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Book Review

Leading Leaders

Amacom Publishing - 2006 (218 pages in hardback)

Author Jeswald W. Salacuse

ISBN: 0-8144-0855-9 

Leaders often are called upon to inspire, guide and direct followers. But what if you are called upon to lead others who are your equal? What if they are more educated or gifted than you are? This is often the case in service organizations where lawyers, doctors or other professionals are recognized leaders in their own right. This is also the case when you are given the opportunity to lead board members, government officials, experts or executives. Just how does one lead other leaders?

Jeswald Salacuse, consultant and former Dean of the Fletcher School and of Southern Methodist University School of Law astutely provides the answer to this complex question. Leading Leaders is the result of his 25 years of executive experience and personal research into the question of how to lead other leaders.

This task is more difficult than first meets the eye. Many successful individuals who have led middle-managers or a hierarchal corporate executive team have failed when given the task to lead other leaders. How do you provide a vision that other leaders will support? How do you make a group of recognized leaders with their own individual egos a team? How do you negotiate turf wars and power struggles among other leaders who have the independence to move on if they are unhappy? How do you educate people who already think they are smarter than everyone else? How do you motivate leaders who are emotionally and monetarily secure to do what is right for the organization's future? How do you manage outside consultants and lead leaders at the same time? Finally, how do you establish and keep the trust of other leaders? These are the questions that Salacuse boldly tackles in this excellent book.

Leading Leaders is comprised of eleven chapters. The first four chapters lay the foundation for the core of this book. They deal with contrasting leadership examples in the war against Iraq, defining leadership, building relationships, principles of leadership conversations, and an introduction to the Seven Daily Tasks of Leadership. The remaining seven chapters each discuss one of the tasks in more detail. The tasks are essential to lead any group of people. However, they are even more vital when leading other leaders. They are 1) Direction, 2) Integration, 3) Mediation, 4) Education, 5) Motivation, 6) Representation, and 7) Trust Creation.

Judging by the title, you might come to the conclusion that this book is only of interest to those who have been given the opportunity to lead other leaders. This assumption would be a mistake. Leading Leaders is for everyone who is in a leadership role and desires to be more effective. The principles, wisdom and tasks that Salacuse teaches will guide anyone toward a richer understanding of what it takes to be a superb leader.

weLEAD rating – highly recommended

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