When Execution Isn’t Enough
Book

When Execution Isn’t Enough

Decoding Inspirational Leadership

Claudio Feser
Wiley, 2016
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Editorial Rating

8

Qualities

  • Innovative
  • Applicable

Recommendation

Leaders can learn to harness “inspirational leadership” to motivate their employees and influence organizational challenges. McKinsey & Company executive Claudio Feser equips you to carry out inspirational leadership by building your knowledge and skills from the ground up. He covers how people learn, how leadership works and what using inspirational influence can do for your organization. To support his four-point “Influence Model,” Feser offers a fictitious case history that follows a CEO as he grows into his role as an inspirational leader. The parable brings to life Feser’s messages about innovation, knowledge and leadership. getAbstract recommends the lessons and the leadership approach to executives, managers and aspiring leaders.

Summary

Changing Course

Some leaders build extraordinary organizations. The example they set inspires enthusiasm and motivation. They build their colleagues’ self-respect and make them reach for higher standards. These “inspirational leaders” influence and galvanize others. For instance, Nelson Mandela (1918-2013) changed South Africa’s history by tapping into the energy of its people. Though he suffered deprivation, he exemplified noble values like “equality, respect, forgiveness and justice.”

To lead employees to do outstanding work, organizational leaders must tap into how people feel and what matters to them. Leaders who want to influence their workforce create an engaging vision. Apple co-founder Steve Jobs knew how to energize people. His passion for everything he did earned wide public admiration. Executives often talk about “inspirational leadership,” but they use it only about 2% of the time. Many leaders find it hard to be influential, and some see the deliberate exercise of influence as manipulative. Being inspiring in itself is “neither good nor bad.” Deployed honorably, influence focuses people on shared goals and builds momentum. Leaders who initially lack the...

About the Author

Claudio Feser is a senior partner at the Zurich office of McKinsey & Company. He leads the McKinsey Academy, which helps organizations develop leaders. He is also the author of Serial Innovators: Firms that Change the World and several journal articles on leadership.

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