Character of Leadership

The power of great leaders to challenge, bring about change and inspire is well known. But what makes a great leader? What is the character of leadership? And how can you be a leader others look up to? The authors of The Character of Leadership have found out. The genesis of the book was a joint survey conducted by Monash University and the Australian Institute of Management in which over 200 Australian managers and business leaders related what character traits and virtues they possessed.

From these responses, the authors highlighted the 15 character attributes regarded as the most important, including respectfulness, fairness, compassion, spiritual respect, humility, courage, passion, wisdom, selflessness, integrity and honesty.

The authors then performed in-depth interviews with 55 executives from around Australia, asking for their views on each of the character traits. The insight and wisdom of these great leaders is shared throughout the book. Exercises and discussion points in almost every chapter allow you to incorporate the attributes into your life and leadership style -- to help you become a leader of character.

About the Authors

James C. Sarros, Professor of Management at Monash University, Victoria. James has had more than 200 articles and conference papers, six books and seven book chapters published in the area.

Brian K. Cooper, a Research Fellow in the Department of Management, Monash University. Brian is currently completing a PhD at La Trobe University.

Anne M. Hartican, a senior consultant with Leadership Solutions, a part of McArthur Management Services. Anne specialises in organisation and culture development, and individual and group leader development programs.

Carolyn J. Barker, Director of the Australian Institute of Management. Carolyn coordinates major research initiatives on behalf of AIM's national network and independently commissions research where more exploration of the Australian market is needed.