Measure of a Leader

With executives being replaced a rate of one per day and confidence in government at record lows, are we looking in the wrong places for solutions to our leadership crisis?

Aubrey Daniels, the author of the management bestseller "Bringing out the Best in People" and expert on human behaviour in the workplace, believes that we are.

Rather than obsessing over so-called leadership qualities like personality, profits, and charisma, Daniels argues that we need bold new ways to measure and pursue leadership and to refocus attention where power truly resides – with followers.

"Measure of a Leader," Aubrey and James Daniels' new book, applies behavioural science to the study of leadership and suggests that anyone can develop more effective leadership skills by learning to observe and understand the behaviour of followers.

Put simply, they argue, there are only two sources of behaviour in organisations; the behaviour of the leader and the behaviour of the followers. Thus unless leaders understand these behaviours, they are unlikely to prove effective.

It follows, then, that competent performance at all levels of management is a matter of creating results through the correct behaviours – and focusing only on results can lead to confusion and frustration.

While heavily biased towards a discussion of the science of leadership, "Measure of a Leader" is careful to demonstrate how behaviours affect real workplace situations and – critically – how individuals can increase their leadership effectiveness.

The antithesis of all those 'quick-read' management self-help volumes, this is a serious and illuminating examination of how to optimise performance throughout organisations and a highly recommended read for anybody with leadership aspirations.