic" style, and from the identification of process and technically intelligent leaders to people and emotionally intelligent leaders.
  
  What we cannot do, is understand ourselves well enough to transform from good to great, or put systems in place to ensure that this will happen. I haven't read Jim Collin's
  Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap... and Others Don't (although he contributed one article), but on the basis of all of these HBR articles - some people are brilliant and they make hard choices and take risks that just work out more often than when other good leaders who check all the other boxes are faced with the same challenges. Some people are just smarter. Most of the articles acknowledge this problem.
  
  So maybe we can't always guarantee greatness, but surely we can get goodness? However despite all of this research and generally agreed upon principles, corporate boards still promote mediocre if not bad leaders, and the systems don't do nearly well enough to eliminate harmful personalities from positions of power. This is a conclusion that I came to myself, and is not discussed in any of the articles.
  
  
  
• 
  Nada AbuHassan

  love it ,recommend
• 
  Tommy Kiedis

  When the editors of Harvard Business Review open their vault of leadership and management gems, scouring its vast depth for the best and brightest of their treasures, and then line them up for you to glimpse and grasp -- get in line! Whether you look at HBR's 10 Must Reads On Leadership as an essential leadership primer or approach it as a graduate course sandwiched between two covers, this book is outstanding.
  
  HBR's 10 Must Reads On Leadership is a gathering of some of the best thought leaders from yesterday and today. How often are you going to find Peter Drucker, Warren Bennis, John Kotter, Daniel Goleman, Jim Collins -- along with Bill George, Ron Heifetz, Diana Mayer, Deborah Ancona and others -- all waiting to share insights and impart wisdom?
  
  When you read HBR's 10 Must Reads On Leadership you don't have to dig through past issues of Harvard Business Review to glean from the great. It's all right at your fingertips. It's theory and practice, insight and impact!
  
  5 Reasons To Read
  
  1. The line-up: I've already mentioned many of the authors. Here are a few of the titles: "What Makes A Leader?" "Why Should Anyone Be Led By You?" "Crucibles of Leadership" and "In Praise of the Incomplete Leader."
  
  2. The research: HBR leans toward research-driven content. Many of these works are reports of multiple-year studies.
  
  3. The approach: If you are not familiar with the HBR approach, it is a beautiful blend of theory and practice. Their works are designed for the reflective practitioner intent on practical results-oriented application.
  
  4. The perspective: Collectively, HBR's 10 Must Reads On Leadership provides a global perspective on leadership. This is not simply what's happening on the American scene.
  
  5. The attention to detail: The indexing and contributor bios are outstanding.
  
  HBR's 10 Must Reads On Leadership is just that. Read it. Apply it. You won't regret it.
• 
  Kari Metzger

  Love this book on leadership - it's a collection of articles that are perfect to keep in your flight bag for trips - short essays that give you something to think about and of course, the quintessential Drucker (how can you go wrong?)
  
  I really would have given this 5 stars, but the last couple of articles didn't quite hit as close to home for me - even so, I waffled between 4 and 5 stars (would have been an ideal 4.5 star book!).
  
  Recommended for anyone looking to up their game in leadership. :)
• 
  Elizabeth

  The articles are excellent in isolation, especially if you are reading them off of the HBR website. As a collection, however, I have reservations about rating a collection of articles on leadership above 3 stars when there is a lack of diversity in the authorship and topics selected.
  
  It’s my hope that other HBR collections take equity, diversity, inclusion, anti-racism and accessibility into account when selecting their 10 essential reads on any topic.
• 
  Rodrigo Pinillos Osnayo

  Recopilación de 10 lecturas básicas sobre liderazgo. Algunas de ellas probablemente ya clásicas (Goleman, Drucker), otras no tanto, pero en cualquier caso, todas deberían permitir contrastar los esquemas que presentan con nuestro accionar diario: no se aprende a liderar leyendo, pero la reflexión que lleva a corregir la acción seguro que sí.
• 
  Carrie

  I wanted to like this book, but it left me depressed that the highest regarded popular press writings on leadership are (still) written by white men. What topics and narratives would we be exploring in the realm of leadership if the authorship had more diverse gender and racial representation?
  
