John Adair is a British leadership guru, having spent many years as a lecturer at the Royal Military Academy at Sandhurst. I met him about 20 years ago when, as CEO of a textile company, I asked Adair's consulting firm to help me with the introduction of major organizational change. The book was required reading for all of the members of my management team; it is full of sound advice about the task of leading, which Adair differentiates from simply managing. Adair uses the three circle concept (team, task, individual) showing how each of these has to be addressed for effectiveness. Some quotes from the book that exemplify Adair's ideas: "Self-leadership comes before leading others. That means setting aims and objectives for yourself as well as high standards of conduct and communication ... A chief executive is like the conductor of an orchestra. One key test of his leadership is that the orchestra should know where it's going and play together ... Like a conductor, a chief executive needs "presence", not least because he or she stands on the boundary between the organization and its environment."



I can testify that the techniques Adair advocates work in practice, and they are appreciated by participants. This is an excellent little book that could help both new and experienced leaders.