Illu
str
atio
n^ b
y^ L
ars
Le
eta
ru
Many facets of leadership
The most popular topic in business writing is leadership. Perhaps that’s because
wisdom on the subject is so elusive. To be a great (or even good) leader, there is
no easy formula to follow, and much of the guidance you’ll find is clichéd or,
worse, problematic.
Yet I think the literature on leadership has gotten more credible lately. It’s as
if the challenges of our time, and our increasing (albeit imperfect) knowledge of
human nature, are forcing us to rethink our view of how people can grow into
authority and what they’re supposed to do when they get there.
In this issue, we’ve assembled a number of fresh perspectives, each of which
speaks to a different facet of leadership thinking and practice. For example, there’s
“Leaders in waiting,” by PwC’s Peter Englisch (page 102). It introduces us to a
new breed of millennial would-be chief executives, many of whom are ready to
take the reins of a family business (though some have walked away to start their
own enterprises). Then there’s the disruptive leader. In “How to think like a
CEO,” Adam Bryant (who interviewed dozens of chief executives for the New1ed
ito
r’s(^) le
tte
r