Leading Well is a leadership inspiration book focused on leadership, not leaders.

Leadership inspiration is too often attributed to the idea of a leadership genius – one saintly figure who personifies all the virtues of leadership – think Steve Jobs, Einstein or Gandhi – which, at first, doesn’t make the idea of a genius leader sound terribly bad.

The problem with the concept of genius leaders, however, is that they don’t always represent leadership. These often-glorified CEOs, politicians and philosophers sit on a pedestal where they’re worshipped by us – the people who aspire to achieve their level of success. To thousands of emerging leaders around the world, these people are their North Star, but what happens when these leaders disappoint us?

People in leadership positions can make poor leadership decisions. When we believe in the concept of a leadership genius, we too easily overlook actions and attributes of poor leadership. If the news headlines of poor leadership over the past year have reinforced one thing, it’s this: great leadership is never about one leader; it’s the combined attributes of good leadership performed by leaders – the 7 attributes of very successful leaders:  

1. Integrity
2. Emotional Intelligence (EI)
3. Ability to Inspire
4. Authenticity
5. Self-Awareness
6. Respect
7. Decisiveness.

Discussion around these attributes is the subject of each of the chapters. There are case studies, expert opinions and strategies to help today’s, and next-generation leaders, in their endeavours to lead their organisations as best they can.