This is a book about experiences. Thankfully, it is not telling us to 'do' anything. It is not a 'must do/should do' tract of management speak. It offers insights and philosophies from people who have been in significant leadership positions. I personally found it helpful to check off some of the strengths and weaknesses I have, and simply reflect on the way others approach similar situations that I face. I spent half the time reading and the other half asking myself challenging questions! --Adrian Moorhouse - Chief Executive and co-founder of Lane 4 Management Group, The Sunday Times 100 Best Small Companies to work for 2007 - 'Best for Leadership' award If 'command an control' leadership is no longer relevant what are the best modern leaders doing and saying that is really working? What do leaders really do? asks the key questions of the best leaders around and comes up with some surprising and insightful answers. Leadership insights are drawn from those in the frontline of business, sport, media and the military, including: * Sebastian Coe, Chairman of the London Organising Committee of the Olympic Games and Paralympic Games for 2012. * Greg Dyke, former Director-General, BBC * Charles Dunstone, CEO and co-founder, Carphone Warehouse * Kevin Roberts, Worldwide CEO, Saatchi & Saatchi * Dame Stella Rimington, former Director-General of MI5 * Major General Patrick Cordingley, Former Commander of the Desert Rats during first Gulf War * Martin Johnson CBE, World cup Winning England Rugby captain * Sue Campbell, Chair of UK Sport * Martin Glenn, CEO Birds Eye Iglo Group * Field Marshal Lord Inge, former Chief of Defence Staff * Heather Rabbatts CBE, Executive Deputy Chair, Millwall FC and Chair of Millwall Holdings What do leaders really do? is leadership straight from those who know first hand what it's all about. This is how it really is. An enormous range of literature on leadership and management theory has been produced over the years, some of it highly academic and much of it contradictory. What Do Leaders Really Do? takes the basis of the best-known management theories to see how they fit with the practical reality of leadership. Foreword. Introduction. Acknowledgements. Part One. 1 Characteristics of Leadership. The charisma question. A substitute for charisma. Leadership by osmosis. 2 Background. The infl uence of family life. Education. Learning leadership. Career progression. 3 Infl uences. The infl uence of parents. The infl uence of teachers. The infl uence of bosses. Mentors and mentoring. Part Two. 4 Vision. Creating the vision. Communicating the vision. Long or short term? 5 Decision making and Risk. Military mission analysis. Risk and the military. Risk and business leaders. 6 Mistakes and Setbacks. Learning from experience. Analysing failure and success. 7 Change Management. Why do most change initiatives fail? Communicating change. Culture change. Early days, quick wins. Part Three. 8 Empathetic and Authentic Leadership. Empathetic leadership. Caring leadership. Sensing mood. Delivering bad news. Authentic leadership. The stories people tell. Visibility. Keep your distance. 9 Motivation, Inspiration and Morale. Celebrating successes. Morale. Inspirational leadership. The role of oration. 10 Choosing and Building a Team. The power of diversity. Trust. Developing future leaders. Preparing for success. Teamship rules and professionalism. Team spirit. 11 Communication. Too much talk? Authentic communication. Honesty and integrity. Communicating outside the company. Dealing with the media. 12 Looking After No 1. Creating space to think. Self improvement and learning. Recommended reading. Leadership and lifelong learning. Knowing when to quit. Final thoughts on leadership. Appendix. Bibliography and Further Reading. Index.