How to Lead: The definitive guide to

effective leadership, 6th Edition Jo

Owen
Visit to download the full and correct content document:
https://ebookmass.com/product/how-to-lead-the-definitive-guide-to-effective-leadershi
p-6th-edition-jo-owen/
More products digital (pdf, epub, mobi) instant
download maybe you interests ...

How to Manage: The Definitive Guide to Effective

Management, 6th Edition Jo Owen

https://ebookmass.com/product/how-to-manage-the-definitive-guide-
to-effective-management-6th-edition-jo-owen/

The Practitioner’s Encyclopedia of Flower Remedies:

Definitive Guide to

https://ebookmass.com/product/the-practitioners-encyclopedia-of-
flower-remedies-definitive-guide-to/

The Definitive Guide to Gaydon era Aston Martin: The

Ultimate Aston Martin Guide

https://ebookmass.com/product/the-definitive-guide-to-gaydon-era-
aston-martin-the-ultimate-aston-martin-guide/

Essentials of Educational Psychology: Big Ideas To

Guide Effective Teaching 6th Edition Jeanne Ellis
Ormrod

https://ebookmass.com/product/essentials-of-educational-
psychology-big-ideas-to-guide-effective-teaching-6th-edition-
jeanne-ellis-ormrod/
Cryptocurrency Trading: The Ultimate Guide to
Understanding the Cryptocurrency Trading Owen Hill

https://ebookmass.com/product/cryptocurrency-trading-the-
ultimate-guide-to-understanding-the-cryptocurrency-trading-owen-
hill/

Stocks for the Long Run: The Definitive Guide to

Financial Market Returns & Long-Term Investment
Strategies, 6th Edition Jeremy J. Siegel

https://ebookmass.com/product/stocks-for-the-long-run-the-
definitive-guide-to-financial-market-returns-long-term-
investment-strategies-6th-edition-jeremy-j-siegel/

The Data Warehouse Toolkit: Definitive Guide to

Dimensional Modeling, 3rd – Ebook PDF Version

https://ebookmass.com/product/the-data-warehouse-toolkit-
definitive-guide-to-dimensional-modeling-3rd-ebook-pdf-version/

Definitive Guide to Arm Cortex-M23 and Cortex-M33

Processors Yiu

https://ebookmass.com/product/definitive-guide-to-arm-
cortex-m23-and-cortex-m33-processors-yiu/

Value Creation for Owners and Directors: A Practical

Guide on How to Lead your Business Massimo Massa

https://ebookmass.com/product/value-creation-for-owners-and-
directors-a-practical-guide-on-how-to-lead-your-business-massimo-
massa/
Praise for previous editions of
How to Lead
‘I love this book. First it will inspire you and then you will believe you can
be a better leader. A book for life.’

JO YOULE, CEO OF MISSING PEOPLE

‘This book provides in-depth analysis and support with real examples. A
must read for all leaders: private, public and third sector.’

PROFESSOR SONIA BLANDFORD, FOUNDER AND CEO OF

ACHIEVEMENT FOR ALL

‘How to Lead is a tour de force, ambitious but resolutely practical, covering

all the key leadership bases through entertaining but accessible pointers
and tips. It will be an essential guide to helping current and aspiring
leaders take their organisations and teams to where they simply would have
not have gone on their own – the very essence of leadership.’

SHARATH JEEVAN, FOUNDING CEO OF STIR EDUCATION

‘A rare gem of a book. Highly recommended.’

JOHN HEMPSEY, CEO, HEMPSEY PARTNERS

‘Wonderfully clear, engaging, detailed and practical.’

PROFESSOR NIGEL NICHOLSON, LONDON BUSINESS SCHOOL

How to Lead
 At Pearson, we have a simple mission: to help people
make more of their lives through learning.

We combine innovative learning technology with trusted

content and educational expertise to provide engaging
and effective learning experiences that serve people
wherever and whenever they are learning.

From classroom to boardroom, our curriculum materials, digital

learning tools and testing programmes help to educate millions
of people worldwide – more than any other private enterprise.

Every day our work helps learning flourish, and

wherever learning flourishes, so do people.

To learn more, please visit us at www.pearson.com/uk

 How to Lead

The definitive guide to effective

leadership
6th edition

Jo Owen
PEARSON EDUCATION LIMITED
KAO Two
KAO Park
Harlow CM17 9NA
United Kingdom
Tel: +44 (0)1279 623623
Web: www.pearson.com/uk
________________________

Previously published 2005, 2009, 2011 (print), 2015, 2018 (print and electronic)
Sixth edition published 2022 (print and electronic)

© Jo Owen 2005, 2009, 2011 (print)

© Jo Owen 2015, 2018, 2022 (print and electronic)

The right of Jo Owen to be identified as author of this work has been asserted by
him in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

The print publication is protected by copyright. Prior to any prohibited reproduction,

storage in a retrieval system, distribution or transmission in any form or by any
means, electronic, mechanical, recording or otherwise, permission should be
obtained from the publisher or, where applicable, a licence permitting restricted
copying in the United Kingdom should be obtained from the Copyright Licensing
Agency Ltd, Barnard’s Inn, 86 Fetter Lane, London EC4A 1EN.

The ePublication is protected by copyright and must not be copied, reproduced,

transferred, distributed, leased, licensed or publicly performed or used in any way
except as specifically permitted in writing by the publishers, as allowed under the
terms and conditions under which it was purchased, or as strictly permitted by
applicable copyright law. Any unauthorised distribution or use of this text may be a
direct infringement of the author’s and the publisher’s rights and those responsible
may be liable in law accordingly.

All trademarks used herein are the property of their respective owners. The use of
any trademark in this text does not vest in the author or publisher any trademark
ownership rights in such trademarks, nor does the use of such trademarks imply
any affiliation with or endorsement of this book by such owners.

Pearson Education is not responsible for the content of third-party internet sites.

ISBN: 978-1-292-42544-3 (print)

978-1-292-42545-0 (PDF)
978-1-292-42546-7 (ePub)
British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
A catalogue record for the print edition is available from the British Library

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Owen, Jo, author.

Title: How to lead: the definitive guide to effective leadership / Jo Owen.

Description: 6th edition. | Harlow, England; New York: Pearson, [2022] |
Includes index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2022021193 (print) | LCCN 2022021194 (ebook) | ISBN
9781292425443 (paperback) | ISBN 9781292425450 (pdf) | ISBN
9781292425467 (epub)
Subjects: LCSH: Leadership. | Management.
Classification: LCC HD57.7 .O946 2022 (print) | LCC HD57.7 (ebook) | DDC
658.4/092--dc23/eng/20220429
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2022021193
LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2022021194

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
26 25 24 23 22

Cover design by Two Associates

Print edition typeset in 10/14, Charter ITC Pro by Straive

Printed by Ashford Colour Press Ltd, Gosport

NOTE THAT ANY PAGE CROSS REFERENCES REFER TO THE PRINT

EDITION
 Contents

About the author

Acknowledgements
Publisher’s acknowledgements
About the sixth edition
Introduction

Part 1 Idea: set your direction

1 Take control

2 Why your idea matters

3 Craft your idea: creating the future perfect

4 Communicate your future perfect idea

5 Sell your idea

6 Deal with strategy

7 Strategy and the art of unfair competition

8 How to evaluate your idea

Part 2 People: make your network work

9 Find your role
10 Attract the right team

11 Motivate your team: theory

12 Motivate your team: practice

13 Delegate well

14 Coach your team for performance

15 Manage performance
16 Dealing with poor performance

17 Difficult conversations

Part 3 Action: make it happen

18 Manage change
19 Handle conflicts

20 Handle crises

21 Negotiate budget and targets

22 Control costs

23 Build your machine: the rhythms and routines of success

Part 4 Skills of success: the tradecraft of leaders

24 Use time well

25 Present to persuade

26 Make meetings work

27 Write effectively

28 Read for insight

29 Work the numbers

Part 5 Skills of success: the twenty-first-century leader

30 Lead professionals
31 Manage your boss

32 Build influence across your organisation

33 Influence decisions

34 Listen to influence

35 Step up, not back: moments of truth

36 Act the part

Part 6 The final frontier: raise your inner game

37 Reach for the stars: the power of high aspirations

38 Dare to succeed: how to learn courage

39 Stay strong: how to survive adversity

40 Succeed together: no more lone heroes

41 Look on the bright side: the recovering pessimist’s guide to
optimism
42 Believe in yourself: the power of accountability

43 Never stop learning: master the art of success

44 Control your dark side: ruthlessness

Conclusion: your leadership journey

Index
Pearson’s Commitment to
Diversity, Equity and Inclusion
Pearson is dedicated to creating bias-free content that reflects the
diversity, depth and breadth of all learners’ lived experiences. We
embrace the many dimensions of diversity including, but not
limited to, race, ethnicity, gender, sex, sexual orientation,
socioeconomic status, ability, age and religious or political beliefs.

