Leadership

by James MacGregor Burns

A Pulitzer Prize–winning historian examines transformational leaders from Moses to Machiavelli to Martin Luther King Jr. in this “impressive book” (The Washington Post).  Historian and political scientist James MacGregor Burns has spent much of his career documenting the use and misuse of power by leaders throughout history. In this groundbreaking study, Burns examines the qualities that make certain leaders—in America and elsewhere—succeed as transformative figures. Through insightful anecdotes and historical analysis, Burns scrutinizes the charisma, vision, and persuasive power of individuals able to imbue followers with a common sense of purpose, from the founding fathers to FDR, Gandhi to Napoleon. Since its original publication in 1970, Leadership has set the standard for scholarship in the field.

Genres: Leadership, History, Nonfiction, Business, Politics, Management, Education

546 pages, Kindle Edition

Published April 10, 2012

About the author

An award-winning author of presidential and leadership studies, James MacGregor Burns was the Woodrow Wilson Professor of Government Emeritus at Williams College and Distinguished Leadership Scholar at the James MacGregor Burns Academy of Leadership of the School of Public Policy at the University of Maryland, College Park. He received his bachelor's degree from Williams College and his Ph.D. in political science from Harvard, and he also attended the London School of Economics. A member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, he was past president of the American Political Science Association and the International Society of Political Psychology.

Reviews

[Stephen · Rating 3 out of 5]

READ SEP 2009

Seminal work that introduced the idea of transformational leadership. Best quote; "The function of leadership is to engage followers, not merely to activate them, to commingle needs and aspirations and goals in a common enterprise, and in the process to make better citizens of both leaders and followers" (p. 461).

[John Park · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read it in 2011. A seminal work on leadership, especially on transforming leadership as opposed to transactional leadership. Although it is a pretty thick book, I didn't skip a word. Thoroughly enjoyed it.

[Naomi · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was a required reading for me for my MBA program in which one of my concentrations is in Leadership Development. When I requested it from Netgalley, I thought it looked familiar, but when I saw the edition above, I recognized it as the book I had used.

What stood out most to this book was that the "lessons" from the author could be used in multiple sectors. From non-profit to for profit. He, excellently, used "real life" lessons that in the work I have done tends to work better than in simple dicatating of expectations. Also, although the author used many historical figures in his lesson, the lessons "taught" were timeless, as should be the case in true leadership development.

As I am writing this from a business perspective, I could easily see this used with new leaders, as well as in a HR/OD setting.

I wish I could give it more than 5 stars..I truly believe, as I believed then, this book has alot of life lessons for our young adults all the way up to corporate leadership on the "tenets" of what makes someone an ethical leader in society.

[Stephen Robertson · Rating 2 out of 5]

Long and boring...... but i made it through... i climbed the mountain of blah.. lol

[Zack Formby · Rating 4 out of 5]

Did not read the whole thing, had to read for a paper. Gonna count it towards my reading goal regardless.

[Tommy Kiedis · Rating 5 out of 5]

So, you want to know about leadership? James MacGregor Burns says, "Pull up a chair, we're going to be here awhile!"

About the author:
James MacGregor Burns (1918-2014) was a historian and political scientist, a Pulitzer-Prize presidential biographer (FDR:Soldier of Freedom, 1970), and prolific author. Burns earned his Ph.D. in Political Science from Harvard. He was a decorated combat historian in WWII. Burns taught at Williams College his entire 40-year career. His book, Leadership, is credited with launching the popular study of the subject.

The book in a sentence (or two):
Don’t be quick to call someone “a leader.” It is not a title, but a complex interchange between leaders and followers, often rooted (exposed and invigorated) in conflict, that seeks change that meets enduring needs.

Why did Burns write Leadership?
Leadership is a lot more complex (and complicated) than most people think. Folks need to grasp the breadth and complexity of this important topic. In his book, Burns writes, "Leadership is one of the most observed and least understood phenomena on earth. Leadership begins earlier, operates more widely, takes more forms, pervades more sectors of society, and lasts longer in the lives of most persons than has been generally recognized." These words, penned at the beginning and conclusion of his mammoth work, provide an apt introduction to this classic, Leadership. 19, 427

The author's central purpose
The author's central purpose is to generalize about leadership processes across cultures and across time. He does not ignore the "great man" theory, he moves past it; past pithy sayings, and one-theory experts, past just power and coercion. Burns writes:

I hope to demonstrate that the processes of leadership must be seen as part of the dynamics of conflict and power: that leadership is nothing if not linked to collective purpose; that the effectiveness of leaders must be judged not by their pressing clippings but by actual social change measured by intent and by the satisfaction of human needs and expectations; that political leadership depends on a long chain of biological and social processes, of interaction with structures of political opportunity and closures, of interplay between the calls of moral principles and the recognized necessities of power . . .

