Leadership For Dummies

by Marshall Loeb, Stephen Kindel

Overview

Yogi Berra said, leading is easy, the hard part is getting people to follow. Let this user-friendly guide show you the path to great leadership

Eliciting cooperation from a group of people of any size—from a project team to an army—can be like trying to tap dance on quicksand. Although leadership might come easier to some people, it isn't necessarily something you have to be born with as you'll learn in this step-by-step guide to becoming a leader — leaders are made, not born, and just about anybody can become an effective leader.

Whether you aspire to being a leader, have had leadership thrust upon you, or are already a leader and want to be better at it, Leadership For Dummies is for you. Short on theory and long on practical strategies and surefire techniques, it arms you with what you need to:

• Build and flex your leadership muscles
• See opportunity amid change and crisis
• Develop your own leadership style
• Lead with effective communication and encouragement
• Recognize the ten telltale behaviors of true leaders
• Earn greater respect, success, and recognition

Teacher, preacher, coach, project leader. . . no matter what specific leadership role you want to fill, Leadership For Dummies provides you with a solid foundation to hone your leadership chops and instill trust in those you lead. You'll discover:

• What it takes to be a leader and your own leadership potential
• Common misconceptions about leadership
• How to be flexible and adaptive without compromising your principles
• The ongoing process of leadership
• How to prepare to assume the role of leader
• Leadership in everyday life and how to take a more active role in your family, community, and the world at large
• What vision is and why it's so necessary to great leadership
• How to develop (and act on) your own vision
• How to create winning teams and keep them following your lead

This friendly and accessible guide also explains types of leadership, roles leaders take on to get the job done, and how the realities of leadership can affect your everyday life. If you want to know all of that and get quick ideas about leadership and the art of persuading, grab your own copy of Leadership For Dummies today.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780764551765
Publisher:	Wiley
Publication date:	09/02/1999
Series:	For Dummies Books
Pages:	384
Sales rank:	1,092,713
Product dimensions:	7.30(w) x 9.20(h) x 1.00(d)

About the Author

Marshall Loeb is the daily columnist for CBS MarketWatch.com and an award-winning editor and broadcaster.

Stephen Kindel is a former senior editor at Forbes.

Table of Contents

Introduction.

PART I: What It Takes to Be a Leader.

Chapter 1: A Marshal's Baton in Every Soldier's Knapsack.

Chapter 2: Remember, They're Not Electing You Dictator for Life.

Chapter 3: Building Your Leadership Muscles.

Chapter 4: Which Hat Do I Wear? The Roles That Leaders Play.

PART II: Leadership Is a Process.

Chapter 5: Take the Lead? Me?

Chapter 6: The Missions of the Leader.

Chapter 7: The Responsibilities of a Leader.

PART III: The Art of Leadership.

Chapter 8: What Are the Skills of a Leader?

Chapter 9: Harnessing Your Strengths and Weaknesses.

Chapter 10: What about Expectations?

Chapter 11: The Axioms of Leadership.

Chapter 12: Managing as a Leader.

Chapter 13: Leading When You Aren't Really the Leader.

PART IV: Leadership in Everyday Life.

Chapter 14: Volunteering Your Time and Skills.

Chapter 15: Taking the Lead as a Volunteer.

Chapter 16: Everyday Leadership: Training for Real Life.

Chapter 17: Leading When You Coach.

Chapter 18: Organizing Your Community: Lessons from Saul Alinsky.

PART V: Leadership and Vision.

Chapter 19: What's a Vision?

Chapter 20: Developing a Vision.

PART VI: Team Building.

Chapter 21: Why Depend on Teams?

Chapter 22: Creating a Winning Team.

Chapter 23: Team Learning.

Chapter 24: Spreading Team Knowledge Around.

Chapter 25: When Followers Won't Follow.

Chapter 26: Can the Situation Be Saved?

Chapter 27: Leading across Cultures.

PART VII: The Part of Tens.

Chapter 28: Ten Mistakes That Every Leader Makes.

Chapter 29: Ten Characteristics of a True Leader.

Chapter 30: Ten Ways to Master Leadership Skills.

Index.

Book Registration Information.

Editorial Reviews

"A year had passed since our last strategy+business review of leadership book and CEO memoirs, so a trip to Borders was in order to see what was new in those categories. We discovered almost all the books in the management section had been published within the last calendar year (apparently most business books have a short shelf life). However, there was a notable exception: Leadership for Dummies (John Wiley & Sons, 1999), by Marshall Loeb and Stephen Kindel, was well stocked and in the same prominent place on the shelf as a year ago...and was now in its second printing. Perhaps the parlous state of America s corporate governance explains why Dummies has found such traction." (Strategy+Business, Fourth Quarter 2002)

From the Publisher