Education is a powerful force for equity and change in our world. It

has the potential to deliver opportunities that improve lives and
enable economic mobility. As we work with authors to create
content for every product and service, we acknowledge our
responsibility to demonstrate inclusivity and incorporate diverse
scholarship so that everyone can achieve their potential through
learning. As the world’s leading learning company, we have a duty
to help drive change and live up to our purpose to help more
people create a better life for themselves and to create a better
world.

Our ambition is to purposefully contribute to a world where:

• Everyone has an equitable and lifelong opportunity to succeed

through learning.
• Our educational products and services are inclusive and
represent the rich diversity of learners.
• Our educational content accurately reflects the histories and
lived experiences of the learners we serve.
• Our educational content prompts deeper discussions with
students and motivates them to expand their own learning and
worldview.

We are also committed to providing products that are fully

accessible to all learners. As per Pearson’s guidelines for
accessible educational Web media, we test and retest the
capabilities of our products against the highest standards for every
release, following the WCAG guidelines in developing new
products for copyright year 2022 and beyond. You can learn more
about Pearson’s commitment to accessibility at:
https://www.pearson.com/us/accessibility.html

While we work hard to present unbiased, fully accessible content,

we want to hear from you about any concerns or needs regarding
this Pearson product so that we can investigate and address
them.

• Please contact us with concerns about any potential bias at:

https://www.pearson.com/report-bias.html
• For accessibility-related issues, such as using assistive
technology with Pearson products, alternative text requests, or
accessibility documentation, email the Pearson Disability
Support team at:
disability.support@pearson.com
 About the author

Jo Owen practises what he preaches as a leader. He

has worked with over 100 of the best (and one or
two of the worst) organisations on the planet. He
was a partner at Accenture, built a business in Japan
and started a bank.
He is a founder of eight NGOs with a combined
turnover of over £100 million annually, including Teach First, which is the
largest graduate recruiter in the UK. He was awarded the OBE by the
Queen. Jo is a top corporate coach and keynote speaker on leadership,
global teams and tribes.
He is the first and only author to win the Chartered Management
Institute Gold Award four times. He is the bestselling author of How to
Manage, Global Teams, How to Influence and The Mobile MBA. His books
have been published in over 100 editions globally.
He can be reached at jo@ilead.guru
 Acknowledgements

Creating this book has been a personal journey of discovery, in the course
of which I have met many old and new guides to help me along the way. I
would not have even started the journey without the inspiration of the staff
and participants of Teach First. If they are the leaders of the future, our
future is in good hands. Since its creation 20 years ago, Teach First has
become the largest graduate recruiter in the UK: a great example of
leadership in action. I hope this book helps all the Teach First participants
on their journeys towards leadership.
I would not have had the courage to start this book without the gentle
support of Richard Stagg, Eloise Cook and the team at Pearson.
In the course of researching How to Lead, I have drawn on the time and
support of many people. A vast array of staff and participants at Teach First
and my other NGOs have been a live laboratory for testing the ideas in How
to Lead. I am also hugely grateful to the several thousand people I have
interviewed on video or talked to informally, or who have replied to
questionnaires. Readers of the last five editions have pitched in with
practical ideas, challenging questions and, with thanks to David Purdey,
some eagle-eyed copy editing. My only regret is that I cannot include all the
material I have been offered.
 Finally, my thanks go to the 100-plus organisations I have worked with
over the years. I certainly have learned much from them – I hope they got
something in return.
Leaders, like authors, learn to take responsibility. So, blame for the
failings of this book lie with me, not with the wonderful support I have
received from so many current and future leaders.
Publisher’s acknowledgements

16 Michael O’Leary: Quoted by Michael O’Leary; 21 John le Carré:

Quoted by John le Carré; 32 Irving Fisher: Quoted by Irving Fisher; 32
Thomas Watson: Quoted by Thomas Watson; 32 Robert Metcalfe:
Quoted by Robert Metcalfe; 32 William Preece: Quoted by William
Preece; 66 Abraham H. Maslow: Maslow, A.H. (1943) ‘A theory of human
motivation’, Psychological Review 50(4), 370–96.
 About the sixth edition

Since the fifth edition, the world has changed. COVID-19 made working
from home (WFH) and hybrid working commonplace. That has changed
leadership and management for good, and for better. Everything is harder
when you lead remotely. Leaders have to be much more purposeful and
deliberate in executing the basic skills of leadership: goal setting,
motivating, communicating, influencing, performance and workload
management are all much harder when you cannot see the people you lead.
If you can lead a remote team, you can lead any team. This edition will help
you reinforce those core skills, and adapt them to the hybrid world.
The pandemic and shift to WFH not only raised required skills levels. It
also changed the skills leaders need. Traditional command and control
management is hard when you cannot look over the shoulder of your team
members. Instead, you have to learn to trust your team to do the right thing,
even when you cannot see them or hear them; you have to delegate more
completely and you have to trust your team more. Equally, they need to be
able to trust you. In place of telling people what to do, you have to learn to
influence and persuade. These are all twenty-first-century skills, which have
been brewing for some time: the pandemic simply hastened their arrival.
 The previous five editions anticipated the changes brought about by the
pandemic. Each edition focused on the twenty-first-century skills of
leadership, as well as reinforcing the traditional core skills of leadership.
Continuing research during and since the pandemic shows how these skills
need to be adapted to the world of hybrid work. The sixth edition has been
thoroughly updated to reflect this research into the world of hybrid work.
The second big change for this edition is that it explores the final
frontier of leadership: your mindset. After many years of focusing on the
skills of leaders, it was becoming clear that the most successful leaders are
not always the most skilled. Indeed, as people slowly emerge into the
limelight of leadership, any modest flaws they had as junior managers
become magnified and exposed in the spotlight.
For the last ten years, I have been quietly pursuing research into the
mindset of leadership. That research is briefly summarised in this edition.
The good news is that you do not need to mess with your mind. You simply
need to dial up your strengths and dial down your weaknesses. There are
seven positive habits of mind that all the best leaders have (and one mindset
from the dark side). Learning any of these habits of mind is relatively easy
and can be transformational.
As with previous editions, this book draws on original research across
public, private and voluntary sectors. Traditionally, most leadership books
are based on private-sector examples. This is massive myopia. As a founder
of eight national charities (including the largest graduate recruiter in the
UK, Teach First), I am acutely aware of the challenges that voluntary-sector
leaders face. They have minimal resources compared with the private
sector: that does not make their task easier. And public sector leadership is
not easy street either – huge constraints and intense scrutiny are just a
couple of the challenges public-sector leaders face. Each sector can learn
from the others. Having said that, the required skills and actions of effective
leaders remain the same across all sectors. The principles of leadership are
universal, but how you apply them is unique to your context.
There is a logical sequence to this book, which means that it should
flow naturally from start to end. But the chances are that you are busy and
may not have time to read it straight through. This book is written with the
busy manager in mind. Because it is structured around key skills, you can
dip in and out as you choose. If you see a section that interests you, you can
read just that section. Each section is written so that it makes sense on its
own.
As with the earlier editions, you cannot read this book and finish it as a
leader. But it will help you put structure on the random walk of experience;
it will help you make sense of the nonsense around you; it will help you
accelerate your learning; and it can be your private coach on your path to
leadership.
 Introduction

Leadership is too often shrouded in mystery. To become leaders, we are

urged to become a combination of Genghis Khan, Nelson ­Mandela,
Machiavelli and Gandhi. A few people feel they are already that good. They
are the sort of leader who is well worth not working for. The rest of us feel
slightly small when measured against such giants.
The mystery deepens when you try to define what makes a good leader
in practice. We can all recognise a good leader in our daily lives. But no
leader seems to conform to a single template.
Some academics and consultants decided to solve the mystery of
leadership. They had time on their hands – they were on safari. By way of a
warm-up exercise, they decided to design the perfect predator. Each took
responsibility for one element of the predator. The result was a beast with
the legs of a cheetah, the jaws of a crocodile, the hide of a rhino, the neck of
a giraffe, the ears of an elephant, the tail of a scorpion and the attitude of a
hippo. The beast promptly collapsed under the weight of its own
improbability.
Undeterred, the group turned their attention to designing the perfect
leader. Their perfect leader looked like this:
• creative and disciplined
• visionary and detailed
• motivational and commanding
• directing and empowering
• ambitious and humble
• reliable and risk-taking
• intuitive and logical
• intellectual and emotional
• coaching and controlling.

This leader also collapsed under the weight of overwhelming improbability.

The good news is that we do not have to be perfect to be a leader.
Predators and leaders have to fit their context. The polar bear is the perfect
predator in the Arctic, but in the Serengeti, it would be lunch. Winston
Churchill had to endure what he called his ‘wilderness years’ in peacetime.
He just happened to be perfect as a wartime leader. The same leader
enjoyed different outcomes in different situations.

“The good news is

that we do not have
to be perfect to be a
leader.”