  When white men make up the vast majority of Fortune 500 CEOs, it starts to feel like the issue of representation in this book's authorship is part of a systemic issue. I hope HBR is taking this into consideration with their future publications.
• 
  Nick Jamil

  It was very hard to rate this book. Many of the articles are actually quite insightful, despite my rating, and well worth the read. One could even call some of them "game changing". With regards to others, I just don't think I'm at a place in my career and in my organization where I can appreciate the articles. I skimmed those. Finally, there is an article or two in there, or some articles with a few parts within them, that I vehemently disagree with and can't understand how they made it into a "top 10" list.
• 
  Annie

  Only a few of the articles were interesting but not "must reads" for a business person. Perhaps the articles were novel at the time they were published. Since then, many of the insightful topics have been expanded into books. A business person would recognize some of the authors like Peter F. Drucker ("The Effective Executive"), Jim Collins ("Good to Great"), and Daniel Goleman ("Emotional Intelligence").
• 
  William

  I get that the conventions and quality of academic writing vary across disciplines. But the breathless tone of business/management academia gussies up the meager insights of this discipline as significant, penetrating scholarship. It isn't. And this book isn't worth your time.
• 
  Mike Ncube

  Great resource for anyone leading a team or company or any aspiring leaders. I particularly enjoyed Jim Collins Level 5 leadership insights. I’ve read his book Good to Great too and this was an excellent summary of it
• 
  Lizzy

  There were a couple interesting essays ("Crucibles of Leadership", can't remember the other one I liked) but in general I'm annoyed I had to read it for class.
• 
  Thiago Lima

  Li o livro HBR's 10 Must Reads on Leadership da Harvard Business Review, uma coletânea de textos de diversos autores renomados nesse tema, entre eles Peter F. Drucker, Daniel Goleman (O mesmo de Inteligência Emocional), Bill George entre outros.
  
  Durante o texto são ilustrados diversos exemplos de líderes e como eram os seus comportamentos diante de equipes, de clientes, de concorrentes. Valores, Postura, vários aspectos são analisados e confrontados comportamentos de gerentes, diretores em diferentes situações, principalmente em ambiente corporativo e em equipe, com seus times.
  
  Os primeiros capítulos tratam de aspectos mais teóricos e fundamenta o que se entende por liderança nas pessoas, diante de grupos de trabalhos, estudos, familias, etc. Nos próximos capítulos é explorado muito sobre a vida dentro de grandes corporações.
  
  O que me chamou muito atenção é a ênfase que diversos autores deram a autenticidade, a forma única que cada um de nós tem em nossos comportamentos. Descobrir sua liderança autêntica, de acordo com alguns autores, requer um comprometimento em desenvolver a você mesmo, ou seja, envolve autoconhecimento e crescimento de suas habilidades. (O que dá entender que, quanto mais nós nos conhecemos, mas podemos nos desenvolver, ou de forma mais efetiva). Eles comentaram sobre lideranças autênticas, que trata de líderes que põe em prática seus valores e princípios, a todo momento. Sobre o corporativismo e vida em empresa, os líderes autênticos sempre mantém uma sinergia muito forte com sua equipe, as mantendo vivas e vibrantes, integradas. Fala um pouco das motivações intrínsecas e extrínsecas, que são duas motivações que movem grandes líderes - o que vem de dentro (como a pessoa foi criada, sua história e como encara o mundo atualmente, que molda seus valores) e o que vem de fora (as pessoas que lidam no dia a dia, amigos, mentores e familiares).
  
  É um livro que puxa pra realidade americana (me lembro das aulas que tive de liderança no RIT), mas se aplica muito bem pra quem trabalha com grandes corporações, negociando ou fornecendo, por exemplo, está dentro de uma grande corporação ou já viveu essa realidade.
  
  Vale muito a pena ler! Algum de vocês já leu esse livro? O que acharam?
  
• 
  Abhishek

  I picked this up from a charity store for 2 quid and thought hopefully, I can brush up on some of the learnings from B-school. It's been a while afterall.
  
  I actually forgot how much stating the obvious sometimes these books get. Having said that, there were some interesting parts to the read, especially anecdotes from the lives of some business leaders but one pays for that by wading through much that is tedious and rather repetitive.
  
  Maybe another reason, I didn't find much value in it because, I had read a few essays beforehand. Like the one from Peter Drucker or the chapter which was essentially a summary of the book good to great.
  
  All in all, pick this up depending on your state of being. If you're the type of person who reads the HBR articles here and there anyways or keep yourself abreast with the industry at large, I'm afraid this book might not add much. However, as I did in my first year of MBA, if you're a college student starting your course or you've found yourself newly promoted to a managerial position and do not have the luxury of time to read various books, go for this one.
  
  Not the worst £2 I've ever spent personally.😊😊
• 
  Javier Rivero

  This compilation makes yourself challenge and question your performance and existance as a leader, in a good way. Much of the treats, competencies, skills, etc described from the various authors do converge at certain points. And while every author claims they did the best research amongst top X CEOs across all continents in the top performing companies, the conclusions vary a lot. Either way, it's a good exercise to read all of this learnings derived from these exhaustive leadership analaysis.
  
