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This is the eBook version of the printed book. If the print book includes a CD-ROM, this content is not included within the eBook version. Go Beyond Generic Leadership: Become an Outstanding Leader in Your Unique Environment. To succeed, leaders must understand and apply the core principles of leadership--but that's not enough. You need to shape your approach for any unique situation. Too many leaders don't know how to do that--and that's why they fail. Ultimate Leadership shows how to adapt the principles of leadership to different challenges, contexts, and organizations. Russell E. Palmer--who has had three very different, highly successful careers as head of one of the world's largest accounting firms, Dean of the Wharton School, and an entrepreneur--helps you identify the leadership model most appropriate for your environment, and how to lead accordingly. You'll learn better ways to lead your equals, help an organization weather crises, transform its culture, lead entrepreneurial organizations, lead global organizations...even lead non-profit and academic institutions. Then, drawing on interviews with an extraordinary spectrum of outstanding leaders, Palmer helps you master the attribute every leader must have: the ability to inspire your unique organization, even in the face of the most daunting challenges.

Customer Rating:
Summary: A diversity of leadership experiences leads to a great book
Comment: This book really impressed me. I liked Palmer's style of writing, which was direct and to the point, but also very approachable. His use of anecdotes to explain his various experiences, both good and bad, with different styles of leadership also made me very comfortable with the subject material of the book. Additionally, he wasn't afraid to use the stories that other leaders had to offer.

However what really makes this book work is Palmer's diverse experiences with different styles of leadership. From his suggestions about academic leadership, to the rigors of being and entrepreneur, to corporate leadership, Palmer shows what works and doesn't work in each style of leadership.

This is a very valuable book for anyone who wants to be a leader or is a manager. Additionally, it is useful for entrepreneurs and small business owners who want to gain insight in how to best direct their efforts when deciding to lead others. Pick this up book and you'll get some good perspectives to consider in your journey to succeed with your business.

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Customer Rating:
Summary: Finally, a practical book on leadership
Comment: This is one of the most practical books on leadership that I have read. There are a plethora of books on leadership styles and principles of leadership. This one is unique in that it focuses on how to implement the basic principles of leadership within the context of different leadership styles. Principles of leadership do not change but how they are implemented within an organization can vary greatly based on the leadership style. .

The author gives specific examples of different contexts where a given method of implementation works and others where that same method will not work. For example, the leadership style is very different between a non-profit and a military organization, or an operating room and a partnership of peers or governmental organization. These all require different methods of implementing leadership principles. The author examines several specific contexts and discusses what leadership styles work, what do not, and how to get things done within that context. The specific contexts discussed include the top-down organization, an organization of peers, the organization in crisis, the entrepreneurial organization, and national cultures among others.

A very well done book that actually provides a body of knowledge on how to get things done in the different contexts. This is a highly recommended book for managers who need leadership skills and need to deal with higher authorities within their organization.

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Customer Rating:
Summary: A valuable guide to anyone in charge
Comment: While I am not the CEO of a major company or a dean at a university, I do find myself in more small-scale leadership situations, both short and long term. My background may be quite different from that of Mr. Palmer, but I found a wealth of information in his writings.

The main theme of this book is the context of leadership. Leadership isn't just a set of tools that can be plugged into any social/professional environment and get right to work. Understanding the people that you're working with, the environment you share, and the individual needs and goals associated with all of the above is crucial to being an effective leader. True to its claims, this book examines not only specific context, but also provides valuable skills for evaluating and responding to the context that you're in.

Palmer backs up his theories with anecdotes gleaned from decades of experience in several fields. His diverse background has produced a nondogmatic approach and a refreshing amount of flexibility. This makes this an effective and useful text regardless of what level of leadership you find yourself at. Additionally, the approachable voice makes this ideal not only for corporate executives, but for those who may find themselves in less vaunted but no less important leadership roles, from middle management to acting as a role model for family members.

A highly recommended resource with many broad applications.

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Customer Rating:
Summary: Good Examples of Leading by Influence, Rather than by Formal Authority
Comment: Almost everyone dreams about being in charge. In part, that's because they imagine that everyone will jump to fulfill their every whim. If anyone actually tries to lead with that style, they are headed for big problems.

Russell Palmer understands that leadership is all about adjusting to the situation and drawing upon shared interests to get good results. He demonstrates that point best in this book through his personal examples of leading Wharton Business School as its new dean and while managing partner and CEO of Touche Ross. If the other examples in the book were as compelling as his own, this would be the ultimate book in leadership. But those other examples aren't nearly as instructive as his own.

I would observe that such a book isn't really needed except that those who coach CEOs in training tell us that leaders have a hard time learning to lead when they don't have complete authority. If you know a hard-driving talented manager or executive who yearns for a bigger role, this book could add helpful perspective.

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Customer Rating:
Summary: outstanding for information, application, and aspiration
Comment: russell palmer comes to the topic of ultimate leadership with a very unique set of credentials. palmer was a managing partner of a top wall street firm for many years, he served as the dean of the Wharton School of Business, and he, in more recent years, has begun entrepreneurial ventures. i think, in the middle ages, we might've called him a courtier. the book that he offers us is well balanced between providing insights on management and techniques and skills sets that work or, in some cases, don't. the clarity with which he describes the sets of skills necessary for success is crystal. most of the skills he describes are not unknown to you, maybe a couple might surprise you. with his diverse career experiences, he brings unique and unequivocally brilliant insights, explained in simple terms. one of the marks of success, i feel, of any book that is read, is that it motivates the reader to aspire to higher and greater forms of leadership, whether on the corporate board of the fortune 50 corporation or the rural PTA. this is an outstanding contribution to the literature on leadership and is recommended for those who aspire to make more of themselves. i don't think that it is tremendously scholarly or erudic, good for some readers and not good for others. it is simply, eloquently, practical, informative, entertaining, and inspiring and well worth the purchase, new. be sure to actually read it and not decorate your bookcase with it. you'll be glad you did. i shared it with other members of our management team and it has been very well received.

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