Product Description

Today’s best leaders know how to lead up, a necessary strategy when a supervisor is micromanaging rather than macrothinking, when a division president offers clear directives but can’t see the future, or when investors demand instant gain but need long-term growth. Through vivid, compelling stories, Michael Useem reveals how upward leadership can transform incipient disaster into hard-won triumph. For example, U.S. Marine Corps General Peter Pace reconciled the conflicting priorities of six bosses by keeping them well informed and challenging their instructions when necessary. Useem also explores what happens when those who should step forward fail to do so—Mount Everest mountaineers might have saved themselves from disaster during a fateful ascent if only they had questioned their guides’ flawed decisions.

Leading Up is a call to action. It asks us to get results by helping our superiors lead and by building on the best in everybody’s nature, and it offers a pragmatic blueprint for doing so.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #356522 in Books
• Published on: 2003-03-25
• Released on: 2003-03-25
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 336 pages

Features

• ISBN13: 9781400047000
• Condition: NEW
• Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
• Click here to view our Condition Guide and Shipping Prices

From Booklist
In his first book, The Leadership Moment (1998), Useem used stories to provide examples of leadership in extreme situations. He does it again, now using diverse stories from throughout the ages to show both good and bad examples of "leading up." Useem includes leadership lessons to reinforce the value of the stories and highlight particular points. An integral ingredient throughout the leadership lessons is communications. Providing accurate data, not withholding information or being afraid to speak up to a superior, is part of what he perceives as essential. He realizes that there can be risk associated for the person trying to lead up, especially in a business that doesn't foster managers communicating risks, strategies, and values up to CEOs. In the last chapter, he ties all this together in a formula for managers to use to lead up. Useem does provide insightful information for thoughtful consideration by managers and reinforces the importance of feedback and long-range thinking as necessary to keep the organization moving forward. Eileen Hardy
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Review
?Often the best coaching a leader can receive is directly from the team he/she leads. Openness to their feedback is critical, and Professor Useem?s new book provides many dramatic examples of successes and failures in this important dimension.?
?Arthur Martinez, former chief executive officer of Sears, Roebuck & Co.

?Teaching your boss is the most important thing that anyone in business, government, or the nonprofit world needs to know. Leading Up is a must-read for everyone.?
?Leonard A. Lauder, chairman, the Estée Lauder Companies, Inc.

?Professor Michael Useem has shown himself a master in the use of vignettes to teach us about leadership. In his latest book, Leading Up, he has again used reality, this time to discuss ?those who would dare to lead their leaders.? In today?s fast-moving and often chaotic world, this book is a must-read. It will help you help your boss be the best he can be and in doing so, build a better organization and increase your value to that organization.?
?General Charles C. Krulak, former commandant of the U.S. Marine Corps and senior vice chairman, MBNA Corporation

?Leadership is not just about telling people what to do. It is about building a common purpose?a goal?that everyone on the team works hard to achieve. To do that, leaders must understand that it is not just about them and their goals. It is about creating a group where voices are heard and help offered is help received. Leading Up shows how great leaders create groups that win.?
?Joel Kurtzman, Global Lead Partner, Thought Leadership, PricewaterhouseCoopers

?The message afforded by Leading Up is powerful and germane as we continue to decentralize and empower our organizations. As Mike Useem says, ?If we expect our subordinates to furnish us with unvarnished, unbiased advice and unswerving support at times when it really counts, we need to have cultivated a culture that encourages and rewards them to do so.? His diverse selection of historical examples and his storytelling ability bring the concepts alive.?
?Charles O. Holliday, Jr., chairman and chief executive officer, DuPont


From the Hardcover edition. -- Review

Review
“Often the best coaching a leader can receive is directly from the team he/she leads. Openness to their feedback is critical, and Professor Useem’s new book provides many dramatic examples of successes and failures in this important dimension.”
—Arthur Martinez, former chief executive officer of Sears, Roebuck & Co.

“Teaching your boss is the most important thing that anyone in business, government, or the nonprofit world needs to know. Leading Up is a must-read for everyone.”
—Leonard A. Lauder, chairman, the Estée Lauder Companies, Inc.

