The article of Crucibles of Leadership in HBR's Must Read talks about the success of certain types of leaders who inspire confidence, loyalty, and hard work despite the fact others with the same level of intelligence and vision stumble. The authors believe that the various ways of dealing with adversity that is what make those leaders successful. The authors also found that there are reliable signs of individual's true leadership it is the ability to find a meaning in negative events and to learn from it. The authors interviewed many young and old leaders in the private and public sectors and claimed most of the leaders describe the unplanned experiences are often traumatic and changed them beside it is the source of their distinctive leadership skills. The article emphasizes, the shapes of crucibles some are violent and life threatening while others are positive and challenging, for example, Vernon Jordan who avoid the repeated racial behavior from the mayor Robert F. Maddox. Jordan's reaction to the crucible allowed him to turn into a lawyer and presidential consultant. The article also provided an example of crucibles that helped Sidney Harman to become a true leader. When the workers in one of his factories resist the authority after a manager postponed a coffee break. Harman considered this resistance as a surprising link between student-driven education and business. Therefore, Harman malformed his factory into a campus, offering classes, and encouraging workers to run the factory.
Authors of The Leadership Challenge talks about leaders setting the example regarding their aligning actions and shared values. Setting the Example is an important aspect of being an effective leader because people always watch the actions to test the leader's integrity. The authors also state the importance of spending time wisely because leader doing this sends clear message to others on what is important and what is not. For instance, if a leader value service and work performance, then he should spend time with clients and attend all trade meetings. A leader should seek feedback from others to improve his skills, engross in new behaviors based on the feedback. In other words, the feedback sends signal to others about the leader's frankness of doing what is right. A leader can teach constituents important lessons by confronting critical incidents, telling memorable stories and reinforcing the behaviors through the organizational system to be repeated. The second practice of Exemplary Leadership is Inspire a Shared Vision. To apply the second practice leaders have to envision the future for themselves and others. In other words, they have to master two important concepts. One concept is imagining the possibilities. The other concept is verdict a common purpose.
In The Leader's Companion, the authors confirm that the evidence shows traits actually matter. People can distinguish leaders from non-leaders by six traits. These traits are drive, the desire to lead, honesty, integrity, self-confidence, cognitive ability, and knowledge of the business. These traits are also similar to the essential leadership skills mentioned in the HBR's Must Read. Visionary Leadership by Marshall Sashkin describes the theory of visionary leadership and the three factors relate to it, which include the leader traits, behavior, and the current situation. The authors believe that effective leadership depends on developing effective communication skills. There are some points of the article share the same idea of The Leadership Challenge. For instance, the article asserts that people in organizations carefully watch the CEO actions and behavior, to gain information about the CEO character, organizational priorities, values and future directions. Another common idea is that an effective leader will mostly use communication as a tool to match his or her behavior with the goals. For example, to improve cooperation, leaders will downplay authority and emphasize listening.