The Leadership Challenge: How to Make Extraordinary Things Happen in Organizations

by James M. Kouzes, Barry Z. Posner

The latest edition of the gold-standard guide for leadership development

In the new seventh edition of The Leadership How to Make Extraordinary Things Happen in Organizations, best-selling leadership authors and business scholars James Kouzes and Barry Posner deliver an essential strategic playbook for effective leadership. The book’s actionable advice is grounded in robust research and deep insights into the complex interpersonal dynamics of the workplace.

Premier authorities in the field, the authors frame leadership as both a skill to be learned and as a relationship to be nurtured. They demonstrate how to achieve extraordinary results in the face of contemporary business challenges with engaging stories, current case studies, and straightforward frameworks for those who seek continuous, incremental improvement.

The book also

Incisive commentary on the shift toward team-oriented and hybrid work relationships Key insights into how to break through a new and pervasive level of cynicism amongst the modern workforce Strategies for leveraging the electronic global village to deliver better results within your team, in your department, and across your organizationPerfect for every practicing and aspiring leader who wants to stay current, relevant, and effective in a rapidly evolving business environment, The Leadership Challenge will help you remain impactful and capable of inspiring and motivating your constituents at every level.

Genres: Leadership, Nonfiction, Business, School, Audiobook, Professional Development, Self Help

355 pages, Kindle Edition

Published January 4, 2023

About the author

Jim Kouzes has been thinking about leadership ever since he was one of only a dozen Eagle Scouts to be selected to serve in John F. Kennedy's honor guard when Kennedy was inaugurated President of the United States. Kennedy's inaugural call to action -- "Ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country." -- inspired Jim to join the Peace Corps, and he taught school in Turkey for two years. That experience made Jim realize that he wanted a career that offered two things: the chance to teach and the opportunity to serve. It was in his first job back in the U.S. training community action agency managers that Jim found his calling, and he has devoted his life to leadership development ever since.
Jim Kouzes is the coauthor with Barry Z. Posner of the award-winning and best-selling book, The Leadership Challenge, with over 3.0 million copies in print. He's a Fellow of the Doerr Institute for New Leaders at Rice University and also served as the Dean's Executive Fellow of Leadership, Leavey School of Business, Santa Clara University. Jim and Barry have coauthored many bestselling leadership books including A Leader's Legacy, Encouraging the Heart, The Truth About Leadership, and Credibility. They are also the developers of The Leadership Practices Inventory—the bestselling off-the-shelf leadership assessment in the world. Their books are extensively researched-based, and over 500 doctoral dissertations and academic studies have been based on their original work.
Not only is Jim a highly regarded leadership scholar, The Wall Street Journal cited Jim as one of the twelve best executive educators in the U.S. He is the 2010 recipient of the Thought Leadership Award from the Instructional Systems Association, listed as one of HR Magazine’s Most Influential International Thinkers, named one of the Top 100 Thought Leaders in Trustworthy Business Behavior by Trust Across America, and ranked by Leadership Excellence magazine as one of the Top 100 Thought Leaders. Jim was presented with the Golden Gavel, the highest honor awarded by Toastmasters International, and he and Barry are also the recipients of the American Society for Training and Development (ASTD) Distinguished Contribution to Workplace Learning and Performance Award, presented in recognition of their extensive body of work and the significant impact they have had on learning and performance in the workplace.

Reviews

[Rachel · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book made many good points, but it felt very repetitive. Maybe that was their intention to cement ideas but it felt like they were saying the same thing over and over in slightly different ways sometimes.

[Katie Gainey-West · Rating 3 out of 5]

It felt like it took me ten years to finish this book. I attended a Leadership Challenge workshop and loved it! I learned a ton and I’ve been applying it ever since. The book didn’t provide the same inspiration for me. There is valid, helpful information in the book, but the way it was presented was sooooooooo dry. I think it could be much, much, much shorter, but still super effective.

Also, this might be the heaviest book I’ve ever carried around. I’ve read 500-page books that didn’t weigh this much. That might sound like a dumb comment, but when a book is this heavy it is literally harder to carry around. This would ruin a purse, weigh down a tote or backpack, it’s not a realistic book to carry with you. That should matter to publishers, especially if they want people to read their work.

[Gustavo Maldonado · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this book for the second time as it was requested for my MBA. This time I decided to actually give it a shot reading every chapter intentionally and holy cow I liked it. It truly has change my perspective and influence over people, teams and organizations.
First time I read it I didn’t find it attractive due all the “examples of leadership” of people that Idgaf but they help lol
This is a good book that constantly teaches you and reminds you that we all have the opportunity to become leaders.
4 outta 5 stars because like it said idc about the many people mentioned, but that’s a personal preference. The book is amazing

[Kylie Klavon · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book provides good commentary and supportive data for leadership techniques, but it is HIGHLY repetitive. It could have been 200 pages shorter.

[Robert Bogue]

Every organization wants extraordinary results. That’s what The Leadership Challenge: How to Make Extraordinary Things Happen in Organizations promises. Built on decades of research, the book lays out a framework for what James Kouzes and Barry Posner found.

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[Sadie · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was assigned reading for one of my MBA classes. Overall it was insightful and full of good information. Toward the end I felt it started repeating itself so it probably could have been condensed a few chapters. I appreciated the examples and quotes throughout.

[Andrew Watkins · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good content overall, but could’ve been about 50% shorter by cutting out unnecessary stories.

[Jessica · Rating 2 out of 5]

Disclaimer: I had to read this for class.

I didn't enjoy the book exactly, but I did learn from it. It felt a bit repetitive.

2.5 stars

[Echo · Rating 3 out of 5]

So-so.

The writing was a little dense, but I've been trained in journalistic writing, so business English always reads as stiff and clunky to me. (The continual tendency to refer to employees as "constituents" was probably the only thing that REALLY grated on my nerves though.)

There were a few bits of advice I picked up from this, but most of it felt very much like common sense to me. (Stuff like, "Employees are happier if their bosses recognize their achievements!") Other things felt very, very corporate in a sort of, "Do these folks remember what it was even like to work lower down the ladder?" way.

One of the few examples of an idea that actually seemed like it would work was a supervisor who wanted to make things more fun and asked everyone to turn in a boring, weekly form by folding it into a paper airplane and flying it into her office.

Most of the other examples felt pretty standard, with a few that seemed very, very off the mark. (For example, a company that shut down the elevator and made employees take the stairs to foster organic conversations. First off, do they not have employees with mobility issues? Secondly, I've had elevator conversations, but never, ever stair climbing conversations. Who has the breath for that? Or there was an example of an organization where employees had said they felt they were treated like dogs, so the supervisors fashioned dog treat shaped awards to hand out when employees did positive things. Which felt ... amazingly tone deaf.)

I will say, the really cringeworthy parts were in the minority, so overall, I could see this possibly being a worthwhile book to read? But as someone who excels at relationship and team building (my weakness is more assertiveness and conflict resolution), it just wasn't super helpful for me personally.

[Nani Mar-Ser · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5

Leí esté libro de texto como parte de mi maestría en Liderazgo en Organizaciones Educativas. Es una guía práctica y bien estructurada sobre cómo liderar con propósito e inspiración. A través de sus cinco prácticas esenciales, ofrece herramientas útiles tanto para líderes emergentes como experimentados. Su énfasis en el ejemplo, la visión compartida y el empoderamiento lo hace especialmente aplicable al contexto educativo. Aunque algunos ejemplos se repiten, su valor formativo es incuestionable.

[Jen W · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this book for my EMNA program, in my HR class. The content was excellent in discussing what exemplary leaders do, and examples of each step:

Model the way
Inspire a shared vision
Challenge the process
Enable others to act
Encourage the heart

Ideas were repeated over and over again. At times I found I was reading the exact sentence I had read just a couple pages earlier. However, real life examples were helpful in recognizing how each step is applied. The book could have been more concise without losing the main content.

[Nikki · Rating 3 out of 5]

Rating: 🙂/3
Thoughts: Didn’t love the physical format of such a heavy book with such thick pages, but once I let all that go and just read the material I liked the format and real life examples. Felt physically like a textbook, and read like one at some points, but I still flagged a lot of pages with ideas, concepts, quotes etc.

Format: 📖
Source: Recommended by customer

[Beckie · Rating 2 out of 5]

I read this over the course of a long period of time for the book reading we do as a CNS manager group. It was a physically heavy book to carry around and repetitive. Carissa picked it as a book she is reading in her DNP program which is all she talks about, yet is 'humble and doesn't need accolades or praise', yeah right. It was not very good and I did not have many takeaways that were new.

[April Steffen · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this for a clients book club I am involved in and in my personal opinion it was hard to get through due to the redundancy and repetition of points made. Although it touches on great tips to strengthen leadership skills, I think a lot of it could have been condensed and I am relieved to be finished reading it.

[Brennan Boucher · Rating 2 out of 5]

*read for grad school* very repetitive! could have easily been summed up into smaller chapters. helpful when identifying what good leaders should do in their organizations. leadership is about understating your values and building/nurturing relationships with your followers.

[Alexandra Caragiulo · Rating 3 out of 5]

Reading for my position at work as a growing leader. Had a lot of valuable information and skills to help me lead the right way. I recommend it to anyone looking to improve in a leadership role for themselves and the rest of their team/company

[Julia · Rating 2 out of 5]

I honestly hate this kind of books. They are just so obvious. I had to read this for school. It baffles me that these qualaties may not be second nature to people, really. I received no new information from this book besides some stats i could have looked up on google.

[Kipi (the academic stitcher) · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 stars

A classic on leadership. Great read with practical applications.

[Josiah Gonzalez · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this for my Organizational Leadership class. It was a very insightful read. I typically emulate the “lead by example” approach, but it was nice to see a formalized version.

[Jessalyn Lopez · Rating 3 out of 5]

For the masters. 👩‍🎓

[Lindsey · Rating 5 out of 5]

5* - Audio

[Casey Hess · Rating 2 out of 5]

Audiobook and book.

Read for MBA class..Good concepts but terribly repetitive. Mostly “common sense” in my opinion.

[Erin Milbrandt · Rating 3 out of 5]

I will give this one 3.5 stars. I liked the themes I liked the positive spin they took on leading and empowering teams. On the flip side it was repetitive and a little common sense driven.

[Alex Steele · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good leadership principles but redundant and boring application stories

[C E · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read this book for a college class. Useful information but can probably be done in half the time. The book was boring and I struggled to find the will to finish the book.

[Reader · Rating 5 out of 5]

An essential read for those who are preparing to lead people

[Jennifer Van Oosbree · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent book about leadership and management. Chapters were of a size that made them easily digestible. Examples given were helpful, the writing was inspirational.

[Chloe Imfeld · Rating 3 out of 5]

While this book had helpful reminders and excellent advice for leadership, it was also largely intuitive or common sense.

[Jenna Weachter · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good leadership content, very repetitive

[Tommy Piowaty · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a good book. A little bit dragged out, but I do know that the leadership books of this age are nuanced. It isn’t in my top five recommendations, but it is a great book.