There are plenty of leadership books published every year and many of them are very good. Older isn't necessarily bad though and so I like to dust off some of the older books on my shelf. Recently I took another look at On Leadership by John W. Gardner. Published in 1990, the book is definitely written from the perspective of a different time. Interestingly, the basics that Gardner presents don't seem to have changed much.

"Why do we not have better leadership?" With this age-old question, Gardner opens a masterful review of leadership principles. He starts with a description of the nature of leadership and puts the leader/manager question to rest with a discussion of leaders, managers, and leader/managers. He takes several pages to discuss management functions that leaders must perform. He then launches into a listing of various kinds of leaders. It's here where the reader gets a sense of the author's perspective. Gardner was the Secretary of Health and Human Services in President Johnson's administration and has spent his life in the political arenad. Much of his commentary tends to derive from the political realm. Politics tends to breed a different kind of leader, different from the store manager or corporate executive. Gardner acknowledges this with a statement seemingly aimed at politicians that "leaders do not lead the parade, but find out where it's going and get out ahead of it."

The attributes of good leadership are easily (and often) listed, but aren't as easily defined or described. On Leadership takes on the task and delivers a noteworthy primer on the basics of leadership. Gardner also delves deeply into another subject that writers often seem to gloss over; leadership development. Can leadership be taught? Gardner believes it can, though that may not be as easy as it sounds. There are many obstacles in the path. He points out that great leaders seem to rise from big events, while smaller events don't seem to produce the same kind of leaders. He also suggests that large organizations tend to suppress leadership development as potential leaders can easily get lost in the crowd. I especially appreciate that his two chapters on leadership development are divided between early and long-term development.

Gardner makes a convincing case for longer term and continued leadership development, suggesting what he calls cross-boundary experience; ensuring leaders get new experiences outside their current sphere. Such exposure produces a well rounded leader who is better prepared to take on a larger role.

On Leadership provides the serious student a superb collection of basic leadership information. His book also stands as evidence that good leadership information has been around for a long time, which makes Gardner's original question "Why do we not have better leadership?" even more perplexing.

PLAN - LEAD - EXCEL