Why Should Anyone Be Led by You? With a New Preface by the Authors

INTRODUCTION

Why Should Anyone Be Led by You?

AT THE BEGINNING of the new millennium, our research was driven by this single, simple question. It had an impact. Audiences we addressed throughout the world paused for thought when they were asked it. Rooms fell silent as people pondered their right to lead and the willingness of their followers to be led by them. A Harvard Business Review article with the question as its title produced a flood of communication.

Over the last five years, the question has taken us in intriguing, exciting, and often perplexing directions. Along the way, we have interviewed dozens of leaders (and their followers) in the corporate world and beyond—in schools, hospitals, sports organizations, and elsewhere.¹ After all, ...