How to Lead is about becoming an effective leader, not the perfect

leader.
In search of the pixie dust of leadership

There has been a long search for the alchemy of leadership: we all want to
find the elusive pixie dust that we can sprinkle on ourselves to turn us into
glittering leaders.
Over 20 years of research for this book, several thousand individuals
have helped by identifying what they saw as effective leadership at all
levels of their organisations. In addition, more than 100 CEO-level
individuals in the public, private and voluntary sectors, in both small and
large organisations, gave in-depth interviews. If a­ nyone knows about the
pixie dust, they should. I also reviewed 40 years’ experience of working
with over 100 of the world’s best (and one or two of the world’s worst)
organisations to see what patterns of leadership emerged.
Over the past 15 years, I have even worked with traditional societies
from Mali to Mongolia and the Arctic to Australia by way of Papua New
Guinea to see how they are led. Closer to home, I led a study for Oxford
University of Anglo–French leadership to discover how far the world of the
leader changes when you cross the Channel.
The bad news is that leaders have no pixie dust. Or if they do, they are
hiding it very well. But there is plenty of good news:

• Everyone can be a leader. The leaders we talked to came in all sorts of

flavours and styles and all had different success formulas.
• You can load the dice in your favour. There are some things that all
leaders do well. It does not guarantee success, but it does make success
more likely.
• You can learn to be a leader. You do not have to be someone else – you
do not have to become Napoleon or Mother Teresa – you simply have
 to be the best of who you are.

This book shows how you can acquire the habits of effective leaders and
how you can adapt them to your own style.

Unravelling the mysteries of leadership

Leadership is inundated by small words with big meanings, such as vision

and values and integrity. It is a subject that suffers from an extraordinary
amount of hype and nonsense. In my exploration of leadership, the
mysteries began to melt away. The leaders gave reassuringly practical
answers for some common questions about leadership:

• Can you learn to be a leader?

• What is this vision thing?
• Do values have any value in reality?
• How do leaders with apparent weaknesses succeed?
• Why do some great people fail as leaders?
• What do leaders look for in their followers?
• What makes a good leader?
• Is a leader just the person at the top?
• How do you handle conflict and crises?

What follows is not a theory of leadership, it is the collected wisdom of

people who are leading at all levels in different types of organisations. The
result is a book that can act as your coach to being an effective leader
wherever you may work.
In search of any leadership

The search for leadership started with an easy question: what is leadership?
This promptly lost everyone in a jungle of conflicting views expressed both
forcibly and persuasively. Everyone recognises a good leader when they see
one, but no one agrees on a common definition.

“Leadership is about
taking people where
they would not have
got by themselves.”

I found the most useful definition came from Henry Kissinger, US

Secretary of State under President Nixon: ‘Leadership is about taking
people where they would not have got by themselves.’ This seems simple,
even obvious. But it has big implications:

• The person at the top of the organisation may be in a leadership

position, but they may not be leading. They may be careful stewards of
a legacy organisation.
• You can be a leader at any level of the organisation. Leadership is not
about seniority or your title; it is about what you do.
• Leaders need followers. You may be smarter than Einstein, but if no
one is following you, you cannot be a leader.

If seniority is a dead end for defining leadership, so are qualifications. A

quick look at the ten richest self-made billionaires on our planet shows that
an MBA is not required for success. Of the top ten at the start of 2022, only
Mukesh Ambani came close to an MBA: he enrolled at Stanford Graduate
School of Business and then dropped out. Among others in the top ten, Elon
Musk dropped out of Stanford University, Bill Gates dropped out of
Harvard University, which rejected Warren Buffett. You may need to be
smart, but you do not need a piece of paper to prove it.
So, if leadership is not about seniority or formal qualifications, surely a
good leader must be skilled? This is, at best, partly true. A skilled leader is
normally better than an unskilled leader. But look at the leaders where you
work. They may not be the most skilled. Indeed, as they rise, so they appear
more in the spotlight and their weaknesses become clearer to everyone. And
this is what the leaders themselves recognised in interviews: they know they
lack some core skills. If they are not good at accounting, they hire an
accountant. If they don’t know the law, they hire a lawyer. For them,
leadership is a team sport. As a leader, you do not have to be good at
everything, but you have to be good at something.
All of this is remarkably good news for anyone who wants to lead.
Through this fog of confusion about leadership, we have made several
important discoveries:

• You can lead at any level of the organisation.

• You do not need formal qualifications to lead.
• You do not need to be perfect to lead: no one gets ticks in all the boxes.

But still, we need to find the pixie dust that separates out the leaders from
the followers. Following Sherlock Holmes’ principle that, once you have
discounted everything else, what remains must be the answer, we can start
to tease out the truth about leadership.
The IPA agenda

I decided to look at what leaders actually do. Day to day, they do what most
of us do. They go to meetings, talk to people, deal with crises, get fed up
with emails and work long hours. In any one day, it is hard to see a pattern
to their work. Look at what they do over a month or a year and it soon
becomes clear that their apparently random or routine meetings and
messages have a clear pattern.

“The best leaders

focus on just three
priorities: Idea,
People, Action.”

The best leaders focus on just three priorities, which form the IPA
agenda: Idea, People, Action.
First, leaders at all levels have a very simple idea. We can call it a
strategy if we want to be sophisticated, or a vision if we want to be
aspirational. Behind every great business of any size there is normally a
great, and very simple, idea. For instance:

• P&G: building great brands.

• Google: dominating search.
• Facebook: connecting friends.
• Tesla: manufacturing electric cars.
• Shazam: identifying the music you are listening to.
Each idea may be very simple, but making it happen is very hard. The idea
serves to focus the energy and resources of each firm; it gives clarity and
direction to staff and provides a viable way of competing and succeeding in
the marketplace. The idea is not the formal vision, mission strategy or even
strategic intent of the firm – we can leave the wordsmithing to top
management and consultants – the idea is what, in practice, binds and
drives the firm. We will see how leaders at every level can have an idea that
works for them.
The second part of the IPA agenda is people. Leadership is a team sport.
Leaders make things happen through other people. And that means that the
best leaders attract, motivate and empower the best teams. As a leader, you
are only as good as the team you build around you. Do not assume that the
team you inherit is the team you need in the future. You have to build a
team that can turn your idea into reality – that means finding the people
with the right skills and the right values. Normally, it is easy to find the
right skills but much harder to find the right values. Do not compromise on
either the skills or the values.
The final part of the IPA agenda is action. I found that the best leaders
separate the noise from the signal very well. In the day-to-day noise of
crises, conflicts, random requests, setbacks and surprises it is easy to lose
the signal, to lose sight of what you must achieve – the urgent drives out the
important. The best leaders deal with the noise but make sure they find time
to keep pushing forward with their idea – they have a keen sense of
priorities.
This IPA agenda is so important, for leaders at all levels, that it forms
the basic structure of this book. No matter where you are, if you follow the
IPA agenda you are likely to become a more effective leader.
The three pillars of leadership

The IPA agenda is simple, but it is just the first of the three pillars of
leadership. Focusing on the actions of a leader is to focus on symptoms, not
causes. We can see what leaders do, but we have to dig deeper to find out
why they are so effective in what they do.
The second pillar of leadership came from asking people what they
wanted from the leaders where they work. Asking people what they want is
a pretty simple idea in business, but it has rarely been done in the world of
leadership. The answers were a revelation. But before you read on, think
about what you want from your boss and what you expect from leaders at
each level.

“What people want

from leaders is a set
of leadership
behaviours.”

If you want to be a leader who attracts great followers, then it pays to

know what your followers expect from you. What people want from leaders
is a set of leadership behaviours. It is not about what you do, it is about how
you are.
Here are the key behaviours expected of a leader at the top:

• ability to motivate others

• vision
• honesty and integrity
• decisiveness
• ability to handle crises.

It is worth reflecting for a moment on what is not on the list. Management

skills, reliability, intelligence, ambition, attention to detail, planning and
organisation all failed to register. As this leadership journey unfolds, we
will explore what the expected behaviours of a leader really mean. We will
also discover how we can display these behaviours effectively.
At this point, it was tempting to declare victory. But the list did not look
right. What we expect of top leaders is not necessarily the same as what we
expect of emerging leaders. The thousand volunteers who helped in the
search for leadership confirmed this suspicion. The behaviours they valued
in emerging leaders were totally different from the behaviours they
expected in senior leaders, as shown in the table below.

Expected behaviours of leaders at all levels

Top leaders Leaders in the Recent

middle graduates/emerging
leaders
Vision Ability to motivate Hard work
others
Ability to motivate Decisiveness Proactivity
others
Decisiveness Industry experience Intelligence
Ability to handle Networking ability Reliability
crises
 Top leaders Leaders in the Recent
middle graduates/emerging
leaders
Honesty and Delegation Ambition
integrity

We will explore what these behaviours mean and how you can learn
them in the course of this book. At this point, the important thing to note is
that the rules of survival and success change as your career progresses. To
start off with, you need qualities such as hard work and reliability. These
may seem like low hurdles to leap, but they trip up many people. At first,
you can succeed by doing the basics well.
The risk comes with your first promotion. You will have learned a
success formula based on hard work, reliability and being proactive. You
will naturally be inclined to stick to your success formula and redouble your
efforts. That way, disaster looms. As you head into middle leadership, you
need different skills. You are no longer the player on the pitch making all
the runs and the tackles. You are the coach on the side, selecting,
developing and directing the best team. That is a completely different skill
set for you to learn.
As you climb the career mountain, the view changes. You no longer see
the day-to-day detail at the bottom of the mountain – you take a larger and
longer view of what is important. That in turn means learning new skills
and behaviours.
The best leaders are always learning and adapting; average leaders stick
to a tried and tested success formula and soon find that they plateau out.
Learning means trying new ways of working, doing new things. That
inevitably carries the risk of setbacks, which means that the best leaders
have courage to try things; they need resilience to deal with setbacks when
they come along. The word failure does not cross their minds. They simply
see each setback as a chance to learn and to grow stronger.

