James M. KouzesCritiques

Enjoyed meeting the authors and hear their lessons of leadership

It's about being a leader, and becoming a better leader, and while I usually recoil at business models of leadership, this book is fantastic

Kouzes and Posner are masters at saying in many words what could be said in few. I guess there's nothing wrong with that as people won't shell out big money for tracts. This might be a good primer for anyone completely unfamiliar with leadership concepts. If you have kept up with the trends, it is a wordy refresher. But to be fair, told with nice anecdotes.

I'm not a fan of alludes and Posner...most of what I've read of theirs is several times longer than necessary - as if they felt a need to justify their position by adding in more anecdotes than normal. This was required reading for a year long management round table and while it does have value, I found less value than most probably would. Much of what they try to convey is intuitively obvious to me, and a I see pretty much daily that heir theories are not intuitively obvious to others, so I acknowledge that they do fill a need, but as with their other books that I've read, this is 8-10 times longer than it needs to be. Make your points, use concise language to convey the supporting evidence, illustrate with maybe one anecdote, and recap. If you never read another leadership book, well, read another leadership book. They each claim to have the key to making things happen and they all probably have some merit, but the real leader takes from multiple sources and synthesizes a package that works for him/her.

A simple book with basic concepts covered in most leadership texts. Saccharine anecdotes don't add anything for me, but others might find some connection to them.

[Addendum - 9/27/12]

I reread this in preparation for a seminar and have a slightly revised opinion. The book is still basic, but after discussing it with someone who will be one of the seminar leaders I realized that while it is basic, seasoned leaders should read it. His perspective was that sometimes we forget our roots. I agree that we do need to look back to the basics. The reason I didn't see that is because that is precisely what I have been doing recently and for most of my career. So there's merit and the lesson is that I need to step back and look at the big picture, not just as the book might be of value to me.

This book has reached classic status, and I can see why. It explains a simple framework of five essential components for motivating and inspiring others. The five make sense and are simple enough to quickly memorize. Within these there are ten sub-components and then a further breakdown of key principles. The examples, while meaningful and instructive, get dry for me. In fairness, it may be that, having already been through a class and the accompanying workbook, I'm already at a different learning stage. While the text itself kept my rating at a 3, the concepts are invaluable and I'd recommend it (and will reference it again myself).

This books aims to demonstrate how anyone can be a leader, regardless of age or experience. It uses real life stories and examples exclusively from college students to illustrate the "Five Practices of Exemplary Leadership", which are "Model the way", "Inspire a shared vision", "Challenge the process", "enable others to act", and "Encourage the heart".

Discusses the funamentals of leadership and how they can be applied to the global business environment. This books guides readers through the "Five Practices of Exemplary Leadership" and emphaisizes leadership as a realationship.

Recommended for advising students on leadership qualities, the Five Practices of Exemplary Leadership would probably be the highlight.

amazingly encouraging

Great material, struggled with their writing style.

The second edition of "The Student Leadership Challenge" by James Kouzes and Barry Posner is an excellent resource for students who want to develop their abilities to lead. Actually, anyone wanting to lead can benefit from reading this book. The authors explain in clear, accessible language the five practices for becoming an exemplary leader. Each chapter ends with specific actions students may take to develop their skills as leaders. Stories of student leaders from around the world illustrate the leadership behaviors in practice. These stories also encourage students reading the book that they too can be leaders. This book would be excellent for leadership courses, student leadership development programs, or as a resource for students holding lead roles on or off campus. New copies of the book include an access code for the Student Leadership Practices Inventory. A practical and inspiring book from two well-respected experts in leadership development.

This workbook accompanies workshops based on the authors' popular book, or it stands well on its own as a series of thought exercises to guide the aspiring leader. There are a lot of exercises, such that it is most helpful to do a few at a time. Personally, I found the quotes distributed throughout the book as tangible as anything else.

Used this book wihtin a year long leadrehsip course I took wihtin my county. I enjoyed the many case studies and stories that connected the main points of the book and found it an enjoyable read.

The Most Trusted Source on Becoming a Better Student Leader

In The Student Leadership Challenge, Kouzes and Posner—today's premier leadership experts—demonstrate how anyone can be a leader, regardless of age or experience. Grounded in the same extensive research as the best-selling The Leadership Challenge, it uses real-life stories and examples exclusively from college students to illustrate The Five Practices of Exemplary Leadership®:

Model the Way

Inspire a Shared Vision

Challenge the Process

Enable Others to Act

Encourage the Heart

Praise for The Student Leadership Challenge

"Why wait to learn leadership in the workplace? Now college students can learn how to lead by using Kouzes and Posner's five proven leadership practices. With examples from the experience of student leaders, The Student Leadership Challenge is the perfect guide for faculty and student affairs staff members as well as for students seeking to develop themselves for leadership."
—Howard T. Prince II, director, Center for Ethical Leadership, LBJ School of Public Affairs, University of Texas at Austin

"I've been teaching leadership classes for twenty years, and The Five Practices are, hands down, the best tool for helping students see both their inherent strengths as leaders as well as to further develop their skills."
—Britt Andreatta, assistant dean of students, First-Year Programs & Leadership Education, University of California, Santa Barbara

"The student examples inspire the reader and show us that running into bumps along the way is not only normal, but that you can approach the challenges with confidence and practical solutions."
—Amanda Crowell Itliong, director of leadership programs, Haas Center for Public Service, Stanford University

