Learning Leadership: Cases and Commentaries on Abuses of Power in Organizations

The best way to learn to lead is to learn by doing. But the second best way is to learn from other people's mistakes. Learning Leadership gives you that opportunity -- the same one students at Harvard Business School have taken advantage of for years.

The crisis of leadership in this country is evidenced by the proliferation of writers in all fields on this subject. Zaleznik joins the fray with a curious blend of psychoanalysis and business school case studies. Having formerly written on Freudian theory applied to leadership ( Executive's Guide to Motivating People , Bonus Bks., 1990), he now focuses on learning from the mistakes of others and covers this with sections on power, rivalry, biographies of gifted leaders, and organizational examples. His interesting psychohistorical approach to the lives of talented leaders will certainly stimulate debate, and his analysis of power, based on his Freudian perspective, will likely overreach most pragmatic executives. Although fascinating, this approach will appeal mostly to larger, academic libraries with business students. Libraries with general readers looking for personal truths, sagacious advice, or testimonials from successful leaders will want to pass on this one.
- Dale Farris, Groves, Tex.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.