Product Description
Max De Pree claims that leadership isn’t a science or a discipline, but an art. He advises that leaders don’t inflict pain, they bear pain; the first responsability of a leader is to define reality, the last is to say thank you – and that in between the leader is a servant; in baseball and business, the needs of the team are best met when we meet the needs of an individual.
Lightman @ 2:03 am
On page one of Leadership Is an Art Max Depree writes, “The book is about the art of leadership: liberating people to do what is required of them in the most effective and humane way possible”. This is a theme that runs throughout this very wise and in every way excellent work. The following quotes provide some of the flavor of Depree’s enlightened and inspiring thinking:
* The first responsibility of a leader is to define reality. The last is to say thank you. In between the two, the leader must become a servant and a debtor.
* In addition to all of the ratios and goals and parameters and bottom lines, it is fundamental that leaders endorse a concept of persons. This begins with an understanding of the diversity of people’s gifts and talents and skills.
* Understanding and accepting diversity enables us to see that each of us is needed. It also enables us to begin to think about being abandoned to the strengths of others, of admitting that we cannot know or do everything.
* Leaders don’t inflict pain; they bear pain.
* First, as a Christian I believe that each person is made in the image of God. For those of us who have received the gift of leadership from the people we lead, this belief has enormous implications.
* Leaders owe people space, space in the sense of freedom. Freedom in the sense of enabling our gifts to be exercised.
* Participative management is not democratic. Having a say differs from having a vote.
* Interestingly, though in organizations like ours we need a lot of freedom, there is no room for license. Discipline is what it takes to do the job.
* One of the important things leaders need to learn is to recognize the signals of impending deterioration.
* Without forgiveness, there can be no real freedom to act…
Depree has given us an abiding philosophy of leadership. Actually operating in alignment with these principles demands a very high level of integrity – one that few leaders ever do attain. Those that do so unleash forces of transformation resulting in high performance high involvement organizations.
This book characterizes a commercial arena filled with vocational potential. I give it the highest recommendation.
Matthew Dodd @ 2:26 am
Thoughtful and thought-provoking, Max DePree’s easy-to-read classic, “Leadership is an Art,” was one of the best leadership books I have read. I recommend it to brand-new leaders to help lay a solid leadership foundation upon which to build, and to seasoned leaders and managers interested in sharpening their leadership skills and refining their approach to leadership.
This book is a series of interdependent philosophical essays that are part of a holistic view of effective leadership. DePree defines the art of leadership as “liberating people to do what is required of them in the most effective and humane way possible,” and that definition is a theme that runs throughout the book. Another closely related common theme in these non-sequential yet complementary essays is that leaders must abandon themselves to the strengths of others in order to serve them and allow them to realize their full potential.
DePree put a lot of emphasis on people and fostering leadership environments in which trusting, respectful, and effective relationships flourish. His ideas and beliefs about leadership, some that I have never really read anywhere else, were refreshing and stimulating. One largely ignored insight that particularly stood out to me was that “much of a leader’s performance cannot be reviewed until `after’ the fact.” In today’s common short-term focus/instant gratification world, such insights deserve our uncommon attention.
Although originally published in 1989, DePree’s thoughts, ideas, and approach to leadership are timeless. While some people may argue that DePree’s writings are idealistic, I found them to be realistic given the nature of people and the frenetic pace of our hyper-competitive professional environments. Every leader owes it to him- or herself, and to those who allow themselves to be led, to read and reflect on the leadership wisdom contained in this small and powerful book.
Anonymous @ 4:55 am
This book has been an incredible resource for me personally in my leadership development. Every time I feel I need a “refresher” on leadership or what I’m doing in my leadership positions, I pick it up and learn something new. However, it is not for everyone. This is a philosophical, “touchy-feely” book. For someone who tends to be more of a hands-on leader who leads with caring and compassion, it is great! Others who are looking for more of a formula approach to leadership won’t find it helpful. It doesn’t have lists of do’s or don’ts. It isn’t the 7 traits that make a leader (like you could ever nail it down to any given number…).