“Professor Michael Useem has shown himself a master in the use of vignettes to teach us about leadership. In his latest book, Leading Up, he has again used reality, this time to discuss ‘those who would dare to lead their leaders.’ In today’s fast-moving and often chaotic world, this book is a must-read. It will help you help your boss be the best he can be and in doing so, build a better organization and increase your value to that organization.”
—General Charles C. Krulak, former commandant of the U.S. Marine Corps and senior vice chairman, MBNA Corporation

“Leadership is not just about telling people what to do. It is about building a common purpose—a goal—that everyone on the team works hard to achieve. To do that, leaders must understand that it is not just about them and their goals. It is about creating a group where voices are heard and help offered is help received. Leading Up shows how great leaders create groups that win.”
—Joel Kurtzman, Global Lead Partner, Thought Leadership, PricewaterhouseCoopers

“The message afforded by Leading Up is powerful and germane as we continue to decentralize and empower our organizations. As Mike Useem says, ‘If we expect our subordinates to furnish us with unvarnished, unbiased advice and unswerving support at times when it really counts, we need to have cultivated a culture that encourages and rewards them to do so.’ His diverse selection of historical examples and his storytelling ability bring the concepts alive.”
—Charles O. Holliday, Jr., chairman and chief executive officer, DuPont


From the Hardcover edition.

Customer Reviews

Exercise Caution!
This book has great ideas and they're well presented. Therefore, I say it is a five star presentation. But, a word of caution. Before trying to implement any of this, you best be able to explain the philosophy behind it all, in case you get "called" on your motives. I recommend, as I do for all "how to" leadership books, that you absorb some of the knowledge in the book with the unlikely name, "West Point", by Norman Thomas Remick.

weLEAD Book Review from leadingtoday.org
Leaders are not just bosses. In fact, some of the most effective leaders in an organization may be those leading the boss! Leading up is about helping your superiors lead and do their job better. Everyone can lead up. Even if you are a CEO you will need to lead your board and stockholders.



Michael Useem, the author of Leading Up, is professor of management and the director of the Center for Leadership and Change Management at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. His writing style uses detailed cases from military history, politics, business and even stories of Biblical figures to emphasize the need to lead up. I found some of the stories a bit long and detailed, going beyond what some readers might desire in order to grasp the point being made. However, if you enjoy this presentation style, the cases are well written and provide fascinating insights into actual historical events.



Professor Useem says that business has often looked to the military model for lessons in leadership "because of the seemingly impervious top-down authority system." Using actual military stories, the author demonstrates that the military model can also offer invaluable lessons that are just the opposite. Encouraging your subordinates to say what is positive or negative about a plan before you impose an order can often avoid costly errors, or even save lives. Creating a culture that stimulates and rewards upward leadership is critical in today's complex environment where no single individual can possibly have all the answers. Useem says, "The military might appear to be the last place on earth where upward leadership is tolerated, but in fact such leadership is obligatory." Encouraging upward challenges can keep a leader on course regarding adherence to principles.



The book also forcefully demonstrates that redefining an institution's reality is one of the greatest tests of leading up. Changing well-established worldviews is certainly a difficult task, but the very fact that it is so difficult underscores the "overriding importance of achieving it." Often the redefining of a superior's misplaced perceptions, or clarifying a superiors' understanding of a situation requires extraordinary steps. This is one of the greatest challenges to leading up.



Sometimes a subordinate must exercise the courage to ask the boss to elaborate and clarify inadequate instructions or an unclear strategy. Often a superior does not specifically seek this type of leading up. Nevertheless, such challenges can often make the difference between failure and success.



If you enjoy reading detailed, but interesting leadership stories, accompanied by succinct lessons in leading up, then this is a book for you. If you are looking for a quick read of principles and leadership philosophy, you will not find that in this work.



Review by Dr. J. Howard Baker

Another terribly disappointing business book
With a full-page ad in the Harvard Business Review, and the impressive credentials of the author, I was sure I would be pleased with the book. It turns out to be one of the most disappointing business books I have read in a long time. Useem attempts to illustrate a number of concepts with detailed stories from history. The stories are often interesting and insightful; unfortunately, his commentary is chock full of meaningless platitudes and superficial analysis.

For example, Useem writes about U.N. Commander Romeo Dallaire's experience in Rowanda. Dalleire was sure of an approaching genocide, but could not convince his superiors of the impending tragedy, which ultimately occurred. While explicitly not blaming Dalleire for the tragedy, Useem give us this "Lesson in Leading Up": "When the risk is greatest to yourself and your organization, your only choice may be no choice at all. Steadfastly pursuing your mission in the face of personal danger and even organizational ignorance is sometimes both the sole course to be followed and the greatest service you can render." If anyone is able to put this "Lesson" into practice at work, please let me know. The others are not much better.