I think John Gardner's work, On Leadership is one of the most insightful, but Burns is without comparison (in my study), the most thorough.

My quick take on Leadership:
Burns is a master. His work is broad and deep. Unlike most popular works, the author will take us to different times, different cultures, examining leadership from differing perspectives. In doing so, Burns helps us better understand this phenomena we call leadership

Overview: Burns divides Leadership into five parts:

Part 1: Leadership: Power and Purpose: We must see power--and leadership—not as things but as relationships. We must analyze power in a context of human motives and physical constraints. (11)

Part 2 - Origins of Leadership: Burns dives into the psychological aspects of leaders and leadership. Leadership is psychological, social, and forged in the crucible of contextual factors.

Part 3 - Transformational Leadership: An interesting treatment of reform vs revolutionary leadership and an analysis of some of the "great men" who pursued both.

Part 4 - Transactional Leadership: This theory “conceives of leader and follower as exchanging gratifications in political marketplace. They are bargainers seeking to maximize their political and psychic profits” (258). Burns sees these exchanges as often superficial and temporary. He examines the transactional nature of politics, bureaucracies, parties, and executive Leadership.

Part 5 - Implications: Theory and Practice: This is the “practical side” of Leadership. Burns provides the “how to” for exerting influence as a leader. We must ask four questions of ourselves: (1) “Why Am I leading?” Clarify your personal goal, i.e. What’s your purpose in this? (2) "Who am I seeking to lead?" You must understand your potential followers. (3) Where are we going? The ultimate test of practical leadership is the realization of intended, real change that meets people's enduring needs. (4) How will we overcome obstacles to our goals? Keep an eye on one's motivations and own propensity to go sideways (460-461).

Analysis and Review:

Let’s start with leadership. What is leadership?

"Leadership is leaders influencing followers to act for certain goals that represent the values and the motivations -- the wants and needs, the aspirations and expectations -- of both leaders and followers" (19, 51). Burns will devote much time to differentiating between transactional leadership, a leadership of exchange (a vote for a job), and transformational leadership, a leadership that speaks to the wants and needs, the aspirations and expectations -- of both leaders and followers (Gandhi, Martin Luther and Martin Luther King, Jr). Transformational leaders look to lift their followers to a higher level by meeting the needs of both leaders and followers and by engaging the whole person.

Burns will also address moral leadership. This is the leadership that concerns him the most. "Moral leadership is not mere preaching, or the uttering of pieties, or the insistence on social conformity. Moral leadership emerges from, and always returns to, the fundamental wants and needs, aspirations, and values of the followers. I mean the kind of leadership that can produce social change that will satisfy followers' authentic needs" (4).

The author devotes significant time to analyzing leadership psychologically, socially, even morally but perhaps the portion that was most insightful for me was the emphasis he places on the importance of conflict in leadership.

Conflict--disagreement over goals with an array of followers, fear of outsiders, competition for scarce resources--immensely invigorates the mobilization of consensus and dissensus. But the fundamental process is a more elusive one; it is, in large part, to make conscious what lies unconscious among followers (40).

Burns work is masterful. He is “deep and wide.” The fault line in Leadership as I see it, is his evaluative "go-to," i.e. psychological analysis. I found this treatment helpful, but lacking a theological perspective (usually) Burns misses a very significant influence, THE significance influence -- God. At times leadership is not something one pursues, but something SOMEONE conveys on “the leader.” I think of David getting pulled from a sheep pen to be the leader of God's people.

I felt Burns “under the sun approach” in his treatment of the reformer, Martin Luther.

