Between the Covers: Two New Leadership Books

By Darlene Davis

Primal Leadership

Daniel Goleman, Annie McKee, Richard E. Boyatzis, Harvard Business School Press, March 2001.  $26.96

Best-selling author Daniel Goleman’s, together with his co-authors, present a second book on emotional intelligence (EI) in which they continue to build the case for “cultivating emotionally intelligent leaders”.  Focusing on Goleman’s theory of four domains of emotional intelligence-self awareness, self-management, social awareness, and relationship management—the authors explore how the development of these four EI competencies spawn different leadership styles.  The best leaders draw from a style repertoire, switching between visionary, affinitive, coaching and democratic while make less use of the less effective pace-setting and commanding styles, they contend. Some readers may find Primal Leadership too clinical but the authors’ discussion on the of the styles and the research on leaders in a wide range of work environments and real-life examples is insightful and a good read for career professionals interested in new leadership behavior that encourages supportive relationships and encourages change and growth.

Execution:  The Discipline of Getting Things Done

Larry Bossidy and Ram Charan, Crown Business, 2002

The book is an on-going dialogue between the two authors.  The promo ads described it as “full of full of explanation and example of how fix a problem, get it done—or otherwise transform winning strategies into genuine, practical results”.  It is the heavy emphasis on the people side of leadership e.g.  The Job No Leader Should Delegate—Having the Right People in the Right Place, The People Process:  Making the Link with strategy and Operations that for me made the $27.50 hardback investment worthwhile.  In The Conclusion:  Letter To A New Leader, the authors admonish the new leaders to, “make sure you get down where the action is, talking with people at all levels, asking them questions, and listening to the answers.  You’ll learn much of value about the realities of the business, and you’ll establish the personal connection that is a hallmark of a great leader.”