The Journey of Leadership

I read this book per the recommendations of colleagues at my university. I enjoyed it, particularly the focus on leading "inside-out." I happen to believe that while leading is a collective, human act, effectively leading requires leaders to be self-aware.

In many ways, the text is a re-characterization of leadership tricks published in many other sources (including scholarly research). I'm fine with that because topics connect with people in different ways. Maybe Maor et al.'s way of presenting them works for some people, and if so, that's great.

I also rated the book highly because it is accessible. There's an element here - as there always is with these types of books - of writing about a topic like empathy like it's a formulaic how-to for achievement. As such, I encourage readers to simply be mindful of the potential complexity of these 12 leadership elements as they read. Use the writing for examples, and be far-reaching to identify other examples from within one's own experiences. The book is a quasi-advertisement for McKinsey's Bower Fora, which is understandable (but might be off-putting for some readers). Finally, as is often the case with books like this, readers should dig deeper to understand the elements and not simply tag themselves to the leaders or companies referenced by the book. There are several companies mentioned by name, and what is referenced is what exists at this point in time with respect to those companies. Think long and hard about whether what is in the book will diminish in ten years if, say, a company or its CEO suffers some sort of reputational crisis.