Letters to a Young Leader A New Leadership for a New Generation

If you are interested in becoming a better leader, this book is a great place to start. Rather than using the familiar textbook approach, leadership expert Robert Denhardt offers practical lessons drawn from a lively year-long correspondence with two (fictional) former students about their experiences in leadership.

The letters explore the deeply personal issues these and other young and emerging leaders are facing ? what the skills and personal qualities are that you need for contemporary leadership, what will leadership mean to you and those you lead, and even why or why not you might want to become a leader. Along the way, the book speaks to the big picture, arguing that leadership today has been stripped of its historic contribution to creating meaningful human experience and has been reduced to a technical exercise in executive management.

Based on his experience of teaching leadership to thousands of undergraduates, graduate students, and advanced practitioners, Denhardt speaks person-to-person with young leaders about their questions and their concerns as they enter into the somewhat flawed world of leadership today. The result is a call for a new leadership for a new generation.

This book will be valuable to students enrolled in regular and executive degree programs in leadership, business management, public administration, nonprofit management, educational administration, and many other fields. It also speaks to young leaders out of school but committed to enhancing their leadership. Indeed, readers of all ages will learn lessons relevant to their own professional development.

Introduction

1 Letter from Bob: August 21

2 Letter from Kayla: September 5

3 Letter from Mike: September 12

4 Letter from Bob: October 2

5 Letter from Kayla: October 14

6 Letter from Mike: October 20

7 Letter from Bob: October 31

8 Letter from Bob: November 5

9 Letter from Kayla: November 10

10 Letter from Mike: November 20

11 Letter from Bob: December 10

12 Letter from Kayla: December 14

13 Letter from Mike: December 15

14 Letter from Bob: January 15

15 Letter from Bob: January 20

16 Letter from Mike: January 22

17 Letter from Bob: January 25

18 Letter from Bob: January 30

19 Letter from Kayla: February 2

20 Letter from Mike: February 12

21 Letter from Bob: February 20

22 Letter from Kayla: February 25

23 Letter from Mike: February 27

24 Letter from Bob: March 8

25 Letter from Bob: April 2

26 Letter from Bob: April 12

27 Letter from Bob: April 14

28 Letter from Kayla: May 1

29 Letter from Mike: May 5

30 Letter from Bob: May 15

31 Letter from Bob: May 20

32 Letter from Kayla: June 1

33 Letter from Bob: June 8

34 Letter from Mike: June 21

35 Letter from Kayla: July 3

36 Letter from Mike: July 16

37 Letter from Bob: July 18

38 Letter from Bob: July 21

Endnotes

A Reader’s Guide to the Literature on Leadership

Bibliography and Works Cited

Acknowledgements

Index

Robert B. Denhardt is a central figure in leadership education and currently heads Denhardt Leadership, a boutique consulting and publishing firm. He was Professor and Director of Leadership Programs in the Sol Price School of Public Policy at the University of Southern California, USA.