"This book is a gift to university educators who teach leadership courses or develop trainings, workshops, and retreats."
—Laura Osteen, co-director, Center for Leadership and Civic Education, Florida State University

Leadership matters - a whole lot. Kouzes and Posner, two longtime leadership gurus, unpack years of research that strike to the heart of what makes for effective leadership. Ten straightforward truths provide the book's structure and content. Although none of these ten leadership truths were new or flashy, these basic truths are indeed core to effective leadership (e.g. credibility is the foundation of leadership; values drive commitment; focusing on the future sets leaders apart; and the best leaders are the best learners). Clear and concise, this is the sort of book that a leader needs to reread every year. A

James Kouzes and Barry Posner, throughout "The Leadership Challenge," effectively document the obvious and important influences leaders have on those around them. Their “Five Practices and Ten Commitments of Leadership” include reminders that leaders “model the way,” “inspire a shared vision,” “challenge the process,” “enable others to act,” and “encourage the heart,” and their suggested commitments include one to “set the example by aligning actions with shared values” —ideas that we all too often set aside as we’re dealing with the varied and conflicting directives coming our way.

Furthermore, citing the extensive research they have completed, they remind us of the tremendous influence leaders have: ‘If you’re a manager in an organization, to your direct reports you are the most important leader in your organization…The leaders who have the most influence on people are those who are the closest to them,” they write. “You have to challenge the myth that leadership is about position and power…” The book has a well deserved reputation as must-read material for leaders and anyone interested in leadership, and provides inspiration for those of us involved in workplace learning and performance (training) since so much of what we do helps develop leadership skills among those we serve.

Of the many choices available, this may be the best short guide for "new" leaders and the best short review for "old" leaders. Because of its brevity, it fits these and other purposes even better than it's grandfather "Leadership Challenge" by the same authors.

The best part of this detailed look at leadership in the workplace is its focus on respect of individuals and acknowledgement of the power of teams. Viewing leaders as ones who “enable others to act not by hoarding the power they have but by giving it away,” is critical to the book’s thrust, resulting in advice on how to reward individuals and teams and not only encouraging but actually empowering people to “become heroes.” The authors even conclude that love should be a guiding principle (though this is in part warped by their inclusion of love of product).

What the authors don’t love, however, is wisdom. “How to” advice often encourages leaders to appeal to people’s hopes, dreams, and future visions, while apparently not needing to appeal to the reality of the way the world actually works. Consequently, it’s not surprising than, that that they conclude that because their vast survey showed that leaders don’t want to keep things unchanged, effective leaders must therefore pioneer new things. Apparently, historical leaders who fought against “innovators” (who we now exalt as “early adopters”) were wrong-headed anomalies. C.S. Lewis is apt here: “The real job of every moral teacher [which is really what a leader is] is to keep on bringing us back, time after time, to the old simple principles which we are all so anxious not to see; like bringing a horse back and back to the fence it has refused to jump or bringing a child back and back to the bit in its lesson that it wants to shirk.” Constantly seeking to innovate and improve as the authors suggest, will only lead to a “dynamic workplace” where organizations that are “stable, orderly, and run like clockwork” are replaced by ones where employees are on shifting ground where they can’t consistently rely on an organizational structure that is permanent enough to ensure they will always be protected.

Quick easy reads from various thinkers on Business Leadership. It may be a bit dated with the current crisis going on now in 2009. But still good nonetheless for bite sized introduction to various thinking about leadership.

Jim Kouzes en Barry Posner schreven in 2002 de bestseller The Leadership Challenge, waarin ze 5 practices beschreven voor voorbeelding leiderschap:
1. model the way
2. inspire a shared vision
3. challenge the process
4. enable others to act
5. encourage the heart
In Christian Reflections on The Leadership Challenge graaft het duo, maar ook een aantal andere bekende christelijke schrijvers over leiderschap een spade dieper en reflecteren hun eigen geloof en observaties aan de practices. Het initiatief hiervoor kwam van John C. Maxwell (INJOY), gevolgd door Ken Blanchard (o.m. The One Minute Manager), Bill Bright, Kevin Myers, Nancy Ortberg en Andy Stanley. Na een introductie van de vijf practices door Kouzes en Posner pakken de anderen een practice bij de kop, diepen die uit met bijbelteksten, voorbeelden uit de christelijke praxis van kerk, gemeente, liefdadigheidsinstelling en bedrijfsleven. Vele mensen werden geïnterviewd, zodat een field guide for leaders ontstond. Christian Reflections ontnuchtert menig ingesleten paradigma van seculiere leiderschap-auteurs en brengt leiderschap terug naar haar joods/christelijke wortels.

This leadership classic continues to be a bestseller after three editions and twenty years in print. It is the gold standard for research-based leadership, and the premier resource on becoming a leader. This new edition, with streamlined text, more international and business examples, and a graphic redesign, is more readable and accessible than ever before.

The Leadership Challenge, Fourth Edition, has been extensively updated with the latest research and case studies, and offers inspiring new stories of real people achieving extraordinary results. The authors' central theme remains the same and is more relevant today than ever: "Leadership is Everyone?s Business." Their "five practices" and "ten commitments" have been proven by hundreds of thousands of dedicated, successful leaders. This edition, with almost one-third new material, emphasizes the global community and refocuses on business leaders.

Show More
Show Less

Case 3 shelf 3