BOOK REVIEW

By Rohit Sethi Roll No.- 20100121

About the Authors

James M. Kouzes and Barry Z. Posner are the coauthors of the classic bestselling books The Leadership Challenge, The Truth About Leadership, A Leader's Legacy, Encouraging the Heart, and over a dozen other books and workbooks on leadership. They also developed the highly-acclaimed Leadership Practices Inventory (LPI), A 360-degree assessment tool based on The Five Practices of Exemplary Leadership.

 James M. Kouzes is chairman emeritus of the Tom Peters company and an executive fellow at the center for innovation and Entrepreneurship at the Leavey School of Business, Santa Clara University Barry Z. Posner is dean of the Leavey School of Business and professor of leadership at Santa Clara University

The IDEA for the BOOK

As the world falls deeper into economic downturns and warfare, the question of credibility (how leaders gain and lose it) is more important than ever. Building on their research from The Leadership Challenge, James Kouzes and Barry Posner explore in Credibility why leadership is above all a relationship, with credibility as the cornerstone, and why leaders must "Say what you mean and mean what you say."

Credibility
They do what they say they will do"; They practice what they preach"; and They walk the talk". In other words, credibility is about consistency between words and deeds.

Table of Contents
Leadership Is a Relationship Credibility Makes a Difference Discover Your Self Appreciate Constituents Affirm Shared Values Develop Capacity Serve a Purpose Sustain Hope The Struggle to Be Human

REVIEW
Credibility is a research-based book that offers highly practical advice and real-life examples of what exemplary leaders do to become more influential and trustworthy. "Leadership is personal. It's not about the corporation, the community, or the country. It's about you. If people don't believe in the messenger, they won't believe the message. If people don't believe in you, they won't believe in what you say. And if it's about you, then it's about your beliefs, your values, your principles."

 In Credibility, Kouzes and Posner write, we wanted to remind leaders how important it was to attend to the fundamentals... Readers learn that leadership is a relationship, that there are three qualities people most look for and admire in leaders they would willingly follow, and that there are Six Disciplines essential to building and sustaining credibility over time. With The Six As of Leadership Accountability Accept, Admit, Apologize, Act, Amend and Attend

 The authors also show how credibility is restored once it is tarnished or lost. Kouzes and Posner, in example after example, illustrate how values clarification and culture creation must be at the tops of a leaders agenda. Credibility is important regardless of position, role or responsibility, and clearly document how it is a global concern Nothing is more important to a leader than credibility.

 Credibility is a wake-up call to get back to the fundamentals; to remember that leadership is about relationships. The secret to closing the credibility gap lies in a collective willingness to get closer, to become known, and to get to know othersas human beings, not as demographic categories, psychographic profiles, voting statistics, or employee numbers.

 The process of building and sustaining credibility requires six disciplines: Discover your self, Appreciate constituents, Affirm shared values, Develop capacity, Serve a purpose, and Sustain hope.

 Personal responsibility is key to building and restoring credibility. Personal responsibility means understanding not only your actions, but the likely consequences and attending to them. Leadership isnt easy and in a constantly changing world, things like credibility and competency can seem elusive. But if we act on a daily basis, in ways that increase peoples belief that we are honest, competent, inspiring, and forward-looking, people will be much more likely to want to follow your direction. When leaders walk the talk, others are more likely to follow.

 Some leaders think that credibility once demonstrated and earned, is complete. But it must be renewed daily in everything we do. Unfair or not, it is the life that a good leader has chosen and demonstrates the understanding that the function of leaders is to serve, not be served.

 The first chapter maintains leadership is relationship and credibility is indeed the foundation of leadership. Businesses can no longer get away with the us verses them mentality. Rather one hears phrases like seamless partnerships, web of mutual responsibility and mutual commitments in the marketplace. Further, the research conducted by the authors shows what constituents expect from their employers. The most frequent response was integrity or honesty, a leader who is forwardlooking, inspiring and competence.

 Chapter two discusses the difference credibility makes. This chapter demonstrates how people feel working with leaders they admired. The frequent responses are valued, motivated, enthusiastic, challenged, inspired, respected, and proud. The conclusion is that when people work with leaders they admire and respect, they feel better about themselves. One therefore comes to the realization that high credibility earns intense commitment. And commitment will ultimately enable people to regenerate great businesses, communities and churches. Further, the six disciplines of credibility are offered as the means for building the foundation of leadership.

 The first discipline of credibility is discovering yourself. Three aspects of this discipline are developing ones credo, competencies and confidence. The credo is a simple affirmation of ones values which serve in making decisions and resolving conflicts. Acquiring competence involves building the necessary skills to perform a given job with excellence which in the long run builds credibility. Strengthening credibility requires continued improvement of existing abilities which takes time and attention.

 Self-confidence or self-efficacy carries tremendous weight as one develops as a leader. Keys to developing confidence include mastery of ones job, modeling (learning from mentors who do the job well) and support (hearing from those we respect that we are doing a great job). Ultimately, credo, competence, and confidence are the content of character. Leaders do well then, to take time to discover their individual strengths and liabilities.

 The second discipline of credibility is appreciating constituents and their diversity. This skill simply involves empathy; learning how to understand and see things from anothers perspective. The greater the extent to which we comprehend each others perceptions, concerns, and values, the greater our ability to work together. Appreciating diversity involves showing appreciation by building trust. And the greatest way to build trust is to listen carefully to the hopes, hurts and dreams of constituents. Leaders further appreciate diversity by welcoming feedback and divergent viewpoints.

 The third discipline of credibility is affirming shared values. The authors claim that shared values are the foundation for building productive and genuine working relationships. One critical objective in doing so is the building of cooperative communities that promote these commonly held values. The net result: finger pointing is eliminated and problems are solved at the grass roots level. Further, the authors endorse the utilization of organizational systems to reinforce shared values. They recommend orientation classes, training and development and promotions to foster an environment that places values at the forefront of the organization.

 The fourth discipline of credibility is developing capacity. The critical concept here is that credible leaders liberate potential leaders around them. They turn their constituents into leaders and as a result earn credibility as leadership is distributed across the organization. Credible leaders also have a passion for educating those around them. They are not intimidated by others in the organization that commit themselves to life long learning. Further, credible leaders offer choices, encourage ownership and inspire constituents to greater confidence.

 The fifth discipline of credibility is serving a purpose. Leaders serve a purpose and the people who have made it possible for them to lead. In fact, the service of leaders is the basis of their credibility. Serving involves staying in touch, constant attention to listening and learning from constituents and matching words and actions.

 The sixth discipline of credibility is sustaining hope. Credible leaders look on the bright side. Their lives are brimming with optimism. They demonstrate daily courage and inspire constituents to see positive images of the future. The final chapter discusses the tension between freedom and constraint. Kouzes and Posner discuss the fine line of leadership and explore the potential excesses of the six disciplines that comprise the bulk of the book.

Conclusion

Credibility is the foundation of all working relationships.