  That being said, I found the majority of the advice a little outdated, since most of these studies analyzed Top managers and CEO's from the 80's and 90's. A lot has changed since then, leadership has evolved drastically and most of the now succesful companies are related to technology, where the culture inside of these organization are vastly different from a traditional corporation (eg. GE/Gillete/Unilever). However, as mentioned above, some valuable learnings can be applied by the modern day leader, specially "In Praise of the Incomplete Leader" and "Discovering Your Authentic Leadership".
• 
  Ashik Uzzaman

  Last week I finished "HBR's 10 Must Reads on Leadership" by Harvard Business Review featuring a good collection of leadership articles from renowned business leaders. Here are the articles from the book
  
  (1) Daniel Goleman - What Makes a Leader?
  (2) Peter Drucker - What Makes an Effective Executive?
  (3) John P. Kottner - What Leaders Really Do
  (4) Ronald A Heifetx and Donald L. Laurie - The Work of Leadership
  (5) Robert Goffee and Gareth Jones - Why Should Anyone Be Led by You?
  (6) Warren G. Bennis and Robert J. Thomas - Crucibles of Leadership
  (7) Him Collins - Level 5 Leadership: The Triumph of Humility and Fierce Resolve
  (8) David Rooke and William R. Torbert - Seven Transformations of Leadership
  (9) Bill George, Peter Sims, Andrew N. McLean and Diana Moyer - Discover Your Authentic Leadership
  (10) Deborah Ancona, Thomas W. Malone, Wanda J. Orlikowski and Peter M. Senege - In Praise of the Incomplete Leader
  
  Source:
  http://www.dragon-bishop.com/2021/08/...
  
  
• 
  Barry Davis

  An excellent collection of HBR articles by business leaders.
  Goleman, Daniel - What Makes a Leader?
  Drucker, Peter - What Makes an Effective Executive?
  Kottner, John P. - What Leaders Really Do
  Heifetx, Ronald A/. and Laurie, Donald L. - The Work of Leadership
  Goffee, Robert and Jones, Gareth - Why Should Anyone Be Led by You?
  Bennis, Warren G. and Thomas, Robert J. - Crucibles of Leadership
  Collins, Him - Level 5 Leadership: The Triumph of Humility and Fierce Resolve
  Rooke, David, and Torbert, William R. - Seven Transformations of Leadership
  George, Bill; Sims, Peter; McLean, Andrew N. and Moyer, Diana - Discover Your Authentic Leadership
  Ancona, Deborah; Malone, Thomas W.; Orlikowski, Wanda J. and Senege, Peter M. - In Praise of the Incomplete Leader
  
• 
  Mahesh Karthik

  A worthy read as a compendium of good leadership articles. It provides tips and tricks, general stats and studies about the leadership and is not a guide to build leadership. If there was one concept that I would carry from this book, it would be about authentic leadership. Great leaders can inspire and move someone, but emulating them and their action will not get him/her far. On the contrary, understanding your own trials and tribulation, your life challenges and the journey itself, will help you be a better leader. Being an incomplete (not to be misunderstood with incompetent) leader, being a human leader is what will connect you to people.
• 
  Cristina

  Out of ten chapters, I’d say 3-4 were engaging and are sticking. In general, I think it’s time to update this book-add more recent anecdotal stories, add more diverse voices. The most recent article is from 2007 and the oldest from 1996. That said, I’d imagine much of the message is the same, but perhaps the manuscripts would be more engaging by incorporating more perspectives. This book is not going to make you into a leader, but there are some thought provoking ideas and things to consider for self-reflection.
• 
  Juan Jacobo Bernal

  I have never been a huge fan of anthologies. But this one has absolutely blown my mind: the authors in Harvard Business Review’s book dissect fascinating cases and present applicable leadership lessons. As the post-pandemic era begins to dawn, we might face unprecedented levels of volatility, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity— brilliant leadership will become a vital skill. I highly recommend this tome.
• 
  Banana

  ცოტა სხვა მოლოდინი მქონდა კითხვის დაწყებამდე და გული დამწყდა მთელი წიგნი დაუსრულებლად ბიზნესის მაგალითებით რომ იყო სავსე.
  
  რამდენიმე მაგალითი საინტერესოც იყო და ეფექტურიც, მაგრამ წიგნი, როგორც მოტივატორი ჩემთვის ვერ შედგა. ძირითადად, ემოცია გამოცლილი ფაქტებია მოყვანილი ერთმანეთზე მიყრილი, რაც ჩემთვის, როგორც ბიზნესით ყველაზე ნაკლებად დაინტერესებული ადამიანისთვის, უკიდურესად დამღლელი იყო.