Financial Times Guide to Leadership,The How to lead effectively and get results The FT Guides Series

The Financial Times Guide to Leadership is a one-stop shop for professionals at every stage of their leadership journey. Whether you?re just starting out or are looking to upgrade your current skills, this practical guide takes you through the core building tools of self-awareness, influence and execution.

With thought-provoking exercises and action points throughout, plus handy chapter summaries for when you need to access information, this book is your roadmap to becoming a better leader. This definitive guide to leadership includes:

• What good leadership looks like
• How to build your own leadership style
• Techniques to lead and influence others
• How to build and execute your vision

Everything you need to know to become an authentic and dynamic leader.

"My shelves groan under stacks of leadership books. But just a very few stand out as solid gold. The Financial Times Guide to Leadership merits inclusion in that select company. There is simply no excuse for not applying its very practical steps. I'd urge you to start or continue your journey here!"

Tom Peters, author of In Search of Excellence

"Finally, a first-class leadership book that focuses on the 'how' and 'what' as well as the 'why' and 'when'. Full of practical steps to take you to the next level."

Doug Richard, entrepreneur and founder of School for Startups

"Leadership is at the intersection of competence, charisma and the ability to think big for yourself and for others. The Financial Times Guide to Leadership gives you the tools you need to navigate this junction with success." 

Mercedes Erra, Executive President of Havas Worldwide

About the author

Author’s acknowledgements

Publisher’s acknowledgements

Foreword

Introduction 

How to use this book

Part 1 What is leadership?

1 A definition of leadership

Leadership in history

The pathways to leadership

The five key things leaders do

Summary

2 Leadership today

A fast-changing world

New conundrums … new leaders

Summary

Part 2: Finding the leader inside you

3 Building your self-awareness

Finding the keys to your self

Defining your personal leadership style

Creating your own performance card

Summary

4 Gaining self-confidence

The three cornerstones of self-esteem

Letting go of your fears

Summary

5 Developing your leadership brand

Building a powerful leadership brand

Brand accelerators: charisma and gravitas

Summary

Part 3: Leading and influencing – bringing others on the journey

6 Building your credibility as a leader

Mastering career management

Living by your values

Authenticity and remaining true to yourself

Summary

7 Leading teams

Building rapport

Motivation and setting objectives – getting the best out of your team

Reward and recognition

Summary

8 The art of influence

Stakeholders, group dynamics and you

Building networks and alliances

Summary

Part 4: Building and executing your vision – from ideas to results

9 Building your vision

Mission, vision, ideas and strategy: making sense of the melting pot

How to create your vision

Saying what you’ve got to say

Summary

10   Cultivating your strategic thinking

From vision to strategy – the translation exercise

The pathway to superior strategic thinking

Summary

11   Boosting your execution capabilities

Better personal decision making

Empowerment, accountability and change: the key concepts for delivering through others

Summary

Conclusion

The leadership reading list

Appendix 1: Examples of an individual development plan and goals and objectives

Appendix 2: The basics of body language

Index

Marianne Abib-Pech is the Founder of Leaders! a leadership consulting firm operating in Europe and Asia.  She started her own leadership journey in Arthur Andersen and rose from analyst to Global CFO of Shell Aviation, a multi billion turnover business, in the short span of 10 years. She acquired and further honed her leadership skills through the High Potential programme at General Electric and more generally by experiencing four different industries, working in five different countries and with more than 45 different nationalities.

Marianne has always been passionate about finding and developing talent in her own teams. She designed and implemented a programme for emerging leaders while at Shell Finance. The success of the programme laid out the foundations of Leaders!

In her spare time, she sits on several boards of start-ups and is a regular columnist for Global Corporate Venturing, The Huffington Post and The Independent