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Thought leadership

• the names of their models/ mentors ie. leaders who they have worked for and who recognised their potential and gave them an opportunity to thrive and grow or even colleagues, teachers, coaches, family members, heroes etc who have had a lasting impact on their lives both personal and professional;

• business legends whose books they have read such as the late Sir John Harvey Jones of the then ICI, Jack Welch of General Electric, or most recently AG Lafley of Proctor and Gamble;

• business and leadership consultants and gurus such as Edward W. Deming, Peter Drucker, Charles Handy, Tom Peters, Stephen Covey, Jim Collins, Eliyahu Goldratt, Joseph Jaworski, James Champy and William Bridges amongst other;

• leadership academics and theorists whose books they have studied, read or used as during formal programmes of study for MBAs, Masters or DBAs etc. The names here may include those of Warren Bennis, Michael Porter, Rosabeth Moss Kanter, John Kotter, Henry Mintzberg, Ken Blanchard, Ram Charran, Peter Senge, Clayton Christensen, Gary Hamel, C.K Prahalad, Daniel Goleman, Richard Boyatiz, Lynda Gratton, Manfred Kets De Vries, Kjell Nordstrum, James Kouze & Barry Pozner, and Beverly Alimo- Metcalfe amongst other.

• some names such as David Cooperrider and Don Tapscott who span both academic and consultant roles [although it is true that many of the names above can also be placed in this category]

• names such as Harrison Owen, Marvin Weisbord & Sandra Janoff, Marshall Goldsmith, Rod Beckstrom and Emanuel Gobillot whose work has a good deal of practical applications on the doing of leadership.

Many leaders would also have on their shelves or have read the block busters: Who moved my Cheese by Spenser Johnson, Gung Ho by Ken Blanchard and Bowles , to Dilbert’s numerous titles including The Joy of Work to Seven Years of Highly Defective People. [ As a tame bookish kind of person, I take great interest as to what leaders have on their shelves or desks; although I know that not every book displayed thus is always read, as work or even new books usually intervene].

These categories are important though as they point to a wide array of sources that we can draw from. Nowadays we also have at our disposal a numerically larger volume of BLOGs from individuals, think tanks, institutes and companies to make use of. I sometimes spend more than several hours a week reading blogs [rants, ideas, reflections, summaries etc] of a number of bloggers.

The distinct set of sources from which we can draw from in relation to our own learning about leadership offers a variety of insights and perspectives. Perhaps the most immediate source [commonly overlooked] is that of our own learning through doing and being. I have no doubt about the value we will draw from the insights and lessons that we will take away about learning about leadership from the Global Leadership Best Practices Project. It will enable us to enrich our understanding and knowledge about leadership behaviour and practices. In the spirit of wax on and wax off the following summary is offered to enable participants the opportunity to refresh their minds about some of the key ideas and principles on leadership by a handful of commentators.

The idea is that this will serve as a basis for engaging generally with thoughts and ideas on leadership learning and development. To paraphrase Groucho Marx, “these are our summaries [principles]; if you don’t like them, we have more.”

Peter Drucker Emanuel Gobillot Harrison Owen Marvin Weisbord and Sandra Janoff Don Tapscott Dr David Cooperrider Dr Marshall Goldsmith Rosabeth Moss Kanter Prof Lynda Gratton Rod Beckstrom