Max S. Dunn

Book: The Powers to Lead

Posted by: Max Dunn on July 22, 2009 14:51:20

The Powers to Lead
by Joseph S. Nye

Interesting book. Talks about how effective leaders use both soft and hard power, and Nye terms this "smart power". This is a research book with lots of references, not a rah-rah-go-go book, which makes it more reliable but a little less interesting to ready. Some quotes:

• I define a leader as someone who helps a group create and achieve shared goals.
• We can think of leadership as a process with three key components: leaders, followers, and contexts.
• Police power, financial power, and the ability to hire and fire are examples of tangible hard power.
• This is soft power: getting the outcomes one wants by attracting others rather than manipulating their material incentives.
• (Quoting GE CEO Jeff Immelt) When you run General Electric, there are 7 to 12 times a year when you have to say, 'you're doing it my way.' If you do it 18 times, the good people will leave. If you do it 3 times, the company falls apart.
• The ability to combine hard and soft power into an effective strategy is smart power.
• Transformational leaders empower and elevate their followers.
• Three skils are particulary important for soft power: emotional intelligence, communication and vision. The two key hard power skills are organizational and political.