Some of the Luther's early years has been crucial to his leader development. There is some, as it evidenced discipline in the family was harsh …; was his later rebellion against the holy father in Rome simply a projection of early hostility against the stern, overworked father at home? . . . do early Oedipal relations explain later Luther? Or is the rebellious Luther to be traced back to even more fundamental psychological factors, such as those Erik Erikson has explored so brilliantly in his study of the young men? Marxist historians stress . . . . And philosophers and theologians stress . . .(204)

My second pushback on Leadership is that it felt for me -- at times -- too theoretical. Burns is such a towering intellect that his theory needed a little more "praxis" at times. It was refreshing when he utilized a historical figure whether President or world leader or unknown to make his point, and such illustrative examples helped his argument.

If I set aside his preference for the psychological over all else, and give myself the time to absorb his theory, this work is marvelous.

My Takeaways/Lessons Learned:

1. Can leadership be taught? Yes, when both education and leadership "are defined as the reciprocal raising of levels of motivation rather than indoctrination or coercion" (448).

2. Embrace the important role of conflict in leadership: "Leaders, whatever their professions of harmony, do not shun conflict; the confront it, exploit it, ultimately embody it. . . . shape as well as express and mediate conflict." (39, 351, 428) "The sharper the conflict, the larger the role of leaders will tend to be" (429, cf 431).

3. The first task of leadership: Like Max De Pree (a business contemporary of Burns) said, the first responsibility of a leader is to define reality. Burns calls this "bringing to consciousness" the follower's sense of their own needs, values, and purposes (41). Leaders practice conscious raising.

4. The most potent force in leadership development: "Learning from experience, learning from people, learning from successes and failures, learning from leaders and followers: personality is formed in these reactions to stimuli in social environments" (63).

5. Patience with late bloomers: "Tommy did not learn the written alphabet until he was nice, enter school until ten, or learn to read easily until eleven--all this despite the Doctor's (his father) intensive effort to teach the boy at home and to inspire him in church" (102). About Thomas Woodrow Wilson.

6. The best leaders have this in common: "I suggest that the most marked characteristic of self-actualizers as potential leaders...is their capacity to learn from others and from the environment--the capacity to be taught. Self-actualization ultimately means the ability to lead by being led" (117).

7. Leaders set goals! While this may seem obvious, Burns notes that not setting goals is a sign of "faltering leadership" because "all leadership is goal oriented," successful leadership points in a direction " 455. Without goals, a leader is a manager. "All leadership is goal-oriented. The failure to set goals is a sign of faltering leadership" 455.

8. Before the immortals: I appreciate the credit Burns gives (and his awareness of) the people who wrote a generation or two before "the immortals of 1776 and 1787." He notes, "the immortals count not have done without them." (154) This is a truism of life. See also pages 218-219 on "what history neglects."

9. Negative and Positive Liberty: Negative liberty: Liberty from oppressive government. It attacks "the elites" for the sake of protecting the masses. Positive liberty: Harnesses government for the people, not to build their own fiefdom. (164ff)

10. The challenge of reform movements: "Of all the kinds of leadership that require exceptional political skill, the leadership of reform movement must be among the most exacting. Revolutionary leadership demands commitment, persistence, courage, perhaps selflessness and even self-abnegation (the ultimate sacrifice for solipsistic leadership). Pragmatic, transactional leadership requires a shrewd eye for opportunity, a good hand a bargaining, persuading, reciprocating. Reform may needs these qualities, but it demands much more. Since reform efforts usually require the participation of a large number of allies with various reform and nonreform goals of their own, reform leaders must deal with endless divisions within their own ranks. While revolutionaries usually recognize the need for leadership, an anti-leadership doctrine often characterizes and taunts reform programs." (169, see also 202ff, 217) I appreciate this especially in light of the challenge of "the tenacious inertia of existing institutions." (200; see 239 on revolutionary leadership).

11. Look to great principles, not great men. (178)

12. Leadership: Foxes and hedgehogs. Some leaders are like a fox who knows "many things," some are like the hedgehog "who knows one big thing." A rare few are both. (228) He said this in reference to Lenin.

