Leading Minds: An Anatomy Of Leadership

by Howard E Gardner, Emma Laskin (With)

Overview

From a pioneering psychologist and education expert, a sweeping examination of how great leaders harness the power of stories

In Leading Minds, Howard E. Gardner and his research associate, Emma Laskin, take a novel approach to the study of leadership, exploring it from a cognitive perspective to glean powerful lessons for decision makers of all sorts. Drawing on Gardner's groundbreaking work on intelligence and creativity, they show how effective leaders both create new stories and tap into the power of existing narratives. With deep understanding, Gardner and Laskin consider a wide spectrum of leaders-including Manhattan Project director J. Robert Oppenheimer, Pope John XXIII, Eleanor Roosevelt, Margaret Thatcher, and more-to offer fascinating insights about the messages and the methods of influential people.

Updated and expanded by the author, Leading Minds stands as the definitive psychological study of leadership.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780465027736
Publisher:	Basic Books
Publication date:	12/06/2011
Edition description:	Second Edition
Pages:	416
Sales rank:	530,025
Product dimensions:	6.10(w) x 9.20(h) x 1.20(d)
Age Range:	13 - 18 Years

About the Author

Howard Gardner is the John H. and Elisabeth A. Hobbs Professor of Cognition and Education at the Harvard Graduate School of Education and Senior Director of Harvard Project Zero. The author of more than twenty books and the recipient of a MacArthur Fellowship and twenty-one honorary degrees, he lives in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Table of Contents

Preface to the 2011 Edition xi

Part I A Framework for Leadership

1 Introduction: A Cognitive Approach to Leadership 3

2 Human Development and Leadership 21

3 The Leaders' Stories 39

Part II Case Studies: From Domains to Nations

4 Margaret Mead: An Observer of Diverse Cultures Educates Her Own 65

5 The Teaching of Physics, the Lessons of Politics J. Robert Oppenheimer 85

6 Bringing "The Higher Learning" to America Robert Maynard Hutchins 105

7 The Business of America Alfred P. Sloan 123

8 The Embodiment of the Good Soldier George C. Marshall 137

9 Rediscovering the Spirit of the Church Pope John XXIII 153

10 Ordinariness and Extraordinariness Eleanor Roosevelt 169

11 Leading in a Rapidly Changing Environment Martin Luther King 189

Reprise

12 Margaret Thatcher: A Clear Sense of Identity 211

13 A Generation of World Leaders 229

Part III Conclusion: Leadership that Looks Forward

14 Leadership beyond National Boundaries Jean Monnet Mahatma Gandhi 251

15 Lessons from the Past, Implications for the Future 269

Appendix I The Eleven Leaders Viewed along the Principal Dimensions of Leadership 291

Appendix II The Leaders of the Second World War 311

Notes 327

Bibliography 353

Name Index 369

Subject Index 375

What People are Saying About This

Warren Bennis

"Superb."

Edward O. Wilson

"Once again, Gardner brings his brilliant intuition and analytic skills to the study of human excellence."

Editorial Reviews

"An insightful book...[one of the] leadership classics."—Chicago Tribune

"Full of insights and illuminating detail.... Effective leaders put words to the formless longings and deeply felt needs of others. They create communities out of words. In Leading Minds, Gardner shows that he is just such a leader, able to articulate and clarify what many of us have been thinking on the subject for a long time."—Warren Bennis, Harvard Business

From the Publisher

Gardner elaborates a plausible typology of leadership and identifies several core characteristics of leaders....persuasive.

New York Times Book Review

In a novel analysis of leadership, writing with Project Zero staff member Laskin, Harvard education professor Gardner defines a leader as one who successfully imparts a central message or story to a receptive audience. In their framework, Eleanor Roosevelt exemplified the ``story'' that a woman of ordinary appearance could improve the lot of the disadvantaged and refute the misconception that only men can lead. Martin Luther King Jr. embodied the precept that African Americans must stand up nonviolently for their rights. The authors differentiate visionaries-leaders who create new stories, such as Gandhi and Jean Monnet, architect of a unified Europe-from such innovative leaders as Margaret Thatcher, who identify a theme latent in the population but neglected over the years and give it a new twist. Other leaders on whom they focus are George Marshall, Margaret Mead, J. Robert Oppenheimer, Pope John XXIII, former General Motors president Alfred P. Sloan Jr. and educator Robert Hutchins. This study will repay the close attention of aspiring leaders in many fields. Photos. (Aug.)

Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly