Book Review: The Leader's Checklist By Michael Useem

Wharton Digital Press' first eBook, The Leader's Checklist by Michael Useem, goes on sale on June 21, but you can download a free copy between June 21 and 28 wherever eBooks are sold. The book will ultimately sell for $6.99. I recommend getting your free copy.

Because, within the 56-page book, Useem provides 15 core principles that will help you to develop the ability to make good and timely decisions in unpredictable and stressful environments. "When leadership really matters," explains Useem.

The book helps readers to test, retest, refine and update their preparedness for almost any situation, and among the 15 core principles for building a customized clear roadmap are:

Articulate a vision
Think and act strategically
Act decisively
Embrace the front lines
Dampen over-optimism
Build a diverse top team
Place common interest first

Useem also suggests that leaders:

Communicate in ways that people will not forget; simplicity and clarity.
Build enduring personal ties with those who look to you.
Through gesture, commentary and accounts, ensure that others appreciate that you are a person of integrity.

To demonstrate the power and value of having a leader's checklist, Useem examines accounts of extraordinary leadership, including the triumphant rescue of 33 miners in Chile last year.

Useem is the Director of the Center for Leadership and Change Management and Professor of Management at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. He previously wrote, The Leadership Moment.

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