While it's easy to identify leadership and recognize that its performance is crucial, it's difficult to find a concrete answer to this simple question: "What makes an effective leader?" In numerous studies on CEOs' concerns, a recurring theme is how to develop the next generation of effective leaders. Dave Ulrich, a professor of management at the University of Michigan, Norm Smallwood, co-founder (with Dave Ulrich) of The RBL Group, and Kate Sweetman, The RBL Group's principal consultant in leadership development, answer what makes a leader clearly and precisely. The authors, coupled with decades of research experience, combined interviews with influential CEOs, academics, and experienced executives, identified five recurring elements. These five rules became The Leadership Code and are outlined so that great leaders can apply them in their daily actions. In the research that led to this book, Ulrich, Smallwood, and Sweetman concluded that 60% to 70% of the competencies needed to build effective leadership are the same: leaders must be strategists (planning the future and the path forward), executors (putting ideas into practice), managers who know how to captivate, motivate, and optimize talent, human capital developers (investing in and building the next generations), and must serve as an example (knowing how to position and expose themselves appropriately). The other essential elements represent 30% to 40% of a leader's development and are related to the ability to differentiate themselves in the service provided to investors and/or external clients. The Leadership Code is a rigorous and timely study that conveys to the reader, in a practical and objective manner, attitudes developed by great leaders. The five fundamental rules for leading with efficiency and generosity can be incorporated by every professional; they just need to understand and apply the Code.
