Robert Carroll has released the book Building Your Leadership Legacy. A ground-breaking book for any leader at any level and for any teacher of leadership from company classroom to MBA. “Character” -- often viewed as too moralistic, lofty, or fuzzy -- is presented as a clear and very workable concept that can significantly enhance leadership. Building Your Leadership Legacy is a book for improving your personal leadership by examining what kind of leadership legacy you are creating. It is based on the premise that the people whom you are currently attempting to lead will trust you based more on who you are as a person than on what you did or can do. It's all about character. The notion that character plays a huge part in leadership is well known but little understood. The book presents an air-tight argument for why character is essential to building the trust necessary for people to follow. The concept of character embodies a set of traits or values such as integrity, accountability, openness, respect, teamwork, grit, moral courage, and others.
The author clarifies that leadership character is made up of traits that build trust in followers, as opposed to those that are drawn from a moral tradition. (Respecting others makes the list; loving your neighbor does not.) A comprehensive review of the leadership literature and of the leadership curricula from business schools, consultancies, training companies, and company trainers reveals a huge body of work in this field. The problem is there is little proof that current texts and classes improve anyone's leadership. Moreover, virtually all of the information conveyed in these channels focuses on leadership competencies, namely, skills, knowledge or things to do, not on character. The prescribed competencies or actions may differ based on where the leader is in the hierarchy and on various challenges or circumstances the leader faces. These can be broad, like how to lead large-scale strategic change, or narrow, like how to conduct a coaching session. But they are actions for a leader to do, not character traits for a leader to strive to develop.
The book is written for those engaged in the study, research, and teaching of leadership, namely professors, instructors, teachers at any institution who wish to enhance markedly the effectiveness of their leadership classes. Available on Amazon.