The Intangibles of Leadership: The 10 Qualities of Superior Executive Performance

by Richard A. Davis

What Makes a Good Leader Great?

Businesses have been struggling for decades to identify and develop the qualities that make exceptional leaders. While numerous studies, benchmarks and tests have been successful in identifying the basic traits that narrow the field to people with leadership potential, a crucial gap remains. No single model for leadership holds the promise of working across all businesses and organizations, because there is a spectrum of leadership qualities that informs success in different areas. Not only is leadership highly contextual, but the difference between good leaders and extraordinary ones is subtle, underpinned by thoughtful, often tactical nuances of personality and behavior.

As a partner of RHR International, which is a pioneer in the field of corporate psychology, Dr. Richard Davis has deep first-hand experience providing advice and counsel to companies to increase individual and organizational effectiveness. He brings this rich experience-both within the private and public sectors-to bear in this book.

To distinguish truly exceptional leaders, one must look beyond standard competencies, skills and personality traits. The factors that lie between the lines of existing leadership models must be identified and qualified. These are the keys to success-the intangibles of leadership. In his work assessing and developing top leaders, Dr. Davis has identified ten attributes that help distinguish certain leaders from the rest. In The Intangibles of Leadership, he explores each of these attributes in detail and describes how various leaders cultivate and apply them in their work and in their lives. By using the assessments and implementing the recommended steps and strategies, you can enable the very attributes that are utilized by top leaders. As you will soon see, there are many dividends that will be realized by an organization and its stakeholders guided by revitalized, focused and infectious leadership principles.

There are lots of good leaders; there are few exceptional ones. By revealing the subtle yet powerful traits exhibited by those at the top rungs of the ladder, The Intangibles of Leadership will help you take your own leadership journey as far as it can go.

Genres: Leadership, Business, Nonfiction

256 pages, Kindle Edition

First published August 26, 2010

About the author

Dr. Richard Davis is an organizational psychologist and managing director at Russell Reynolds Associatess. He has extensive experience advising CEOs, including those leading Fortune 100 companies or otherwise in the public eye. Clients include Under Armor, Best Buy, Target, Endeavor (WME Entertainment), the National Basketball Association, Canada Goose, Time Warner Cable, Dell, the Commercial Bank of Qatar, and Maple Leaf Sports + Entertainment.

He has also assessed senior executives and board members from companies such as Microsoft, Apple, Nike, Starbucks, Amazon, General Motors, Walmart, Home Depot, United Health, and Google. He is the author of The Intangibles of Leadership and has appeared on national television and radio and in print media, including the Wall Street Journal, CNN Money, BusinessWeek, Globe and Mail, CNBC, and Harvard Business Review.

Reviews

[Matt McAlear · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very analytical. The intangibles seem spot on from what I can see in my life. Used a lot of words though. I felt the book could have been cut in half.

[Tommy Kiedis · Rating 5 out of 5]

Bill Hybels recommended The Intangibles of Leadership, so I picked it up. I'm glad I did. Richard Davis combines his expertise in industrial/organizational psychology with his experience facilitating executive excellence. Interesting, informative, and challenging, Davis highlights ten factors that differentiates great leaders. An added plus is that Dr. Davis puts feet to social science research which is often ignored in much leadership literature.

[Nick Woodall · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a really good book, chocked full of insights, examples and practical ways to implement the leadership skills they discuss.

[Heber Ciminski · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not a bad book. I was a little disappointed by the number of fluff stories included. Not bad contents though, but my rating would be higher if I didn't have to cut through the fat to get to the meat.

[Scott Wozniak · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great Book On the Most Important Part of Leadership

Leadership skills are critical to learn. But they're the easy part. It's the character qualities that matter most and take more work to build. This is the best book on the unique character leaders need. Great stories, deep ideas, and strong challenges. A MUST read for leaders.

[Fran]

Recommended by Willow Creek