Synopses & Reviews
You aspire to lead with greater impact. The problem is youre busy executing on todays demands. You know you have to carve out time from your day job to build your leadership skills, but its easy to let immediate problems and old mind-sets get in the way. Herminia Ibarraan expert on professional leadership and development and a renowned professor at INSEAD, a leading international business schoolshows how managers and executives at all levels can step up to leadership by making small but crucial changes in their jobs, their networks, and themselves. In
Act Like a Leader, Think Like a Leader, she offers advice to help you:
Redefine your job in order to make more strategic contributions
Diversify your network so that you connect to, and learn from, a bigger range of stakeholders
Become more playful with your self-concept, allowing your familiarand possibly outdatedleadership style to evolve
Ibarra turns the usual think first and then act” philosophy on its head by arguing that doing these three things will help you learn through action and will increase what she calls your outsightthe valuable external perspective you gain from direct experiences and experimentation. As opposed to insight, outsight will then help change the way you think as a leader: about what kind of work is important; how you should invest your time; why and which relationships matter in informing and supporting your leadership; and, ultimately, who you want to become.
Packed with self-assessments and practical advice to help define your most pressing leadership challenges, this book will help you devise a plan of action to become a better leader and move your career to the next level. Its time to learn by doing.
Review
An action-packed guide to the leadership transition”
Andrew Hill, Financial TimesAgainst the current of advice to be authentic and transparent, a great scholar examines the dangers of being true to yourself
an important book.” Adam Grant, as seen on LinkedIn
an excellent, insightful and thoughtful book for leaders of any tenure to consider as they seek out new ways to redefine (and arguably refine) their leadership abilities.” Dan Pontefract, Forbes
Concise, direct, and possessing a certain flair, Ibarras new book (her second) is a projection of her personality.” strategy+business magazine
4 must-read IT leadership books” CIO Magazine
a terrific book by one of Insead's most famous professors... It will surely become a benchmark for other management and practical 'how-to' books.” Julia Hobsbawm, professor of networking, and founder of Editorial Intelligence (As seen in Management Today)
a huge amount of practical advice in it, and the argument quickly becomes persuasive after the first few pages. Well worth the time.” Business Traveller (businesstraveller.com)
Herminia Ibarra's latest offeringAct Like a Leader, Think Like a Leaderis a breath of fresh air, standing out from the crowd because it actually addresses a common failing in management, while offering an actionable solution.” Engineering and Technology Magazine, The Institution of Engineering and Technology
"Looking forward and learning by doing beat backward introspection... [Ibarra explains] too much introspection anchors us in the past at a time when we need to sail in uncharted waters. Instead, having 'outsight' helps to rid you of past sources of self-esteem, old goals and old habits and gives leaders new relevance and purpose" The Irish Times
a fantastic exercise for all of us who are constantly learning and growing into being the best leaders we can be.” Small Business Trends (smallbiztrends.com)
If you feel you've done enough thinking about leadership, or perhaps feel you can't afford the time it would take, this book will help you identify ways to leap in.” Amy Lindgren, Twin Cities Business
ADVANCE PRAISE for Act Like a Leader, Think Like a Leader:
Joe Kaeser, CEO, Siemens AG
Herminia Ibarras insightful new book is an inspirational read for everyone who has a passion for leading and developing people. In times of rapid change, her profound research and hands-on approach of transforming by doing is broadening horizons.”
Susan P. Peters, Senior Vice President, Human Resources, GE
In this provocative new book, Herminia Ibarra takes into account the high-velocity, shape-shifting context that we all live in and offers an action-oriented, practical playbook on leadership, identity, and change. It is a must-read for the contemporary leader.”
Marshall Goldsmith, author of New York Times and global best seller What Got You Here Wont Get You There
Herminia Ibarra has created a valuable and successful model for helping forward-thinking professionals move up the corporate ladder.”
Linda A. Hill, Wallace Brett Donham Professor of Business Administration, Harvard Business School; coauthor of Being the Boss: The 3 Imperatives for Becoming a Great Leader
Act Like a Leader, Think Like a Leader provides insightful and practical advice about how to do the hardest thing of allchange ourselves.”
Charlotte Beers, former CEO, Ogilvy and Mather; former Under Secretary for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs, US Department of State
In order to be a better leader, you need to act first, then think. Read this book to find out what a most original thinker, Herminia Ibarra, has in mind.”
Paul Polman, CEO, Unilever
This intelligent and thought-provoking book is for those who really want to make a differencethose willing to act their way into leadership situations they might previously have thought themselves out of.”
Rosabeth Moss Kanter, Harvard Business School Professor; best-selling author of Confidence and SuperCorp
Herminia Ibarra clears the myths about leadership with her fresh, profound, yet down-to-earth book about the importance of action over introspection. Shes the perfect coach, showing aspiring leaders how to get over themselves and see the world around them. Her stories and tools make this a must-read for blossoming as a leader.”
Synopsis
Todays breakneck pace of change has an immense impact on leadersand as a result, on the organizations they run. All too often, people remain stuck in outdated mindsets and modes of operating, even after others recognize the need for change. Leaders need to learn to pivot even when there are no obvious signals guiding their way.
Leadership expert Herminia Ibarra (INSEAD) upends traditional, introspective advice and says act firstand then change your way of thinking. In this unconventional book, Ibarra, one of the worlds foremost experts on leadership transitions, provides the first practical guide on how to change when you also need to lead. Defying standard leadership development guidance, which encourages deep self-reflection into strengths and weaknesses, this book shows that the most effective way to change is through action, not analysis, and by learning from experience, not introspection. In short, it will teach you to change from the outside in by first acting like a leader and then thinking like one.
Based on Ibarras flagship executive education program at INSEAD, this book is for new and seasoned leaders alike who need to understand the new rules for success in their own organization, and in the global business environment at large. Its the essential guidebook for anyone who wants to upgrade their role or be the leader their organization needs them to be.
About the Author
Herminia Ibarra is a professor of Leadership and Learning, the Chair of the Organizational Behavior department, and the founding director of The Leadership Transition” executive education program at INSEAD. She is a member of the World Economic Forum Global Agenda Council, and consults with a wide variety of companies around the world in the areas of leadership development and talent management, with a special focus on women and leadership. Ibarra was previously on the faculty of Harvard Business School. She is the author of the book Working Identity, and her research has been published in the leading academic journals and profiled in a wide range of media.