Leadership for Leaders

Citation

Walz, J.T. (2007), "Leadership for Leaders", Leadership & Organization Development Journal, Vol. 28 No. 3, pp. 288-289. https://doi.org/10.1108/01437730710739684

What I thought would be an enlightening read regarding new paths of leadership excellence, resulted in an experience of roads well‐traveled and well published. Leadership for Leaders, by Michael Williams, and published by Thorogood Publishing, is an attempt to apply the coined term of “close‐quarters leadership” to a consolidation of leadership activities that others have described in their theories of leadership behavior. Having served for eight years as a US Naval Officer, and therefore well acquainted with military terminology; “close‐quarters” refers, typically, to military evolutions requiring intimate contact, such as hand‐to‐hand combat or synchronous drilling. It can also mean living in close proximity in bunkers, command centers, or shipboard spaces. Williams attempts to use the close‐quarters analogy to define essential components of leadership, but this is merely an allusion, and his endeavor to arrive at some new leadership form, style, or approach is somewhat lacking, which therefore disqualifies him from rightly defining a new leadership theory.

Williams is well‐regarded in management consulting circles, and his penchant for using military terminology appears to come from his experience in the Royal Navy and Marines, where he served in intelligence and later in commando units. In some ways, I feel a close kinship to him, identifying with leadership tactics that emerge in close‐quarters situations, however, sadly, this is as far as I am able to go. Whether close‐quarters or at a distance, leadership is still an intimate occupation requiring understanding people, processes, and politics, and Williams fails to establish “close‐quarters leadership,” as something different.

As far as labeling this a handbook, the work is less than insightful, but does include the basics of leadership. I searched in vain, for something new, something that would push my “aha!” buttons but was left, each time, with a feeling that I was reading a synopsis of another's work, which appears to be Williams' intent. However, to try and piggy‐back, “close‐quarters leadership” on the shoulders of Adair, Hershey, Blanchard, Tichy, and Collins is not an approach that I would have recommended. It came off a bit “cheeky.”

This is not to say that Leadership for Leaders is totally without merit. There are some good basic leadership lessons that one can put into use very quickly. The gist of Williams' discourse involves developing a keen sense of emotional intelligence in order to know your employees. He refers to the literature on organizational change to address the leader's role in leading change, and here, he hits the target. Williams also borrows from the likes of Nonaka and Takeuchi's work on knowledge management. He is careful to give credit but, I would have hoped to hear something new, or at least, something novel.

Williams is really a social‐scientist whose specialty appears to be organizational psychology. His insight into existing theories of organizational behavior is apparent, and one may find some of this helpful, particularly if one is new to things like emotional intelligence, organizational change, mentoring, and leadership effectiveness. One bright spot is the inclusion of an adaptation from one of his earlier works, The War for Talent (2000), which addresses the continuous learning leader.

Overall, this book comes across as a mediocre elementary leadership text. Williams has taken key concepts from many leadership theories and compiled them into an easy read, and introduced his “close‐quarters leadership” in the midst of these theories; trying to gain validity by association. Frankly, I expected more from this management guru. I leave it the reader to find a snippet of anything really new or greatly inspiring in Leadership for Leaders. There are many ways one can spend £14.99 or $US27.95; however, purchasing this book will probably not be in most people's top 20. My hope is that future works by this knowledgeable and skilled management consultant will bring us truly new and exciting ways to lead our organizations, not merely a repackaging effort. Michael Williams certainly has the talent to walk with those he has cited, but this is not the work to catapult him into their arena of influence.