“Behaviour does not

come out of
nowhere. It comes
from the way you
think.”

The need to keep on learning and growing hints at the third pillar of
leadership on which this book is based. Behaviour does not come out of
nowhere. It comes from the way you think. Over the last five years, the
main focus of my leadership research has been to find out whether the best
leaders act and behave differently because of the way they think.
It is clear that there is a distinctive leadership mindset. Like skills and
behaviours, it is something anyone can learn. The seven mindsets of success
are:

• Be positive, not hokey.

• Aim for the stars – have high expectations.
• Believe in yourself or no one else will.
• Learn and grow.
• Be brave – accelerate your career.
• Stay the course while others fall.
• Be ruthless, selectively.
On a good day, we all exhibit most of these mindsets. The best leaders keep
this mindset on bad days as well as good, every day of the year. And they
take the mindset further than most of us – they take bigger risks, are ready
to be more ruthless and yet are more positive than most. How they cultivate
this mindset is explored in part 6 of this book.

The nature of leadership

1 Everyone can learn to lead, and to lead better: you do not

have to be born to lead. Leadership is based on skills
everyone can and should learn. You can learn from good and
bad role models and experience. Never stop learning.
2 No leader is perfect: no leader gets ticks in all the boxes. Do
not strive for perfection – strive for improvement and build on
your strengths.
3 You can lead at any level: leadership is about performance,
not position. If you take people where they would not have
gone by themselves, you are leading.
4 Build on your strengths: all leaders have a unique signature
strength that lets them succeed in the right context. Build on
your strengths, work around weaknesses.
5 Leadership is a team sport: do not try to be the lone hero.
Work with others who have strengths that are different from
yours and will compensate for your gaps.
6 Make a difference: do not accept the status quo. L
­ eaders
push themselves and others to over-achieve, to go beyond
 their comfort zone and to develop themselves and their
organisation.
7 Find your context: leaders who succeed in one context can
fail in another. Find out where you can use your signature
strengths to best advantage if you want to succeed.
8 People and political skills become more important with ­-
seniority: technical skills are enough to gain promotion at
junior levels. The more senior you become, the more you
must master the arts of managing people and managing
politics.
9 The rules of leadership change at each level of the ­-
organisation: success at one level does not lead to s­ uccess
at the next level. Expectations change – learn those
expectations and develop new skills to meet the new
expectations.
10 You are responsible: you are responsible for your ­-
performance, your career and your feelings.

Learning to lead

It is one thing to describe leadership; it is another matter to learn it. Too

often, leadership is exemplified by the great men (nearly always men) of
business and of history. This is not helpful to normal human beings. Nor is
it practical. We could not all become Genghis Khan or Steve Jobs, even if
we wanted to. And a firm full of Genghis Khan wannabes would not be a
happy place.
So, you cannot succeed by trying to become someone else. But equally,
you cannot succeed by just being yourself. If you hang around like a
teenager in full hormonal angst waiting for the world to recognise your
innate genius, humanity and talent, you are likely to be in for a long wait.

“You cannot
succeed by trying to
become someone
else.”

So, if you cannot succeed by becoming someone else, and you cannot
succeed just by being yourself, what is the way forward? The way to
success is by becoming the best of who you are. All the leaders we spoke to
were clear that they succeeded by building on their strengths. Everyone has
weaknesses, but building on weakness is not a recipe for success. Not many
Olympic athletes win gold by focusing on their weaknesses – you would
not ask a weightlifter to work on their weakness in synchronised swimming.
Not many leaders succeed by focusing on their weaknesses either. You do
not need to try to be someone else, you simply need to be the best of who
you are. Build on your strengths and work around your weaknesses.
This book is your guide to the leadership journey. It focuses on the
many practical skills that help distinguish effective from less effective
leaders. It does not guarantee success, but it will load the dice in your
favour.
 “This book does not
guarantee success,
but it will load the
dice in your favour.”

There is some debate on whether you can learn to lead and, if so, how.
The good news is that everyone can learn to lead to some level of
proficiency, just as we can all learn to play a musical instrument or play a
sport. We may not end up being the greatest musician, sportsperson or
leader, but at least we can be a better one.
The alternative theory, that leaders are born, not bred, is terrifying.
England tried this theory for roughly 900 years when the monarchy and
aristocracy ruled by right of birth. The result was that, for 900 years, the
country was led by murderers, rapists, kleptocrats, madmen, drug runners
and the occasional genius who was meant to make up for the rest. Applying
the same theory to business does not bode well: most family businesses
discover that the saying ‘clogs to clogs in three generations’ holds true. The
first generation makes the money, the second generation spends it and the
third is back to where the first generation started.
Believing that leaders are born, not bred, is fatalistic. You may as well
give everyone a DNA test when they start their careers and let that
determine their fate. In practice, we can help everyone improve their
leadership potential. The only question is how. To test this, we asked our
leaders how they learned to lead. We let them choose two ways of learning
from the following six:

• books
• courses
• peers
• bosses (good and bad lessons)
• role models (in and beyond work)
• experience

Before looking at the answer, you may want to think which two sources of
learning have been most important to you. Having tried the same question
with thousands of executives around the world, there is a uniform answer.
No one claims to have learned mainly from books or courses. This could be
bad news for someone who writes books and leads courses. We all learn
either from direct experience or from the experience of others around us.
These are the lessons we value most.
The problem with learning from experience is that experience is a
random walk. If you are lucky, you bump into good experiences, bosses,
peers and role models. If you are unlucky, you get poor experiences, bosses,
peers and role models. You can hope to get lucky with your random walk.
But luck is not a strategy and hope is not a method.
You need to manage your journey to leadership. And that is where the
books and courses help. You cannot start at page 1 of a book and finish at
page 250 as a leader – that is not the point of books or courses. They help
you make sense of your experiences, help you remove some of the
randomness from the random walk of experience and help you accelerate
your path to leadership. How to Lead provides you with frameworks to
support your learning from experience: it is a structure on which you can
build your journey to success.
 “Luck is not a
strategy and hope is
not a method.”
 part 1

Idea: set your direction

Introduction

Our journey starts with an idea: not any idea, but your idea about your
future perfect. Once you have this, you have your lodestar, which can guide
you, focus your efforts, shape your team and give you your claim to fame.
The greatest leaders have the greatest ideas. Anyone at any level can have a
distinctive idea that drives their team forward. A good idea lets you lead,
whatever your title or role may be.
Part 1 shows how the power of a good idea separates leaders from
managers, and how you can develop your idea of a future perfect whatever
role you may have now. But it is not enough to have an idea. You have to
show that it is relevant, worthwhile and actionable. You have to
communicate and sell the idea to your team, bosses and peers. And you
have to know how to make the idea work alongside the formal strategy of
your workplace, which means navigating the world of strategy comfortably.
 By the end of Part 1, you should be more comfortable about defining,
evaluating and selling your future perfect idea. It is this that shapes your
future, so it is the natural starting point for this book. Parts 2 and 3 will
show how you can convert your idea into reality through a great team and
by mastering the art of making things happen in a complex world.
 chapter 1

Take control

The first task of any leader is to take control. As a manager, it is easy to take
control. You are appointed, you have a budget and you have people
reporting to you. You probably inherit systems that help you manage
performance, budgets and progress. To manage effectively, you simply
manage the people, plans and systems you inherited.
But this book is not about management: it is about leadership. If you
want to step up to leadership, you need a higher level of control.
As a manager, it is enough to control the existing business. As a leader,
you have to take the business somewhere different and better. There is
nothing wrong with sustaining and gradually improving the situation you
inherited – that is what all managers have to do. But, as a leader, you have
to do more than just manage. Instead of sustaining a legacy from the past,
you have to create a legacy for the future. That puts change at the heart of
leadership.
The test of a good leader is whether they can take people where they
would not have got by themselves. This is true if you lead a giant
organisation like Google or if you lead a team of five or six people. You
have to have an idea about how you will make a difference. You have to
create a future that is different and better.
 Having a clear idea about how you will create a better future sounds
obvious, but it is often lost in the daily battle to survive. We may want to
change the world, but right now we have a customer screaming down the
telephone, the month-end close is due in two hours, there is the presentation
to prepare and a hundred emails to deal with. As a leader, you have to deal
with the day-to-day battles but never lose sight of the greater goal you want
to achieve.
Think about your position. What will be different in one or two years’
time as a result of your leadership? Of course, you will have various budget
and performance goals to meet. If you are an effective manager, you will
meet those goals and, if you are unlucky, you may struggle. But beyond
meeting your management objectives, how will things be different and
better, in a way that other people will remember and remark on?

