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You Don't Need an MBA: leadership lessons that cut through the crap
MBAs are old news. In this ground-breaking book, leadership expert Alicia McKay teaches leaders to focus on the things they don’t teach you at business school.
Leaders are made, not born. But they are not made in the lecture halls and seminar rooms; you don’t need an MBA to be an effective leader.
They need to get smart, be strategic about the next step and expand their range, to face a complex and uncertain future. They need paradox: clear values and open minds, high performance and meaningful space, dedication to detail and big picture perspective. They need to ask different questions, design different options and most of all, they need to do that with others on the same journey.
In this thought-provoking book, Alicia McKay teaches you the five skills every strategic leader needs:
* How to develop true flexibility
* How to make good decisions
* How to develop powerful systems
* How to drive real performance
* How to have meaningful influence
Drawing on the latest global thinking on leadership, You Don’t Need an MBA uses Plain English to demystify the skills leaders of the future need and outlines a way forward; united leadership that focuses on real outcomes, not quick-fixes.
Leaders are made, not born. But they are not made in the lecture halls and seminar rooms; you don’t need an MBA to be an effective leader.
They need to get smart, be strategic about the next step and expand their range, to face a complex and uncertain future. They need paradox: clear values and open minds, high performance and meaningful space, dedication to detail and big picture perspective. They need to ask different questions, design different options and most of all, they need to do that with others on the same journey.
In this thought-provoking book, Alicia McKay teaches you the five skills every strategic leader needs:
* How to develop true flexibility
* How to make good decisions
* How to develop powerful systems
* How to drive real performance
* How to have meaningful influence
Drawing on the latest global thinking on leadership, You Don’t Need an MBA uses Plain English to demystify the skills leaders of the future need and outlines a way forward; united leadership that focuses on real outcomes, not quick-fixes.
- GenresLeadership
274 pages, Kindle Edition
Published May 11, 2021
17 people are currently reading
93 people want to read
About the author
Alicia McKay
3 books12 followersStrategic leadership expert Alicia McKay tackles the tricky stuff in life, work and leadership.
She is the author of three books, From Strategy to Action: A Guide to Getting Sh*t Done in the Public Sector, You Don’t Need an MBA: Leadership Lessons that Cut through the Crap (Major St Publishing, May 2021) and Local Legends: How to Make a Difference in Local Government, and is regularly published by industry magazines and online sources in New Zealand, Australia and the UK.
An international authority on public sector strategy, change and leadership, Alicia was named one of the Top 25 Thinkers in Local Government by LGIU UK in 2025.
As well as her books and newsletter, she writes essays on power, politics, society and culture at
www.aliciamckay.co.nz
She is the author of three books, From Strategy to Action: A Guide to Getting Sh*t Done in the Public Sector, You Don’t Need an MBA: Leadership Lessons that Cut through the Crap (Major St Publishing, May 2021) and Local Legends: How to Make a Difference in Local Government, and is regularly published by industry magazines and online sources in New Zealand, Australia and the UK.
An international authority on public sector strategy, change and leadership, Alicia was named one of the Top 25 Thinkers in Local Government by LGIU UK in 2025.
As well as her books and newsletter, she writes essays on power, politics, society and culture at
www.aliciamckay.co.nz
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
January 7, 2024
I have heard the author speak previously and she was very engaging. It didn't quite translate over to the written word although parts of it were excellent. In particular, her reflections and thoughts on resilience were very good. I always think it is a little dangerous to use the "you don't need qualifications to be successful" line, and to be honest a lot of what was said in the book, wasn't that unique. Overall though, it is worth a read but don't expect a magic formula in it.
April 29, 2022
I was pleasantly surprised by this - substantial and easy to read. I suspect I'll be referencing back to this one from time to time. Well worth the investment and the time.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews