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Leading Quietly
In
Leading Quietly: An Unorthodox Guide to Doing the Right Thing,
HBS professor Joseph Badaracco takes an unconventional look at
leaders and leadership. Rather than focusing on those men and
women whose bold acts of courage and insight have led to widespread
public acknowledgment and praise, he examines what he calls "quiet
leadership." "I have observed that the most effective
leaders are rarely public heroes," says Badaracco, who has
written extensively about leadership and ethics. "They do
what is right; for their organizations, for the people around
them, and for themselves- inconspicuously and without casualties."
Badaracco believes that what drives society are millions of small
yet consequential decisions that individuals make on a daily basis.
He presents a series of situations describing quiet leaders at
work and derives practical lessons from their efforts. Each of
the book's eight chapters - whose titles include "Craft
a Compromise," "Don't Kid Yourself," "Buy
a Little Time," and "Bend the Rules" - is
gleaned from the quiet leaders Badaracco studied. The book is
full of practical advice, but Badaracco cautions that "although
the guidelines can be stated simply, using them well is tricky."
Accordingly, he provides short case studies to illustrate some
of the many thorny issues a quiet leader might face, how
a new CEO deals with a sexual harassment case, the personnel issues
facing a bank president, and an Army captain's ethical dilemma
regarding an inspection, for instance.
"Preparation, caution, care, and attention to detail are
usually the best approach to everyday challenges," writes
Badaracco. "What usually matters are careful, thoughtful,
small, practical efforts by people working far from the limelight.
In short," he concludes, "quiet leadership is what moves
and changes the world."
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