“Create a future that

is different and
better.”

Making a difference is genuinely difficult. As an exercise in classes, I

ask groups to name each British prime minister or US president since the
end of the last world war. I then ask them to recall one thing about each
leader, other than the foreign wars they engaged in. See how British prime
ministers are typically remembered.

How British prime ministers are remembered

in leadership workshops
 • Attlee: introducing the welfare state.
• Churchill: nothing as a peacetime leader, in vivid contrast to
his wartime years.
• Eden: Suez Canal debacle.
• Macmillan: saying, ‘You’ve never had it so good.’
• Wilson: talking about the ‘white heat of the technology
revolution’ in the 1960s, although no one is quite sure what
technology or what revolution he was talking about.
• Heath: sailing and taking the UK into the European
Community.
• Wilson (again): smoking a pipe.
• Callaghan: strikes, blackouts and the three-day working
week.
• Thatcher: Thatcherism and much positive and negative
besides.
• Major: a Spitting Image puppet showing him wearing
underpants outside his trousers.
• Blair: the Iraq War.
• Brown: the financial crisis.
• Cameron: losing the referendum on Europe.

There are some striking lessons here. Most of these great leaders who
dominated the media for years are remembered for very ­little. Only two of
them are remembered how they would want to be remembered: Attlee for
creating the welfare state and Thatcher for Thatcherism. Even Churchill in
peacetime was completely forgettable, and one prime minister (Douglas-
Home) is so obscure that I omitted him from the list, because no one
remembers he was prime minister. For the record, he came after Macmillan.
The two prime ministers who are remembered had a very clear idea of
how they wanted to change the country – and they succeeded. They
changed the country on their terms. It is not clear what the others really
wanted to achieve, other than gaining power and keeping their opponents
out of power. Doubtless, they had great plans in their heads and fought huge
political battles in their time, and they probably convinced themselves that
they made a ­difference. But the verdict of history is unforgiving: most of
them failed as leaders.
Now apply the prime minister test to yourself. How will you be
remembered? It is genuinely difficult to be remembered, let alone thanked,
for anything. Think back on the various bosses and CEOs you have had.
How did they make a difference and what do you remember them for? The
chances are you remember them for how they were, not for what they did.
You will remember how they treated you and how they behaved, not
whether they beat a budget by 7%.
If you want to manage, you can manage the role you inherited and seek
to improve it. That is hard work in itself. If you want to lead, you have to
make a difference. You need an idea that others will notice and remember.
As we shall see in the next chapter, a compelling idea will help you and
your team perform much better.

“If you want to lead,

you have to make a
difference.”
Another random document with
no related content on Scribd:
children like stories, and during the telling of the story, if it is at all
worth while, the children will be quiet and attentive. The teacher
may, however, call the restless child to herself, saying to him, “I like
to have somebody stand by me.” Better still, she may gather all the
pupils around her and say to the mischievous boy, “Robert, I am
going to tell you a story. The other boys and girls may listen.” This
will captivate the child, and when she has finished she may ask him
to tell the story.
By this time the reader will sigh and ask, “Must all this be done to
keep one mischievous boy at work?” Yes, but it is far easier to
interest him than to be worried by his pranks. Then, too, by keeping
him interested, the teacher is administering to his development,
while to let him loll in his mischief would only tend to create in him
habits of inattention and idleness. At the close of the day the boy will
go home happy and the benediction of a happy teacher will follow
him. Nothing adds more to a teacher’s usefulness and happiness
than the thought of work well done.
In the above procedure the teacher has practiced suggestive
control. She has led the mischievous boy into activities that interest
him, that appeal and fascinate as well as satisfy that active mind, and
that will mature into right action. It is far easier to deal with a child
full of life, than to deal with a dullard. Direct properly the impulse
that causes this mischief, and it will become a force for real good in
the child’s life. The discreet teacher will look ahead and avoid
difficulties, and nowhere will she get more valuable clues to a
method of control than on the playground.
Watch the child in his play at recess to see what activity interests
him most. Suggest to him some point about that activity which he
has overlooked and commend him on his skill. Every child has a
hobby. If you can find this boy’s hobby and tell him something about
it which he does not know, you will make a warm place in his heart
for yourself. Then utilize the knowledge thus gained, and his
increased confidence in you, in order to add to his school work just
the element that will make it so interesting for the child that he will
find the work more delightfully fascinating than the mischief.
The first grade teacher needs to be in her room but a few days
before she will see some little child making grimaces at his neighbor
and not infrequently he may make a grimace at the teacher,
especially if he feels that the teacher has not dealt fairly with him.
This is not a serious annoyance and should give the prudent teacher
no worry. It can not be repeated too often that many of the small
offenses that harass a school day are doubly intensified by the
attention that is paid them. Often when a pupil does some petty
misdemeanor, he would soon forget it were it not that the teacher
notices it and pounces upon the offender with some brand of
punishment and thereby the child learns that this certain offense is a
thing that the teacher dislikes. In the future, whenever that child’s
feelings are ruffled, he will resort to this certain offense to annoy the
teacher. The discreet teacher will train her pupils in such a way that
they will not settle upon any specific type of annoyance.
In cases where a child resorts to the practice too frequently, the
teacher will find it well to devise some means by which she can
substitute one activity for another; that is, substitute a more
interesting activity for the making of grimaces. The teacher may use
the following method and conversation:
“Children, we are planning to have a little play party once a month.
This is to be on the last Friday afternoon of each month. Each one of
you is to bring either a cooky, an apple, an orange, or a banana, and I
will bring some candy. We will play all kinds of games and just before
school dismisses we will eat our dainties. Won’t that be fine? But,
children, I have just thought that any one who makes grimaces or
ugly faces during the month ought not to be invited. We do not want
our party spoiled. What do you say?”
Of course all, or nearly all of the children will say that any one who
is guilty of making faces shall not come. The teacher who has not
tried anything like this will think it is absurd and impracticable, but
it will greatly assist in removing grimacing and many other evils that
troop through a teacher’s school experiences.
The means of discipline need not necessarily be a party. It can be
some other affair or activity that children like. If the teacher chooses
a party, she must have a goodly number of games ready and keep her
children intensely interested.
The luncheon is an important feature of the party and must be well
managed by the teacher. All the sweetmeats must be divided into
small parts and so mixed that a child does not get the dainty he
contributed. A cooky can be cut into four pieces, a banana into four
or five pieces, and the same with other sweetmeats. Children like
little things. Then, too, the teacher may suggest that they play at
having a luncheon.

CASE 84 (SECOND GRADE)

Adams White knew a large number of Making Faces

systems by which to rearrange his features For Fun
so as to produce laughter. When the book-agent sat at the side of the
room, Adams took occasion to entertain him with the horrible figure
made by drawing down his lower eyelids until a large part of the
eyeball was exposed to view. The boy did this, or a similar prank,
every once in a while, and his teacher, young Benjamin Danner,
scarcely knew what penalty would do the boy the most good.
Unfortunately for Adams, he was caught in the act. “Go to the
blackboard, Adams. Put your hands behind your back and lean
forward till your head touches the wall. Did you understand me?”
“Well,” thought the agent, “this is interesting. I can hardly believe
that such methods are in use today. But here is the proof right before
my eyes.” He watched Adams move in a clumsy, resistant manner,
and assume the position prescribed.

CONSTRUCTIVE TREATMENT

Instead of such a punishment as the one described above, we

propose that Mr. Danner pay no attention to the deed until school is
out for the day. Find some favor that Adams can do for you and put
him at it immediately. When he has completed the task, or at least
made good headway, call him to one side, look him straight in the
eye, as he is seated in front of you, and say:
“Adams, you need to be careful how you look at visitors who call at
our school. The gentleman was surprised at your action today. I felt
sorry for him. I want to know if you can keep at your work in an
orderly way on similar occasions hereafter.”
If the answer is more or less satisfactory, accept it and say:
 “I am going to depend on you for this. I A Firm
want to see no more expressions of shame Injunction
on the face of a visitor because of your conduct. I want every pupil to
work straight on no matter who may come in.”

COMMENTS

This boy needs no publicity as a reward for his misdemeanor; he

will sooner or later take advantage of his unexpected predicament to
make more trouble for his teacher. The penalty had no logical
connection with the prank, and only aggravated the boy’s antipathy
toward school rules. Mr. Danner advertised his lack of good
discipline by resorting to this barbarous penalty, especially when a
stranger was present.
If the conduct of Adams is to be permanently improved, this one
act must be viewed in its relation to his conduct generally. As soon as
Adams feels vitally his part in making the school a success, his
behavior will improve. No pupil is so obstreperous that one need
despair of winning him by some kind of means, at least until one has
exhausted his resources.
The plan recommended above, or some adaptation of it, can be
used profitably for a pupil of any grade.

