The Intangibles of Leadership

WHAT MAKES A GOOD LEADER GREAT? Businesses have been struggling for decades to identify and develop the qualities that make exceptional leaders. While numerous studies, benchmarks and tests have been successful in identifying the basic traits that narrow the field to people with leadership potential, a crucial gap remains. No single model for leadership holds the promise of working across all businesses and organizations, because there is a spectrum of leadership qualities that informs success in different areas. Not only is leadership highly contextual, but the difference between good leaders and extraordinary ones is subtle, underpinned by thoughtful, often tactical nuances of personality and behavior. As a partner of RHR International, which is a pioneer in the field of corporate psychology, Dr. Richard Davis has deep first-hand experience providing advice and counsel to companies to increase individual and organizational effectiveness. He brings this rich experience--both within the private and public sectors--to bear in this book. To distinguish truly exceptional leaders, one must look beyond standard competencies, skills and personality traits. The factors that lie between the lines of existing leadership models must be identified and qualified. These are the keys to success--the intangibles of leadership. In his work assessing and developing top leaders, Dr. Davis has identified ten attributes that help distinguish certain leaders from the rest. In The Intangibles of Leadership, he explores each of these attributes in detail and describes how various leaders cultivate and apply them in their work and in their lives. By using the assessments and implementing the recommended steps and strategies, you can enable the very attributes that are utilized by top leaders. As you will soon see, there are many dividends that will be realized by an organization and its stakeholders guided by revitalized, focused and infectious leadership principles. There are lots of good leaders; there are few exceptional ones. By revealing the subtle yet powerful traits exhibited by those at the top rungs of the ladder, The Intangibles of Leadership will help you take your own leadership journey as far as it can go.