13. "Be a pupil before you become a teacher; learn from cadres at lower levels before you issue orders."Mao, 238

14. Second generation leadership: Revolutions seems to produce first generations of leaders who not only represent but embody the higher ends of the cause; who else could have led their revolutions than Lenin, Mao, Bolivar, Castro, Ho Chi Minh? The test is the second generation of leadership--the Jeffersons, Nehrus---and the extent to which the original human purposes of revolution have been perverted in the drive for power." (240)

15. The most difficult problem faced by leaders: Reconciling divergent groups of which the same person may in effect be leader. As a result conflict takes place within such leaders as well as among the groups, classes, or constituencies sustaining them." 261 (LBC)

16. The paradox of leadership: Leaders are followers and as such must distinguish the leadership of opinion from leadership by opinion." (265); "We are reminded once again that leadership and followership are inseparable and that neither role can be imputed to a politician on the basis of outward appearance alone or of a single episode." 357

17. Planning for structural change: "Planning for structural change, whether of the system or in the system, is the ultimate moral test of decision-making leadership inspired by certain goals and values and intent on achieving real social change; it is also the leader's most potent weapon." (419) The most difficult task leaders face is changing institutions. "For institution are encapsulated within social structures that are themselves responses to earlier needs, values , and goals. In seeking to change social structures in order to realize new values and purposes, leaders go far beyond the politicians who merely cater to surface attitudes. To elevate the goals of humankind, to achieve high moral purpose, to realize major intended change, leaders must thrust themselves into the most intractable processes and structures of history and ultimately master them." 421

18. When leaders fail to act like leaders: Leaders who appeal to followers with simplistic slogans such as Equality, Progress, Liberty, Justice, Order are neither offering a guide to followers on where leaders really stand nor mobilizing followers to seek explicit objectives; they are seeking the widest possible consensus on the basis of the thinnest--or least thoughtful consensus. They are not acting as leaders as we have defined leadership." 432


Quotes worth quoting:

1. Conflict: Conflict is at least as crucial to politics as consensus." (85) "The catalyst that converts . . . generalized needs into specific intellectual leadership is " (142)

2. Government: If men were angels, no government would be necessary." James Madison (156)

3. Reform vs Revolution: "The very nature of reform narrows the strategic choices. 'The reformer operates on parts where the revolutionist operates on wholes."H.M. Kallen (170)

4. The leader's ultimate success: "The ultimate success of the leaders is tested not by people delight in a performance or personality but by actual social change measured by the ideologists' purposes, programs, and values." 249

5. Leadership, an affair of the group: "Leadership is not an affair of the individual leader. It is fundamentally an affair of the group." Arthur Bentley 303

6. Definition of a liberal: Liberalism is "the supreme form of generosity; it is the right which the majority concedes to minorities and hence it is the noblest cry that has every resounded in the planet. It announced the determination to share existence with the enemy; more than that, with an enemy which is weak." Ortega Gasset, 311

7. Leaders inspire people when: "Whatever the source of the leader's ideas, he cannot inspire his people unless he expresses vivid goals which in some sense they want. Of course, the more closely he meets their needs, the less 'persuasive' he has to be; but in no case does it make sense to speak as if his role is to force submission. Rather it is to strengthen and uplift, to make people feel that they are origins, not the pawns, of the social-political system." 437

8. Leadership vs Naked Power: "Paradoxically, it is the exercise of leadership rather than that of "naked power" that can have the most comprehensive and lasting causal influence as measured by real change. . . . There is nothing so power-full, nothing so effective, nothing so causal as common purpose if that purpose informs all levels of a political system. Leadership mobilizes, naked power coerces. . . . Nothing can substitute for common purpose, focused by competition and combat, and aided by time.

Conclusion:

So how does this leadership discussion impact me, average Joe? Burns writes, "The most lasting and pervasive leadership of all is intangible and noninstitutional. It is the leadership of influence fostered by ideas embodied in social or religious or artistic movements, in books, in great seminal documents, in the memory of great lives greatly lived." 455

Burns is, for me, one of those lives greatly lived. His grasp of history, of cultural influences, the breadth of his study, and the scope of his examination is impressive. He helped me see the need to add power (not coercive but relational) and conflict to my own leadership frame. He sees leadership, as Joseph Rost does in Leadership For The 21st Century as that which brings real change that represents the "values and the motivations . . . of both leaders and followers." (19)

I appreciate his narrow focus, but broad contextual approach. This is a long and complicated read, but a thorough treatment of an important topic. Burns says, "In no society are there leaders without followers or followers without leaders," and "leaders and followers exchange roles over time (134). Then both leaders and followers would benefit from a careful look at his masterful assessment.

