What Do Leaders Really Do?

An enormous range of literature on leadership and management theoryhas been produced over the years, some of it highly academic andmuch of it contradictory. What Do Leaders Really Do? takes thebasis of the best-known management theories to see how they fitwith the practical reality of leadership. How do leaders spendtheir time? Are they really preoccupied with strategy, vision andinspiring people? Do they lead by accident, or design? The bookchallenges the assumption that leaders are born, not made andexplores the theory that female leaders are fundamentally differentfrom their male counterparts.

What Do Leaders Really Do? Looks into the everyday working lives ofwell-known leaders in a variety of fields - business, sport and thearmed forces - in order to identify the elements that encouragepeople to follow where they lead. Drawing on the experiences of awide range of leaders with varying backgrounds and roles, as wellas a range of respected academics and management writers, this bookwill closely analyze the background, experiences and behavior of adiverse set of leaders. A central part of the analysis will be adetailed examination of what these leaders do on a day-to-daybasis.

It is not a book about management theory but an accessible,no-nonsense guide to those theories and how they translate to reallife. Many people lead effectively without knowing how they do it;this book will isolate and identify the core skills and behaviordisplayed by effective leaders.

What Do Leaders Really Do? is intended to be a refreshingalternative to the hundreds of academically-oriented leadershipbooks that are available. The tone will be straight-forward,accessible and sometimes humorous, rich with first-person evidenceand anecdotes. It will dissect popular leadership theory into theeasily understandable basics, with reference to the practicalitiesof real-life leadership situations. After all, what good is theoryif it doesn't work in practice?