The nature of leadership - B. Joseph White

A great leader is a truly unique animal, possessing both the warmth of a mammal and the cold-blooded toughness of a reptileEnlightening, encouraging, and filled with incredible anecdotes from the author's own experience, The Nature of Leadership explores these characteristics, with examples of leaders ranging from tough-minded Lou Gerstner at IBM to mammalian leaders like Herb Kelleher of Southwest Airlines and Wendy Kopp, founder of Teach for America.Key featuresContains anecdotes from the author's own experiences, including his participation in the landmark University of Michigan affirmative action Supreme Court case, as well as lessons he learned from meeting world-famous figures like former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright and Bishop Desmond Tutu

Unique, approachable metaphor to describe different kinds of leadership styles. The author points to both successes and failures (his own as well as those of his subjects) and describes eloquently how mammalian, reptilian, and other attributes contributed to those outcomes

Uncommon in leadership books is the idea of visionary succession planning being a hallmark of a great leader. White illustrates how the best succession planning recognises the importance of both mammalian and reptilian characteristics