Traditional notions of leadership are so dominated by presidents, prime ministers, sports figures, and Hollywood "influencers" that "we may forget the vast preponderance of personal influence is exerted quietly and subtly in everyday relationships." 442

The author piqued my curiosity about these books:
1. On Liberty by John Stewart Mill (160)
1. Southern Politics by V.O. Key, Jr. 1949

[Wesley F · Rating 3 out of 5]

Leadership is a secondary source history/political science book drawing on historical examples, psychology, and some philosophical concepts on governance. Burns goal with the book is to establish a foundation for the study of leadership, combining the studies of the leaders themselves and the followers. It covers the individual traits of leaders, their relationship to followers, and how they managed to accomplish great things or have such great impact.

Burns divides leadership into three types: transactional, transformational, and moral. Transactional is simply a leader fulfilling the needs and desires of a group of followers or supporters. Transformational is more or less defining needs and desires or giving voice to such demands where none existed before. It is more potent, creative, and dangerous. I'm not clear on how moral leadership is distinct.

Burns also distinguishes between leadership and brute power. A tyrant is not exercising leadership when he orders people to obey or die. He is threatening force to get obedience. I'm glad Burns makes this distinction, otherwise the whole idea of studying leadership breaks down. The study should not be about power and authority, but about getting things to move without acting on them directly with brute force.

This textbook has a number of stylistic problems that make it difficult to read, despite its substance. It's organization is shaky and many of the chapters and sections have no clear intro or conclusion to tie his thesis together. The book is a dry, boring read that meanders between secondary sources, historical anecdotes, and the author's own biased perceptions.

Burns seems to be trying to place a lateral beam across several pillars with his leadership school. This isn't nearly as groundbreaking as the blurbs on the back of the book claim. Burns' conclusions are limited in scope, and don't leave a strong impression on the reader.

He overuses Sigmund Freud, conceding that psychoanalysis of historical figures is not particularly accurate or helpful, then goes forward and uses it anyway. He identifies few patterns, constantly going back to the same old "blame the parents" approach to psychoanalysis. His occasional delving into the sexual habits of famous leaders was purely conjecture and not worthy of this text.

I wouldn't dismiss psychoanalysis as part of the study of leadership, but Burns' doesn't use it persuasively.

Burns narration of historical events and the rise of certain leaders is weak. It isn't heavy on detail, yet the prose is still difficult to follow. The historical examples do not clearly demonstrate his thesis. He provides limit context, assuming the reader is fully apprised of the historical events. This is arrogant and lazy. I can only assume the book is meant for a graduate-level audience who have strong backgrounds in history and political science. It certainly wasn't marketed this way (Pulitzer Prize and National Book Award).

Burns also betrays several serious ideological biases that are troubling. In his discussions on revolutions and transformational leadership, he spends 7-9 pages on the American Revolution and other enlightenment era transformations while going 15 pages deep into the Russian Revolution of 1917 and the rise of Communism in China.

Burn's section on Lenin doesn't paint him as a leader, but merely someone who was extraordinarily lucky. Communism triumphed due in large part to the dramatic weakness of the Czars and the decaying feudal system of Russia. It wasn't a victory of leadership, but one of a lack of alternatives.

In Mao's case, his leadership ended when he took power at which point he became a tyrant. By Burns own admission, a tyranny is not leadership. He speaks glowingly of these revolutions despite the bloodshed, poverty, misery, and war it brought to the respective countries. His positive view of the Cultural Revolution in China is absolutely stunning, ignoring its atrocities and utter failure.

The book was published in 1978, so some of these events were contemporary. We know more today about the Soviet Union and the experiences of Communist China in the 20th century. It is fair to say Burns was very wrong in his opinion of these two political systems and their relevance to his school of leadership. His discussions of Gandhi, FDR, and Wilson are far more relevant.

Why give it 3 stars with all these problems? Burns combines multiple disciplines for a fairly reasonable case against compartmentalizing social sciences (this was his implicit objective). His study of leadership became the basis for later works, especially those covering popular and business leadership. Finally, I for the most part agree with his primary thesis and the supporting definitions early in the book. So it gets an average grade from me.

Still, unless you are a nerdy student of political science, I would NOT recommend this book.

[Jessica · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was the largest book assigned for my leadership class this semester. I really liked it though!

[Jason ON · Rating 4 out of 5]

Kind of dry and long winded, but a great introduction to true leadership.

