The Twelve Absolutes of Leadership
By: Gary Burnison
Published: March 13, 2012
Format: Hardcover, 240 pages
ISBN-10: 0071787127
ISBN-13: 978-0071787123
Publisher: McGraw-Hill
"Leadership is the eighth wonder of the world - better seen and felt than defined and said", writes CEO of Korn>Ferry International, Gary Burnison, in his his insightful and real world experience based book The Twelve Absolutes of Leadership. The author describes the complexity of understanding the real meaning of leadership, and shares his thoughts and ideas on how to understand the guiding principles of leadership through an organized framework model.
Gary Burnison understands the challenges posed by the responsibility and commitment to leadership for engaging and inspiring others to greatness. The author points out that simply getting a sense of the true nature of leadership is a daunting task. Leadership may be partly strategy, according to Gary Burnison, but it is mainly about proper judgement. For the author, grace, confidence, and touch form the core values of leadership. A leader must also be able to understand the past, the present, and the future; using today as the starting point to achieve the leader's vision. To reach that desired future, a leader must incorporate a strategy to get to that next level, despite the fact that many followers may not have envisioned that same future.
Gary Burnison (photo left) recognizes that to get from where the organization is today, and where the there will be in the future, requires extraordinary leadership. To bridge this gap, the author provides his Absolutes of Leadership Framework as the guiding blueprint. Each part of the framework link to the others, and indeed blend seamlessly into one another in an overall leadership building process. The connections include a combination of core competencies and activities that every leader must possess.
The author points out that these twelve key principles apply to all leaders, regardless of their leadership style. The absolutes include:
* Lead
* Purpose
* Strategy
* People
* Measure
* Empower
* Reward
* Anticipate
* Navigate
* Communicate
* Listen
* Learn
For me, the power of the book is how Gary Burnison presents the Twelve Absolutes of Leadership model in an engaging and understandable format. The author shares his experience, and that of others, in the conveying of the layers of meaning behind each of the twelve absolutes that every leader must understand and practice. Gary Burnison offers the important wisdom that leadership is all about people. As a result, the author provides guidance in what he considers the art of leadership. Despite the various leadership systems and concepts, in the end, leadership is indeed much more art than it is a science.
Gary Burnison presents another critical observation that the leader must practice self-mastery, and understand themselves first. At the same time, however, the self aware leader also realizes that as leader, they are not the most important purpose despite the demands and focus of the position. Leadership is a calling, and as a result, it is all about guiding others to achieving their best results, and for building a brighter future for the organization as a whole.
I highly recommend the groundbreaking an leadership transforming book The Twelve Absolutes of Leadership by Gary Burnison, to any leaders or aspiring leaders who are seeking a concise and proven model for building their leadership skills and for strengthening their entire organization. This book will give you the tools and insights to become a more effective and engaging leader in any type or size of organization.
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