Myths of Leadership

Prepare to possibly have some of your beliefs and understanding about leadership to be shattered. This book throws a research-powered bomb into the leadership world, seeking to explode a lot of myth, misunderstanding and mumbo-jumbo that surrounds it. The world and their dog seems to want a bit of it, with tens of thousands of books all seeking to persuade you that their leadership solution is the best.

This book can be different. It aims to show that fact-based leadership is the most-effective, calling on its armoury of current research, case studies, theory and interviews. It doesn’t have its own mantra to sell. Far from it. It may be heretic. You may disagree with it. Yet it does not hurt even the most sceptical to look at this as, after all, surely they will be able to demolish its arguments… or do they fear being corrected and converted?

When reading this, maybe you should make a list of the various fads, myths, fantasies and plain barmy leadership ‘musts’ that you recognise and possibly have implemented. It can be a very bitter, hard-tasting medicine for some. Very few people, if they are honest, may have a blank sheet of paper. Anyway, what is a leader? You can be a leader by title, of course, but is that necessarily justified through people willingly following your lead rather than going through the mandatory motions?

This was an enjoyable, thought-provoking and considered book, leading (sic) by example rather than a dry, jargon-filled lecture. The book’s price is a steal for what you get. The author has calculated that over 50 different core leadership ideas and styles have been examined. There is no magic secret at the end of the day, perhaps other than the obvious manner of discovering leadership and insight. You need to trust yourself, your co-workers and your corporate environment to go forward.

The chapters are nice and short, with oodles of references as necessary, so the reader has no excuse about a shortage of time for not progressing. Neither can they complain that they do not understand something or claim that a little bit more information is required. It was a good approach to a big problem. It might not be the only leadership book you will need, but you may need this one in any case to help contextualise and strategize.

Miss it at your peril. If you do miss it, don’t be offended if one of your co-workers orders a copy anonymously and has it delivered to you. Dare you read it though?

Myths of Leadership, written by Jo Owen and published by Kogan Page. ISBN 9780749480745. YYYYY

As the title suggests, this is a book full of "myths" about leadership rather than a list of how to be a leader. There are over 50 myths and the author explains what the myth is, why it is a myth and what you can do instead. As he says, this book "is a map. It shows you what your options are, where some of the pitfalls are, and lets you decide where you want to go on your leadership journey".

I've read many leadership books, and I still find I get something out of each because there really is no single definition or desired style of leadership. I made about 30 highlights throughout my reading such as "Career managers will experience career as a noun; leaders experience career as a verb".
Most of the myths in this book I agreed with, some I didn't, but that is ok because each one only lasts several pages ;) . Although I did find the book was perhaps a little long. By the time we got to myth 50 I was a bit "mythed-out" and wondered when it would end. So maybe this is book better read in chunks with some time in between. The style certainly enables you to just pick a section and have a flick through rather than needing to go from cover to cover.

I'd recommend this book to HR professionals and anyone that aspires to be, or is, a leader. It is not aimed at a certain seniority level and doesn't require any prior knowledge of leadership theories.
4 stars.

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for providing me with an advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review.