[Barry Davis · Rating 5 out of 5]

It is not surprising that this book was described as the seminal work on political power. The depth of research on leadership is exceptional. Indeed, the book begins with quotes from Machiavelli, Frankin D. Roosevelt, and Mao Tse-tung. The author begins by presenting the source of power in leadership, noting that the primary leadership essentials are motive and resource (Burns. P. 12). The strength of this book can also be its weakness. The extraordinary depth of examples, both in history and politics, employ real world situations but at the same time can become unwieldly. Before addressing the origins of leadership, the author invests some time in reviewing how moral leadership is formed, providing insights on the power and sources of values, beginning with Plato and progressing to the 2oth Century.
Burns continues by discussing the origins of leadership as developed from psychological and social sources. As is the case throughout the book the detail is extraordinary. The psychological matrix of leadership starts with primates and other biological studies, moving on to the work of Freud, Bandura, Maslow, and other research. Each area of focus includes numerous historical references to demonstrate the author’s points. In considering the social sources of leadership, attention is given to parents and family, the politics of school, and the influences of self-esteem, social role, and empathy (Burns, p. 94). The social resources are described through more historical references, including Gandhi, Kennedy, and Wilson. The final chapter on origins focuses on the political environment as a “crucible” for the leadership experience.
The author continues his treatise on leadership by citing examples of both transformational and transactional examples of leadership. Transforming leadership is addressed through four approaches: Intellectual, Reforming, Revolutionary, and through Heroes and Ideologues. Historical narratives are provided throughout to support these themes, recounting events from Great Britain, Russia, America, France, and China. In dealing with transactional leadership, Burns identifies five key approaches: Opinion, Group, Party, Legislative, and Executive Leadership. The diverse topics presented include voting, bureaucracy, power and change, consensus, and the American presidency. The depth of examples presented is almost overwhelming, but serves to elucidate the influences present in each area.
Burn closes the book by discussing how leaders approach decisions, suggesting a theory of leadership that builds on collective purpose, causation, and change (Burns, Chapter 16). Describing leadership as “practical influence,” he references Woodrow Wilson’s thoughts in stating the intent of this extraordinary book: “that people can be lifted into their better selves” by transforming leadership. This, he stated, is ”the moral and practical theme” of his work (Burns, p. 462.
The challenge of this book is the extent of the resources provided. It is also its strength. The time spent in learning from Leadership will be well spent by those seeking authority.

[Venkat Krishnan · Rating 5 out of 5]

The foundational treatise on leadership.

Leadership is one of the least understood phenomena on earth. The lack of understanding about leadership is possibly because of confusing it with power. Many people who consider themselves to be leaders are power-holders only and not leaders. This book will help in clearly distinguishing between the two.

Many people incorrectly assume that leadership is relevant only for organizations. They refuse to see the pervasiveness of power and leadership in all relationships. They are unable to see power-wielders, leaders, and followers in continuous interaction in virtually every sphere of human society.

Supervisors are incorrectly assumed by many to be leaders for all their subordinates. But, hierarchy may not have much to do with leadership. Leadership is a dynamic and reciprocal relationship between two human beings. The one who initiates the relationship is the leader, and the one who follows that initiative is the follower. Subordinates may initiate the relationship with their supervisors, and hence become the leaders. Parents may follow the initiatives taken by their children, and hence become their followers.

A careful study of this book will remove all misconceptions about leadership.

The most significant contribution of this book is the distinction between transformational leadership and mere transactional leadership. The book is a classic text on transformational leadership and moral leadership. The book concludes with a profound observation: "That people can be lifted into their better selves is the secret of transforming leadership." Those who wish to really understand transformational leadership should thoroughly study this book.

Anyone who wants to have a good grasp of leadership will have to necessarily do a serious study of this foundational text.

[Patty Apostolides · Rating 5 out of 5]

An important book to read if you are studying leadership. Burns describes leadership in many capacities, particularly transactional and transformational leadership. These two opposing leadership styles are on the same continuum. Transactional leadership is an exchange between the leader and follower, where the leader awards the tasks a follower does (like a prize, or a raise) or punishes (e.g. firing a person), but does not necessarily focus on the follower as a person, whereas transformational leadership is more relationship building, where the leader empowers the follower to reach their potential. These two styles are lined up on the same continuous line, so a leader can move back and forth, from transactional to transformational, and vice versa, depending on the situation.

