Leading Minds: An Anatomy of Leadership

There are many studies of leadership from almost as many perspectives. Howard Gardner focuses on the leader as creator, teller and living exponent of a story, and makes an overwhelming case for the centrality of this function in leadership, and its complement, countering the counter-stories that exist in the organisation. Leaders who understand and use this book will add greatly to their effectiveness.The idea of the leader as living exponent of a story is combined with the concept of the 'five year old mind'. Simply put, even sophisticated people are not sophisticated in all domains. In other domains, the common denominator of shared understanding is the 'five year old mind', the five year old having a very concrete, literal and emotionally based understanding of the world. For success, a leader should know how to appeal to the five year old mind, as well as to more sophisticated audiences.There are three parts - and do not miss the preface to the paperback edition. The first is 'A Framework for leadership', which states the main thesis. "When one thinks of the leader as a story-teller, whose stories must wrestle with those that are already operative in the mind of an audience, one obtains a powerful way of conceptualizing the work of leading. It is important for leaders to know their stories, to get them straight, to communicate them effectively, and, above all, to embody in their lives the stories that they tell."The second part consists of case studies of people who exemplify leadership across various domains. It includes examples from each of his two classes of leaders (direct leaders who engage directly with others in action, and indirect leaders (like Einstein) who influence others through their impact on how people see the world).The third looks forward and summarises the enduring lessons for leadership. The principles that he extracts are both important and practical.Approached as a guide to exercise of leadership, the case studies can be `dipped into', while Parts one and three are studied for their messages. If necessary, save the case studies for your holidays, because they are well chosen, brilliantly told and make fascinating reading.It is a book that is not only valuable for the way it treats its core theme. It also provides an immensely fertile starting point for thinking about related issues of change. I first read it during a period in which I was intensely engaged in promoting cultural change in a large organisation and was able to relate very directly to Gardner's analysis and find direct value in his prescriptions.

I bought this book sometime after concluding that national intelligence leadership needed to inspire and appeal to the citizens of the USA at large, rather than being so narrowly focused on staying out of trouble with Congress while collecting secrets. This book reviews leadership of both domains and nations, with case studies on Margaret Mead (Culture), J. Robert Oppenheimer (Physics), Robert Maynard Hutchins (Education), Alfred P. Sloan, Jr. (Business), George C. Marshall (Military), Pope John XXII (Religion), Eleanor Roosevelt (Ordinariness and Extraordinariness), Martin Luther King (Minority) and Margaret Thatcher (National). The best leaders that emerge are those who are willing to confront authority and take risk, while also creating networks of contacts that number in the hundreds or thousands rather than tens. Most tellingly, aleader in a discipline (e.g. intelligence) only emerges as a long-term leader if he finally realizes that "he is more likely to achieve his personal goals or to satisfy his community if he addresses a wider audience than if he remains completely within a specific domain." The six constants of leadership are the story, the audience (beginning with a message for the unschooled mind), the organization, the embodiment, a choice between direct (more practical) and indirect (more reflective and often more enduring) leadership, and a paradox-the direct leaders often lack knowledge while the indirect leaders often have greater knowledge, and transferring knowledge from the indirect leader to the direct leader may be one of the central challenges and opportunities of the 21st Century.

Brilliant! Howard Gardner and Emma Laskins' LEADING MINDS : AN ANATOMY OF LEADERSHIP is simply Brilliant! Their rigorous analysis of Leadership and wonderful case studies of several contemporary leaders is enthralling. One, if not the, most interesting and insightful investigations into the topic of Leadership.Howard Gardner, himself a leader in the area of Multiple Intelligences, brings his profound insight on the human mind to a much written about but poorly understood topic of Leadership. Gardner and Laskins' identify six key constants of Leadership including:1. A Story - Leaders must have a central message or story that speaks directly to the "unschooled mind."2. An Audience - There must be an audience to act upon the message.3. An Organization - To endure, leaders must have some type of organizational basis.4. The Embodiment - To be effective, a leader must be able to "walk the talk."5. Direct and Indirect Leadership - Leaders have options to exert their influence either indirectly or directly. 6. Expertise - In order for leaders to obtain any credibility, they must be experts within their domain.Their case studies excellently illustrate and humanize their theory on Leadership. I, as one of the multitude of "unschooled minds", found the stories of contemporary leaders deeply compelling. I have gained a new and deeper appreciation for Margaret Mead, Pope John XXIII, and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. I now have an intense desire to learn as much as possible regarding the lives and tremendous contributions of all three of these Leaders.The case studies provide a much needed, if unintended, comical relief to this serious topic. The authors, while strongly emphasizing the benefits of inclusionary leadership and the perils of good vs evil stories that appeal to the "unschooled mind", themselves engage in exclusionary stories of good vs evil by lionizing those of the same political ideology as themselves and demonize those of differing political viewpoints. It delightfully humanizes the authors and candidly displays that even the "schooled mind" may, on occasion, fall prey to the biases of the "unschooled mind." Buy this Book! Treat yourself and explore this fascinating topic of Leadership. I would also strongly recommend two other books by Howard Gardner, FRAMES OF MIND: The Theory of Multiple Intelligences and CREATING MINDS : An Anatomy of Creativity Seen Through the Lives of Freud, Einstein, Picasso, Stravinsky, Eliot, Graham, and Gandhi. On the topic of Leadership, I highly recommend John Kotter's LEADING CHANGE and WHAT LEADERS REALLY DO.Thomas I. Amadio

I am currently half-way through this book. I love it. It has a lot of "meat" to it. The analysis is wonderful. He stresses the importance of stories for an effective leader. He provides substantial evidence for his claim that a leader cannot be effective without a story in which he/she at once tells and embodies.One of the things I like most about the book is the range of personalities written about (from Eleanor Roosevelt to Alfred P. Sloan, Jr.). The book is also very easy to read. Gardner is a clear writer.This is my second Gardner book. (I read Multiple Intelligences: The Theory in Practice). I'm enjoying this one better than the first. He seems most at home sitting back and quietly observing the leaders he talks about. Always balanced and never judgemental, I recommend this book to anyone who wants to understand leadership in the twentieth century.

This is the first book that I read by Howard Gardner, and I now find myself reading all of his books. Before reading this book, I had noticed that the most effective people I know are good story tellers who live their lives in a way that is consistent with their stories. But I had failed to appreciate that this is the core of effective leadership. As you can imagine, I began polishing up my story-telling and story-living skills. This has made an enormous difference in how I am able to connect with others and draw enjoyment from being with people. One example is that I have changed the way I write, and I find that the messages are much better understood now than before. Whether your interest is in politics, your local charity, your work, or your own family, you will get enough insights from this book to keep you excited as you improve your life for years to come. I also like the way that Professor Gardner made it clear what future research needs to be done, so that we can learn even more. I hope that someone reading this review will decide to take up some of this needed research. A good book to read after this one is CREATING MINDS. I also find the UNSCHOOLED MIND to be very valuable, and we cite it in our book about how to overcome stalled thinking.