Product Description

"Leadership is personal. It's not about the corporation, the community, or the country. It's about you. If people don't believe in the messenger, they won't believe the message. If people don't believe in you, they won't believe in what you say. And if it's about you, then it's about your beliefs, your values, your principles."-- from Credibility
In this best-selling book, Kouzes and Posner (authors of The Leadership Challenge), explain why leadership is above all a relationship, with credibility as the cornerstone. They provide rich examples of real managers in action and reveal the six key disciplines and related practices that strengthen a leader's capacity for developing and sustaining credibility. Kouzes and Posner show how leaders can encourage greater initiative, risk-taking, and productivity by demonstrating trust in employees and resolving conflicts on the basis of principles, not positions.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #23586 in Books
• Published on: 2003-01-21
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 368 pages

From Publishers Weekly
Behavioral savants Kouzes and Posner ( The Leadership Challenge ) here provide philosophical and practical guidance for business executives at a time when computers, consultants, coproduction and ever-growing employee empowerment leave less for managers to do. Unsurprisingly, the authors place honesty, competence and a talent to inspire ("a set of values that can be learned") at the core of effective leadership. From a penetrating survey of business methods and employee attitudes worldwide, Kouzes and Posner pinpoint future trends--e.g., more authority for customer contact personnel--in a logical, integrated and symbiotic organizational plan to replace a now-outdated omnipotent-boss system. Unfortunately, a hucksterish title and an introductory essay on "credibility" do a disservice to this broad and serious work's potential readership. 50,000 first printing; Executive Program book club selection; author tour.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Book Info
Kouzes and Posner show how leaders can encourage greater initiative, risk-taking, and productivity by demonstrating trust in employees and resolving conflicts on the basis of principles, not positions. Softcover.

Inside Flap Copy
A personal, inspiring, and genuine guide to helping us all understand the fundamental importance of credibility for building personal and organizational success. Credibility shows why leadership is above all a relationship, with credibility as the cornerstone. Through rich examples and stories of real managers in action, authors Jim Kouzes and Barry Posner reveal the six key disciplines and related practices that strengthen a leader's capacity for development and sustaining credibility.

Customer Reviews

Great Book!
This book is excellent. That is not only my opinion, but the opinion of numerous colleagues who have read the book based on my recommendation. Trust (credibility) is an absolutely critical attribute for an effective leader. This book covers all the bases with regard to gaining, maintaining, and restoring credibility. I highly recommend this book to everyone who is in any position of leadership.

Leadership is still a Relationship
Starting with the headline, 'Leadership is a Relationship'; Authors Kouzes & Posner demonstrate that Credibility is the foundation of any sound relationship, but particularly between leaders and their constituents. Using credibility to represent a combination of admired leadership characteristics - honest, forward-looking, inspiring, and competent, etc. - the authors of "The Leadership Challenge" declare the six disciplines of credibility to be:
1. Discovering your self
2. Appreciating constituents
3. Affirming shared values
4. Developing capacity
5. Serving a purpose
6. Sustaining hope
The authors then devote a chapter to each of these disciplines, first providing definitional understanding, before outlining steps for developing the discipline.

Although the original writing of this book is about 15 years old, the message is more important today than ever. As defined in this book, leadership credibility is much the same as `trust' in the recently published book, The SPEED of Trust: The One Thing that Changes Everything by Stephen M. R. Covey. Both of the books should leave you with a clear understanding that; leadership is relational, this trust/credibility component is crucial, it all starts with knowing and being responsible for who you are, and purpose is its heart. Not a bad success formula for any relationship, business or otherwise. This book is recommended for anyone wanting to learn the underpinnings of relationships.

book for corporate america
Book is in great condition. No delivery issues to note.