Burns also weaves the psychological, political, and historical aspects of leadership into his book. He uses many examples from great leaders. I really liked the sources he listed at the end.

[Gregory Freeman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Illuminating

I went into this book believing that it was going to be series profiles of various leaders, including those on the cover, however the book casts a much wider net and delves into what it takes to be a leader, warning against those who abuse their power. I wish it did include more on Gandhi, Martin Luther King Jr., Napoleon, etc. but they are only only mentioned in passing, but there are plenty of other books that cover their individuals and their accomplishments. I recommend it highly to both history buffs and those who are somewhat cynical about leaders and offers some degree of hope that they are not all corrupt and out to serve their own personal gains.

[Hakeem · Rating 4 out of 5]

An absolute scholarly tome on leadership. Well-researched and laden with examples from Machiavelii to Mao, Jefferson to Nixon, and King to Gandhi. In the end, the advice can be summarized for good transformative leaders to treat people as people and to lift those people and themselves out of their everyday self and into their better selves. That journey is not without its pitfalls and this treatise is a first-rate guidebook.

[Bill · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a very insightful and transformative read on leadership. The middle got a little slow as it took a deep dive into political leadership, but the first 1/3 and last 1/3 of the book provided a great perspective of leadership styles, and their impact on the leader vision and purpose.

I would definitely put this on a must read list.

[Cassandra · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was tough to get through. This book is a very clinical way of looking at leadership. I would imagine this is used on college courses on leadership. Not exactly what I was looking for when I started reading. Good overview of the history of leadership over the course of time but much too bland for me.

[Ed Barton · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Book on Leadership

Nearly 40 years old, the book is still the gold standard for leadership and power studies. Looking at multiple leaders and leadership styles, Burns brings a readability and scholarly rigor to the topic. A must read.

[Nick Jordan · Rating 4 out of 5]

*Leadership* is virtually an encyclopedia of leadership, with a level of fine detail embedded in historical accounts. Yes, it’s dry and long. It’s also very good. Almost anybody interested in the subject would at least benefit from the final chapters.

[David · Rating 5 out of 5]

I had a rough time with this book at first but glad I continued to read it as it is a wonderful book touching so many different areas. The book has been so influential which accounts for slow going in the beginning as the concepts he introduced are so pervasive today. Highly recommend.

[Merrick Reiland · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book talking about the qualities of leadership and history of transactional and transformational leadership. Definitely not just a quick weekend read, it’s dense and filled with a lot of took about four months for me to read but well worth it

[Kaye · Rating 5 out of 5]

Insightful! Actually haven't read it all but parts and will return to it at a later time. Intro and prologue particularly applicable.

[Angela Kelley · Rating 3 out of 5]

Overall good read but concepts were repetitive. Book is over 500 pages long and many concepts were repeated throughout.

[steffie weffie · Rating 3 out of 5]

interesting ideas! they did not warrant a book of this length

[Mallory · Rating 3 out of 5]

Required reading for one of my EdD classes this semester. Good content, but very dry and hard to get through.

[Robert Bogue · Rating 4 out of 5]

The title is simple. The book is long. However, Leadership is a comprehensive look at political leadership that James MacGregor Burns executes well. I’m not personally much of a fan of political books. However, as I read Leadership for the Twenty-First Century, it became clear that Rost derived a great deal of his thinking from Burns’ work, and thus it was important that I read it to understand more clearly Rost’s thinking.

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[P. Mulitalo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Leadership writing is loaded with philosophical frills and gadgets. This carefully considered look at leadership takes a careful and analytical look at some historical figures. Instead of just giving us a comparative analysis, Burns brings to the surface stipulations of leadership that have a fairly legitimate application in leadership development or understanding. Anyone who is really serious about leadership should give this book a read.

[Drick · Rating 3 out of 5]

A classic work on Leadership drawn from the authors study of politi9cal leaders. Burns first introduced the concept of transforming leadership and was one of the first to link the effectiveness of leadership to the relationship the leader has with his/her followers.

[Peter Mello · Rating 5 out of 5]

Originally read in college in 1976 when book first came out. Currently re-reading as research for leadership development program I am designing.

[Pirkka · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved some of this book but other parts were pretty tedious to wade through.

[L. Beachy · Rating 5 out of 5]

More academic than many will prefer, Burns is unequivocally an expert and this work is a standard that is not soon likely to be replaced.