The Absolutes of Leadership

Leadership is learnable
A Warren Bennis Executive Briefing Series Book

Crosby is taking his message to a different audience--a growing army of intelligent young men and women who are setting out to become executives by choice and for the right reasons.
--Central Florida Business

In this, his eleventh book, world-renowned consultant Philip Crosby offers readers a simple, yet ingenious method for assessing the skills of those they've been assigned to follow, as well as their own leadership abilities. Leaders, he says, come in five versions?Destructor, Procrastinator, Caretaker, Preparer, and Accomplisher. And by examining each of those character types in relation to his four Absolutes of Leadership, the author establishes a framework would-be leaders can use to build quality leadership skills of their own.

Crosby also discusses the leader's role in organizational finance and quality, and in dealing with customers, suppliers, employees, and bosses.

You know a leader when you meet one, he asserts and he maintains that those people who already have leadership potential will blossom once they understand and epitomize the precepts set forth in this groundbreaking work.

Editor's Preface ix

Author's Preface xi

Foreword xiii

Introduction: What Is Leadership? 1

1. The Leadership Personality 9

2. Absolute 1: A Clear Agenda 27

3. Absolute 2: A Personal Philosophy 35

4. Absolute 3: Enduring Relationships 49

5. Absolute 4: Worldly 55

6. The Leader and Finance 61

7. The Leader and Quality 73

8. The Leader and Customers 85

9. The Leader and Suppliers 95

10. The leader and Employees 107

11. The Leader and Bosses 117

Notes 125

Index 127

"For my money, nobody talks quality better than Phil Crosby." --Lee Iacocca

"Immensely readable...needs to be read by just about everyone, top management and middle managers and supervisors." --Business Week, on Quality Is Free

"Crosby is taking his message to a different audience?a growing army of intelligent young men and women who are setting out to become executives by choice and for the right reasons." --Central Florida Business PHILIP CROSBY is recognized worldwide as THE leading voice in quality improvement and management strategies. Author of eleven books with combined sales in the millions, he is the former ITT vice president and founder of Philip Crosby Associates, the world's largest quality consulting firm. Crosby now serves as Chairman of Career IV, Inc., in Altamonte Springs, Florida, where he addresses groups and works with aspiring executives. In this, his eleventh book, world-renowned consultant Philip Crosby offers readers a simple, yet ingenious method for assessing the skills of those they've been assigned to follow, as well as their own leadership abilities. Leaders, he says, come in five versions?Destructor, Procrastinator, Caretaker, Preparer, and Accomplisher. And by examining each of those character types in relation to his four Absolutes of Leadership, the author establishes a framework would-be leaders can use to build quality leadership skills of their own.Crosby also discusses the leader's role in organizational finance and quality, and in dealing with customers, suppliers, employees, and "bosses." You know a leader when you meet one, he asserts and he maintains that those people who already have leadership potential will blossom once they understand and epitomize the precepts set forth in this groundbreaking work. Rate your own leadership abilities or those of your boss. Author Philip Crosby groups leaders into five personality types and compares their attributes to the four "Absolutes" all strong leaders share. An engaging work that holds the keys to effective, quality leadership.