The Leadership Challenge

The Leadership Challenge

The authors of the book "The Leadership Challenge" in alphabetical order are James M. Kouzes and Dr. Barry Z. Posner, each of whom are distinguished figures in the field of leadership. The pair have written several books together. Kouzes has devoted his life to leadership and helping others to become better leaders themselves. He started honing his leadership skills at a young age, being one of only a few Eagle Scouts to serve in JFK's honor guard. It was actually JFK's inaugural address that inspired him to want to serve others. He was also voted as one of the twelve best executive educators in the United States. Dr. Posner (besides being a man with an awesome mustache) is a student of leadership with three separate degrees: BA with honors in political science from the University of California, Santa Barbara; his MA in public administration from Ohio State University; and his PhD in organizational behavior and administrative theory from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. He has also written or co-wrote over 100 different research papers on the subject of leadership. Needless to say, both men are very qualified to talk about the subject of leadership.

The book is broken up into seven parts with two chapters in each, except for the seventh, having only one chapter. Kouzes and Posner do a superb job with the formatting of the book. They break down the requirements and obligations of a person in a leadership position. They state the five practices of exemplary leadership: model the way, inspire a shared vision, challenge the process, enable others to act, and encourage the heart. These five practices are merely touched on in the first chapter because each one encompasses an entire part of the book. After the authors set the layout of the book, the pair pours the foundation of our leadership house, if you will. Chapter two is all about credibility and how leaders have to fight and earn credibility in the workplace. The four characteristics that leaders need to have to be creditable are honesty, forward-looking, inspiring and competent. The motto of this chapter is you have to walk the walk. To model the way, a leader has to clarify their values by cultivating their voice and strongly believing his or her words. A leader has to set the example of what should be done. Leaders have to be weary of what they say; every word and even body language can affect employees. Inspiring employees to share your vision can be a daunting task. The way a leader can do this is to conquer the past, present and future. Once they have a firm grip of where the company was, is and wants to be, a leader can then help employees to share this vision. The leader will enlist others to commit to the cause by appeal to common ideals. If a leader can align what he dreams for the company with what the employees dream, he is in great shape. Now that a leader has a strong foundation, framework and walls on his house of leadership, this is the point when he needs to challenge the process. He has to look for new