I loved this book, and it has truly helped me in my leadership development. I recommend it to anyone that is looking for something out of the norm of leadership and management books.
Anonymous @ 6:36 am
For anyone looking to go beyond the status quo of leadership, Leadership Is An Art is required reading. Going beyond the mechanics of leading and into the ethics and philosopy of leadership, the book puts a human face on what can be a very harsh position, corporate leadership. With probing questions, the author pulls out of the reader many insights, and forces you to think through things yourself, allowing you to own the conclusions you come to. If you are in any type of leadership at all, from parents to CEO’s, read this book.
Sheila Schembri @ 6:49 am
While relatively small in size, this book speaks volumes on how the spirit of leadership should be. Yes, it is idealistic and the anecdotes are entertaining, but I believe it also proves useful to leaders striving to understand how to lead people in a way that benefits everyone. This book aspires to articulate that leaders must transform themselves, not the people around them. He challenges leaders to look beyond what they need, and instead focus on what they owe. DePree has a self-described Participative Management perspective and it is the continuous thread throughout the book. He focuses on how to create a collective culture within the organization which is ideally made up of employee-owners who are the epitome of his affirmation of identity within an organization – not to mention a competitive edge in the marketplace. These lofty aspirations can be actualized in the organizational world by incorporating the idea of “roving leadership” and use of organizational “giants” which are people within organizations who need to be sought out and let run free . . . through the act of roving leadership. In an attempt to define leadership, DePree lays the foundation upon which he feels successful leadership should be judged. His criteria for a leader are not based on a set of interchangeable personality characteristics, but instead a compilation of what a success leader does to fulfill his responsibilities and debts to both the organization and to the people he works for. DePree gives us three specific sentences which I think are not only insightful, but sums up the book’s whole philosophy, “The first responsibility of a leader is to define reality. The last is to say thank you. In between the two, the leader must become a servant and a debtor.” A rational environment is based on “trust and human dignity while providing the opportunity for personal development and self-fulfillment in the attainment of the organization’s goals.” For this environment to become obtainable, it is essential leaders and employees trust each other to be accountable for doing their jobs. If proper work ethics and accountability become evident, trust is built and leaders then feel confident giving the space and freedom we are owed as employees. DePree also has a lot to say about leaders being debtors. Leaders owe it to the organizations they work for and the people within it to share their assets to help people reach their inert potential. The leader’s various responsibilities and debts are dependent upon the things the people in the organization need, from their leader, in order to become sufficiently accountable. Granted while leadership comes with debts to the future, DePree states a leader’s day-to-day obligations are to uphold momentum levels within the organization. Momentum seems to be a buzz word for DePree and it takes on various personas within the organization. It is a feeling among employees that their lives and work are intermeshed and maneuvering toward a conspicuous and genuine goal. The trick to having momentum is to “begin with a competent leader, a management team strongly dedicated to aggressive managerial development, and opportunities.” Cultivating vision throughout the organization is a vital part of this philosophy and can be achieved through momentum as well. Momentum has many other uses and is delineated. Overall, the scope of DePree’s analysis seems to be ample. However, I feel the depth of discussions on each topic barely scrapes the surface. While maintaining a continuous theme of focusing on the individual’s needs, I found some of the points to be slightly repetitive as opposed to constructively detailed. I do however, like DePree’s suggestion of observing employees for tangible evidence of outstanding leadership. According to DePree, praiseworthy leadership manifests itself primarily as reached potential, as employees who learn while on the job, and as employees who achieve tasks – just to name a few. Since reading this book, I have formed the opinion that leadership is a spirit, not a list of innate characteristics you must be born with. With the right organizational culture and people to guide you, each of us has the potential to discover the leader within ourselves, even if that role only manifests itself in the form of a roving leader.