ILLUSTRATION (FIFTH GRADE)

Jim was ten years old when he was Making a Man

transferred from Webster Street School in
the East End of the city to Central School on Main Street. This
transfer was the culmination of a long series of misdemeanors on his
part and many untactful methods employed by his teachers. No
species of juvenile mischief remained untried by him.
He went into each room with a scarred record from his former
teacher, and was not allowed to forget the fact that he always did the
wrong thing. He was scolded daily, sent into the hall to stay for hours
and gaze benignly upon the works of art that decorated the walls,
which of course he didn’t do, not being deeply engrossed in art study.
More naturally he spent the time in mischievous pranks. He was
whipped, threatened, and denied the advantages of less energetic
and less talented pupils.
But with the transfer came a change in the boy’s nature. When he
entered Central School, Miss Burns grasped his hand and said, “Well,
Jim, I’m glad you’re going to be in our school. I know we’re going to
get along finely.” She treated him as if he intended to do the right
thing, and before long he actually thought he did so intend.
She had him go on errands for her when she saw he was getting
restless, or erase the blackboard for her after an exercise, which he
did with great dispatch, and before the end of the first day she had
completely won his respect and gratitude.
One morning on his way to school Jim heard his classmates
planning Christmas presents for their teacher. Immediately he began
to contrive ways and means for securing a beautiful necklace he had
seen in the jeweler’s shop—a necklace of gold and pearls. This was
the only gift that his active little brain could conceive of as being
worth giving to Miss Burns.
Only, he hadn’t the money to buy the necklace. His parents were
far-seeing in a financial way, and did not believe in bestowing
unlimited amounts of coin upon their children. So it was that Jim
found need to do something unusual in order to secure the coveted
present. He was not long in working up a paper route. He would rise
early in the morning and spend long hours delivering his papers.
In connection with this work he took orders for Christmas wreaths,
then secured a large quantity of holly from a wholesale man on
market; his little sister, Ruth, bought a supply of fluffy, flaming
ribbon at the Ten-Cent Store. Together they made the wreaths, Jim
paying Ruth for her artistic advice and time. In this way the wreaths
cost less than the ready-made wreaths, and Jim was able to secure a
better price for them. Thus Jim saved enough money to buy the
necklace and also some lovely presents for those at home.
You can imagine Miss Burn’s surprise when, among other gifts,
she found Jim’s necklace on her desk the morning before Christmas.
Realizing the value of the gift and Jim’s true devotion to her, she won
from him the story of his sacrifice. She said, “Oh, Jim, you don’t
know how this makes me feel,” and Jim went home at the end of the
day with a beaming face.
Jim’s sacrifice reacted upon himself, for this taste of his powers led
him into many fair means of earning money, and so launched him
well on what turned out to be a successful business career.
“Making faces” is essentially a little child’s offense, although
sometimes it persists in upper grades or even in the high school.

CASE 85 (FOURTH GRADE)

In a small village there existed bad feeling “Making Faces”

between the pastor of the church and for Spite
several of his leading members. Some parishioners took sides with
the pastor, and in the school the children of these two church
factions carried on the quarrel of their elders. The teacher kept peace
on the playground through active personal supervision, but in school
he encountered the face-making problem in a degree only less
ridiculous than it was annoying.
There existed an active emulation in the ugliness of the facial
contortions produced, and when a member of one faction had made
a particularly horrid grimace, he looked for and received the silent
applause of his sympathizers.
Charles Briggs was the teacher. He knew that the feeling of alliance
in the members of the factions was the cause of the face-making
epidemic, but he could not at first think of a logical way of meeting
the situation. He tried, first, the use of his absolute authority. He
forbade the making of faces, and punished the children when he
caught them at it. Whereupon face-making became a more exciting
sport than ever, since the zest of escaping notice was added to the
pleasure of presenting an ugly front to the enemy.
Mr. Briggs said, “How funny you would all look if your faces
should stay twisted into those grotesque shapes.” Nevertheless the
children spent their recesses, when kept in, in inventing new twists
and contortions; they stood in corners and drew the attention of the
whole room to fresh triumphs in grotesqueness. The evil grew,
because the cause was not touched. One boy even set a looking-glass
up in front of his book, into which he made faces for the benefit of
the girl who sat behind him, keeping his head lowered meanwhile as
if using his handkerchief to wipe his tearful eyes.
Then Mr. Briggs began to think of underlying causes and intrinsic
remedies. As a consequence, he made up a fairy story about a land
where people’s thoughts molded their features with instant magic
into the semblance of ugly animals or noble men and beautiful
women. He introduced a princess of evil disposition whose face was
that of a cross, snapping dog, but whom a magician changed into a
being of loveliness and grace by his persuasions to self-sacrifice and
kindness. He told this story as vividly as he could, with emphasis
upon the dislike people feel for an ugly face. Then he waited a day or
two for the story to take effect. He heard the children laughingly
allude to it once or twice, but the evil went on.
Then he talked to his school about face-making. He explained that
such contortions really do affect the faces and characters of those
who make them, not of those who see them. He led his boys and girls
to see that face-making made them contemptible, and that every
time it was done it published the inferiority of the doer. Then, having
condemned the old ideal, he tried to build up a new habit by showing
that the strongest man is the one who is most self-controlled, and
ended by a little skillful ridicule of the babyish method they had been
taking to show a silly spite.
“Suppose,” he proposed at last, “that we put the babies who make
faces over here with the primary pupils, where they’ll feel more at
home? Bright people don’t like to be associated with such children.
But we’ll not try it unless we have to. I shall watch you during the
next few days, and I’m going to see how many can show their friends
and their enemies, if they have any, that they are worth respecting,
and that their souls don’t look like twisted turnips.”
No magical change came over the school, but gradually the
sentiment for, and practice of, face-making died out. The children
unconsciously copied the teacher’s contempt for it. By stories and
references he built up an ideal of beauty and dignity in personal
appearance and behavior.

CONSTRUCTIVE TREATMENT
 Mr. Briggs did well to search for underlying causes and effective
remedies, because the use of authority in such a case is a mistake, as
he found. Make no attempt to suppress the practice, but proceed at
once to the constructive plan of building up a good sentiment.
Whatever you do, do not assume that the pupil is disrespectful to
you. If the pupils have shown such disrespect in the past, simply set
about gaining their confidence.
Face-making is largely an outgrowth of the play impulse, no matter
what its motive. Substitute a better form of play. Dramatizing a story
that emphasizes the opposite of the undesirable characteristics, is
one of the best ways of overcoming the fault. Read “The Little Knight
of Kentucky” during the twenty-minute periods just before school
closes. Dramatize parts of it. When the children are imbued with the
chivalrous spirit of the story, suggest the incongruities of face-
making and other spiteful acts, by saying to the boy whom you
“catch”: “Harold, the little knights of Kentucky did not make faces at
each other. Would we be as proud of them as we are, had they done
so? Then, let’s not have any one who makes faces play that story
today.”

COMMENTS

When the motive is the approbation of fellow-pupils, these fellow-

pupils must be made to change their attitude of admiration for
muscular grotesqueness for one of appreciation of facial repose,
beauty and dignity. It is a matter of inculcating ideals. Beautiful
pictures of ideal faces, such as those of Hoffman’s Boy Christ and
Raphael’s Madonna of the Chair, may be used to illustrate the ideal
of fine, controlled faces that express beautiful and kind thoughts.
Sometimes offhand contempt of a babyish practice helps, especially
with a vain and self-conscious type of pupil.

ILLUSTRATION (THIRD GRADE)

Miss Grasome stood aghast at the rude Cure for Bad

manners and selfishness of her third grade Manners
pupils. She had tried many plans for improving the situation, but
with little success, for the children had the constant example before
them of rude manners in their homes. As the Christmas season drew
near she thought to herself, “I’ll try once more. We will dramatize
‘The Birds’ Christmas Carol.’ Perhaps that beautiful story will teach
the children the lesson that I seem to have failed thus far in
clinching. I’ll use the rudest and most selfish girl I have for the sick
child’s part. She won’t play as well as some of the others, but if she’ll
only catch the lesson I want her to get, I won’t mind the blunders.”
The proposition to have a play instead of a Christmas tree
delighted the children. The story interested them so much that when,
toward the latter part of their study, Miss Grasome proposed that
they follow out the thought of the story and make some needy or
unfortunate person the recipient of their gifts this year instead of
making them to each other, the children were quite ready for the
sacrifice.
Of course committees must be appointed, and much coöperative
work done before all details could be arranged. But every child had a
share in the planning, and not many weeks had passed before a
gentler and more considerate spirit began to dominate the school-
room. Miss Grasome smiled and said to herself: “Coöperation works
better than prohibiting or forcing, even in such matters as the
training of manners, it seems.”

CASE 86 (FIFTH GRADE)

Algie B. knew all the fun there is in Paper Wads

throwing paper wads, particularly when he
could run the greatest risks of detection and yet escape discovery.
Said he to himself one busy morning:
“I believe I’ll take a shot at Redtop. The teacher’s got him scared
into looking at his book; he’s got to be waked up.”
A good-sized wad soon sped across space, struck Redtop plump on
the side of the head, fell and rolled back toward Algie.
“Better yet, I’ll just get that wad and have it for another shot. It’s a
lucky boy I am, if I can do that.”
 Stooping, he made four stealthy steps forward, regained his wad
and slid back into his seat. When Miss Stone looked about, the next
moment Algie’s eyes fell to his book and all was quiet and peaceful as
a day in spring.
This fine example of bravery and success was not lost on other
restless spirits. By the next day an observing onlooker counted up ten
instances in which sly wad-throwers had reproduced Algie’s feat.
On the third day over-boldness brought the climax. Miss Stone had
been too much absorbed to note the minor noises that were
provoked. But when Amy Lane, nervous, uncontrolled, uttered a yell
of terror as a cold wad struck her in the back of her neck and slipped
down, ten pupils broke loose in a chorus of laughter.
Miss Stone roused up and, strange to say, succeeded in getting a
story of the recent happenings. She threatened the last culprit, who
in self-defense said,
“Why must I suffer when all the other boys do the same thing?”
and he named nearly every boy in school, ending up with Algie.
Her threats of punishment of course were vain in the presence of
so many offenders. With a sharp talk she dropped the discussion.

CONSTRUCTIVE TREATMENT

Miss Stone has one simple task: to rouse from absorption in one
duty and wisely distribute her attention to several matters.
Promises must not be taken as fulfillment; assurances of any sort
must not be taken for more than they are worth. Find a safe medium
between espionage and disastrous indifference.

COMMENTS

School-room behavior will never take care of itself under any

system of management. A teacher who thinks he has solved all of his
disciplinary problems is resting in a deceitful security. A sweet
trustfulness that keeps every pupil in his most delightful mood and
never sees the wild emotions and boisterous conduct that arises from
them is the rock of destruction for a teacher’s influence.

ILLUSTRATION (SIXTH GRADE)

Roland was an unkempt, dirty, red- Painting Face

headed little fellow in the sixth grade of a
small town school. He came from an unlettered, hard-working,
shiftless family in the country and, like Topsy, had just growed up.
He was bright enough, but his reasoning power and sense of right
and wrong were undeveloped because he had never been taught
rightly. He had been whipped when naughty without fully
understanding that what he had done was wrong.
One day, in the new school, he daubed his nose, cheeks and chin
with ink when Miss Downer, the teacher, was not looking, and
convulsed with laughter everyone who looked at him.
It was almost recess time, and Miss Downer quietly bade him wash
his face. When the rest were dismissed she said, “Roland, I want to
speak to you a minute.”
“Going to get a licking!” whispered the boy behind him, and
Roland grinned scornfully, for whippings really did not matter much
to him any more, though Miss Downer was new and untried and she
looked as though she might be pretty strong.
When the rest had gone Miss Downer sat down in front of Roland
and spoke to him kindly, “Roland, why do you do such things in
school?”
Roland shifted uneasily and said, “Dunno.”
“Have you your language lesson?” at which he shook his head.
“Didn’t you think that besides foolishly wasting your own time you
were wasting the other children’s time by making them laugh at
you?”
This was an entirely new thought to him and he looked at her in
incomprehension.
“You come to school to learn, don’t you, Roland? And the more you
can learn the better off you will be. Some day when you get to be a
man you’ll be glad you know more than somebody else, and sorry
that you don’t know as much as some other person. Why, you were
just telling me yesterday that your father didn’t have a chance to go
to school beyond the fourth grade! And here you are wasting this
precious, precious time of yours!”
Roland looked intently at a dirty finger-nail and Miss Downer
could not tell whether she had made an impression on him or not.
She gave him a story from a supplementary reader, telling of
Lincoln’s struggles to get an education, to read during the rest of
recess.
A week later Roland became really interested in the history lesson.
This teacher’s questions weren’t the kind you could answer, parrot-
like, by memorizing the words of the textbook. You had to stop and
think about it. He asked, “I’d like to know about this yere Civil War,
anyway. Some says they fit about slavery and the book says because
they seceded, and I’d like to know which is right.”
Miss Downer devoted the rest of the class period to satisfying
Roland’s query, and counted the time well spent because she had laid
the first stone in the foundation of Roland’s education—she had
aroused intellectual curiosity, satisfied it, and given him food for
more questions.
Every time he misbehaved after that she kept him in and talked to
him seriously. Not once did she threaten or scold. And at other times
she tried to draw him out by being interested in him and his affairs—
the baby brother at home, a new dog he had, and what “my paw” said
and did.
At length Roland began to realize that this teacher was not a
vindictive creature, wreaking her spite upon him for harmlessly
amusing himself and other people, but one who was interested in
him, Roland Smith, and really cared what he did and thought. And,
though she had queer ways of looking at things, he really hated to
disappoint her and she could make him feel most awfully
uncomfortable and ashamed of himself.
Miss Downer’s final test came when Paper Wads
Roland was discovered throwing paper
wads at a boy across the room. Miss Downer felt very much inclined
to thrash him soundly, for this was a case of wanton naughtiness. But
she did not.
 Instead she merely talked to him as she had talked before, bringing
in a little more of the personal element.
“Roland, what if your brother kicked you every time you were
almost asleep at night, or joggled your elbow every time you started
to take a mouthful at the table, or pulled the chair out from under
you when you started to sit down? It would be funny at first,
wouldn’t it, but how long do you suppose you and your brother could
keep on playing together as good friends if he kept it up?”
Roland shook his head, mystified.
“That’s just what you’re doing to me. You told me you wanted to
learn and get on in the world, and the rest of these children do, too—
they don’t want to be stupid when they’re grown up. But we can’t
learn very fast with some one hindering us all the time, and I was
counting on your help.”
Miss Downer spoke very kindly and earnestly, and looked directly
at Roland.
“I wasn’t goin’ to throw them paper wads, honest I wasn’t, Miss
Downer. But before I knowed it, they was thrown,” and Roland did
look truly sorry.
Miss Downer’s impulse was to punish him, not to forgive him
again, but if he really were sorry and trying to do better, a whipping
would spoil all the good work she had accomplished so far.
“Are you sorry, Roland?” her voice was low and serious.
There was a long pause, during which Roland fingered a scrap of
paper nervously, not looking up. Then his lip began to quiver and he
nodded violently, breaking into sobs.
“I—I d-didn’t mean to and I won’t do it no more, honest.” Roland,
whose boast was that “nary whipping” had ever made him cry, was
penitent because he had disappointed her who had been kind to him.

CASE 87 (HIGH SCHOOL)

Hen. Rutgers couldn’t help having plenty Laughing at

of fun. If no one made it for him he took a Nothing
turn and produced it himself. He could have plenty and not laugh.
Then he could laugh like the falling water on a cataract when there
was very little fun in sight.
Hen. laughed. He laughed out loud. Miss Gresham went speedily
to his desk, looked him straight in the face, and said:
“Henry, why did you laugh just now?”
Hen. lifted his head slowly and just as slowly rolled his eyes over
until he looked her squarely in the eyes. With their glances mutually
fixed Henry said very deliberately:
“I—don’t—know,” without a smile.
“Henry, you surely know what caused you to laugh. What was it?”
Then glibly but without a smile came Henry’s reply.
“O yes, I remember. I was just thinking what would happen if Mr.
Finley (superintendent, weighing two hundred and fifty pounds)
should back off the platform there sometime when he’s walking
around so fast.”
“You should be at work, Henry,” was all that Miss Gresham could
utter at the time. The chief reason for her weak response was she had
drawn the attention of half the pupils and a general titter arose at
Henry’s reply chiefly because of his absolute composure of
countenance.
Henry did not care so much for mischief for its own sake. His chief
sport was attracting the attention of other pupils and getting the
teacher into a mild predicament by setting a sort of disciplinary trap
for her.

CONSTRUCTIVE TREATMENT

Avoid asking such questions as, What made you laugh? Why did
you do it? etc., except privately. Even then unless you are reasonably
sure of a satisfactory answer to these questions you may complicate
your case by so doing instead of helping it toward a solution.
Pass over details of causes which pupils most often allude to and
lay hold of the prime provocation for bad order. Use your power of
analysis and apply an effective remedy. Henry needs an abundance
of heavy but interesting work. Bear down so deep into his interest in
geology that he cannot menace your loyalty to him by trifling with
you in respect to discipline. Treat him so squarely, frankly,
generously that his respect for you will be an unremitting check on
small misdemeanors.

COMMENTS

Pupils may not know what to answer when asked, “Why did you do
so and so?” The truth is the causes are numerous. The last cause may
have been the stumbling of one pupil over another one’s foot. But
another cause lies behind this—disrespect for the teacher; behind
this, fondness for another teacher. Why does a pupil act in a certain
fashion? He is underfed, improperly clothed, irritated from
insufficient sleep—these are all proper answers to the question,
“Why?” Hence, every time the query is put a teacher runs the risk of
provoking a worse situation and yet of gaining nothing from the
inquisition.

ILLUSTRATION

Superintendent Finley called Henry in after his little one-act play

in the assembly room and the following interview occurred.
“I have some facts about your affairs in Gymnasium
the study period, Henry, that need to be
cleared up. Yesterday you are said to have denied making faces when
the fact was you had been guilty.”
“Well, I’ll tell you just how it was. I was at Remedy
my desk. Miss Gresham thought something
was off-color and came down to see me. I told her I didn’t know and
then I recalled and answered her. The pupils looked on and laughed.
Miss Gresham was nettled, I suppose. She walked down the aisle,
stopped at Ellen’s desk, her back to me, and said to Ellen,
“‘Look over to Henry’s desk and see what he is doing.’
“Ellen caught sight of me and must have told that I was making a
face, for Miss Gresham came to me and said: ‘What were you doing
just now?’ I said, ‘Nothing.’ She said, ‘You were making a face.’ I said,
‘I was not.’ Then she sent me home.”
 “Why did you deny making a face?”
“Because I hadn’t done it. I scowled but that was all. I didn’t do
anything that need excite Miss Gresham. She’s got it in for me.”
“Now that will do on that. You are not properly occupied some way
in your periods in the study room. I credit you with having intellect
enough to know how to play the gentleman. It’s a question of
whether you are always going to take advantage of opportunities to
make sport at the expense of pupils’ and teachers’ time, or whether
you are going to help make school work a success. I know pretty well
what you think on these matters, but I’d like to hear you express
yourself on this point.”
Henry did discuss the matter; there were a few weak spots in his
view of school life. His evident restlessness during long school hours
was a predisposing cause of several troubles. For this and other
reasons, Mr. Finley decided to revise his schedule for use of the
gymnasium during school hours and to provide suitable
interruptions of mental labor by physical exercise of various sorts.
This new program gratified the pupils as well as relieved physical
necessities.
The interview ended fortunately for both teacher and pupil and
eventually brought relief to several unfavorable conditions in the
school as a whole.
(2) Teasing tricks. Sometimes a pupil can cause no end of
annoyance by teasing others. This fault may have been trained into
the child at home.

CASE 88 (SEVENTH GRADE)

A bright lad and into all sorts of mischief, George had gradually
acquired the reputation among the teachers of being “a bad boy”;
and the new superintendent was informed to this effect when he
came to the school.
One day there was a great commotion in Snake in School-
his grade; an innocent garter snake had room
been let loose in the school-room. George was accused, and as the
disturbance had begun in his corner of the room, and as he was
known to have a great fondness for all sorts of animals, insects,
snakes, etc., the evidence seemed decidedly against him.
“No, sir!” he replied to the superintendent, when sent for to go to
the office. “No, sir! I didn’t do it!”
“I’m afraid that you are not telling me the truth, George. You have
a bad reputation. I think that I shall punish you by sending you into
the next lower grade, until you can learn to become more of a man.”
“It’s such a disgrace, mother! No, I can’t go back. The boys will all
make fun of me. Besides, I didn’t do it!”
Finally, however, his mother made him see that the manly thing
would be to take his punishment, even if he wasn’t to blame. So, on
the following morning, he reported himself to the teacher of the next
lower grade, and told her that he was to study there.
Later in the day the superintendent made his rounds, and
exclaimed surprisedly, when he saw George,
“Why, you here? I didn’t expect to ever see you again!”
Needless to say that was the last appearance of George at school,
and a life that might have been helped was spoiled by an unjust
punishment and a careless remark. Even superintendents may make
mistakes!

CONSTRUCTIVE TREATMENT

Say to the mischief-loving boy, “George, we can not have these

animals loose in the school-room; it disturbs our work entirely too
much. But there is a way that we can have them here, some of them
at least, and everybody enjoy them. How would you like to help me
make a fresh water aquarium for the school?” “You would like it?
Very well. We shall need one more to help us. Tell the boy who
brought in the snake to come to me with you this afternoon and
together we will plan how to make the aquarium. We’ll get it all ready
and give the other children a surprise. I’ll help you until it is ready
for the animals. You and he can get the specimens, and after that I
would like to have you two take care of them. Meanwhile, we’ll get
from the library all the books we can find about the animals you two
select, and talk about them in the nature study period.” The
aquarium, referred to above, need not be an expensive apparatus. In
fact, most any kind of a vessel or a very large bottle would serve the
purpose very well. Do not furnish this yourself but let one of the boys
bring it.

COMMENTS

The fact that George was fond of animals, insects, snakes, etc., was
the clew for the teacher to work upon in gaining the good will and
coöperation of the troublesome boy. Knowing one strong interest
that he had, the teacher should start with that and work out from it
to other and broader fields of action.
Unless the teacher had actual proof to the contrary, she should
have accepted the boy’s statement that he did not bring in the snake.
It is far better that a guilty boy go unpunished, than that an innocent
person be punished. Take the initiative in coöperation with the
troublesome pupil and the troubles will soon disappear.

ILLUSTRATION 1 (THIRD GRADE)

Henry Gould was very fond of his collie The Pet Dog
and insisted upon having his company every
day at school. His teacher, Miss Greenway, probably would have
made no objection to this had it not been for a fact that the dog was
inclined to snap at any child except his master and thus endanger the
safety of the other children. How to forbid the presence of the dog
without arousing the antagonism of his owner was the problem. She
resolved to try approval and initiative in coöperation. So she called
Henry to her at noon time and said:
“Henry, I noticed the collie snapping at one of the little girls today,
and I think we shall have to ask him to stay at home after this. But he
is such a bright little fellow we shall miss him. Don’t you think it
would be fine for the children to take his picture before he goes? How
would you like to get him into a good position when the drawing
period comes and let the children use him for a model?”
 Henry was proud to have his pet honored, stood by him patiently
while the children drew, and made no further insistence that he
should come to school.

ILLUSTRATION 2 (HIGH SCHOOL)

A practical joke loses all of its point when A Live Mouse

nobody is annoyed or made ridiculous by it.
A teacher who tactfully makes himself seem one of a group who is
deriving benefit from an experiment, wins the respect of his
students. Such a teacher was the high school instructor in science,
whose attention was directed to a mischievous pupil, by a girl’s
seemingly nervous fear of this fun-loving boy. Cautious investigation
revealed the fact that a living mouse was in the wide-mouthed bottle
which protruded from the joker’s pocket.
This principal told the boy that it would be instructive fun to let
the mouse loose in the building and see what the timid little thing
would do, but that such a course of action would endanger the future
safety of books, lunches, etc., left in the building. He, therefore,
advised that, at the coming recess, all who did not fear the mouse,
form a large circle in the school yard and that the mouse be let loose
in the center of the circle. And that all observe closely just what the
little animal did.
At recess, the principal himself joined the circle, asking the boys to
notice carefully whether or not the mouse would change his course to
avoid a shouting student.
After the mouse was experimented upon and killed the mischief-
maker began to wonder why it was that he was glad that he had not
annoyed the principal with the mouse, as he had intended to do.

CASE 89 (EIGHTH GRADE)

Teasing Rhymes
“Hey Diddle Diddle!
Parts his hair in the middle!”
 This was the couplet that greeted John Fraser as he entered his
eighth grade room one September noon. Above the couplet was a
portrait of himself, the style of his hair indicated very clearly. He
erased the decorations hastily, but said nothing about it. He was very
young, however, and the thoughtless disrespect shown him hurt
sadly.
A day or two passed, during which he noticed the covert
amusement at his faultlessly pressed clothes, his punctilious
manners, his careful grooming, all new and strange to the crude little
town in the Southwest in which he taught. Then, one noon, he
entered the room from the playground to find a rough cartoon on the
board, labeled, “Mr. Fraser pressing his pants to make creases at 2
a.m.” The pupils were vastly entertained by it.
“Who made this picture?” John demanded, very angry and feeling
that his dignity demanded that the offender be punished. Every head
turned instantly toward Cleaver Trotter, who seemed much pleased
to be singled out for attention.
“Cleaver, you may remain in at recess. I want to see you.”
“Just as you say, Mr. Fraser!” sang out Cleaver, jauntily. There was
a half-suppressed titter of admiration, and Mr. Fraser felt that he
had come out second best.
At recess he ascertained that Cleaver had really drawn the picture,
and forbade him sternly to repeat the offense. The interview took
place in the otherwise empty school-room, and when Cleaver was
allowed to go he joined a group of gaping admirers on the
playground.
“What did he do to you?” they demanded to a man.
“Oh, he asked me why I did it, and I told him I couldn’t help it; I
just knew it took him all night to press his pants that way.”
“And what did he say then?”
“Well, he smelled of the smelling-salts and said that’d be all for
today, so I came on out.”
None of this account was true, but Cleaver won by it the thing his
boyish vanity wanted, the admiration of his crowd. They approved
the ridicule because it furnished them with fun, and Cleaver was
shrewd enough to know that his leadership depended upon their
approbation of his attitude. He annoyed John Fraser constantly