It’s not enough to get a team to work, you need them to invest their hearts and minds. Managers are currently faced with the most uncertain environment in history. How can we lead our teams to create and seize opportunities? How do we navigate through the fog in our brains and the overworked staff sitting in front of us? This acclaimed book, originally published in Spanish as Mejor liderar que mandar, draws from author Jorge Cuervo’s vast experience as an executive, trainer, and coach. By presenting the information in bite-size chapters and to-do lists, Cuervo helps each of us to bring out the best of ourselves in leadership, management, and supervisory roles. In this book you will •about the essence of leadership and the emotional processes that influence it •what beliefs and stereotypes often lack meaning and hinder the development of leadership •tips and tricks to improve your leadership skills.
Finished reading Leaders Don’t Command—and it quietly reshaped how I think about leadership.
One line sums it up perfectly: 👉 Leaders don’t force action. They create the conditions for commitment.
What stood out to me is how much leadership is really about emotion. People don’t follow titles—they follow trust. They don’t resist change—they resist fear, uncertainty, and being excluded from meaning.
Some takeaways that hit close to home:
Authority can make people act, but only trust makes them care
Leadership starts with regulating yourself before trying to influence others
Vision isn’t what you say—it’s what people feel when they work with you
The fastest way to break a system is to lead with ego instead of purpose
This book mirrors what I’ve seen across teams and transformations: when leaders stop commanding and start listening, alignment replaces resistance.
If you’re leading people through uncertainty (or change), this is a worthwhile read.