Page 234 - HBR Leader's Handbook: Make an Impact, Inspire Your Organization, and Get to the Next Level

Conclusion: Putting

It All Together

Let’s look back to the three rising leaders we met in the introduction of this
book. If you were like Linda, the marketing head, and you wondered if
becoming a leader required a mystical personality transformation, you
now know that it doesn’t; it builds on the work you’re already doing as a
manager. If you were like Linda’s friend Sam, the newly appointed COO of
a nonprofit who had been assuming that leadership meant just working
harder, you now know that, too, is not true. It’s about learning how to call
upon others, finding ways to mobilize and leverage the efforts of your team
and the broader organization. And if you were like Natalie, anxious about
launching her own startup, you now understand that you can break the
complex challenge of running a big organization into manageable prac-
tices, and that you can prioritize those by where you can have the biggest
impact. Leadership is something you can do.
To close, we highlight a few major themes that cut across this book and
that might help you as you reflect on (and begin practicing) the practices.

Leadership matters

Obviously, human progress doesn’t just happen automatically. Yes, some
initiatives may be self-organizing, and serendipity and fortune play a role
in any outcome, but without leadership, big and important things just don’t