Conversations on Leadership - by Lan Liu (Hardcover)

Book Synopsis

A veritable who's who in leadership, Conversations on Leadership features Warren Bennis, Jim Kouzes, John Kotter, Noel Tichy, Peter Senge, James March, Howard Gardner, Bill George, and others. Since each leader has a distinctive approach, this book provides the multi-faceted truths of leadership to broaden and deepen the understanding of the readers.

From the Back Cover

It is indeed time for Conversations on Leadership. It covers major leadership scholars and practitioners and gives them a place across cultures. Lan Liu also opens the way for us to think seriously about enriching our Western models and not about rejecting them.
Fons Trompenaars
Owner and founder of THT Consulting
Author of Riding the Waves of Culture

Lan Liu's Conversations on Leadership makes two great contributions to our current leadership literature. First off, it brings us an update of the latest thinking of many of the most read and listened to leadership thinkers of our time. Second, he carefully summarizes the contributions of our gurus which provide the busy executive a condensed version of the most popular leadership ideas. As an update, I found it invaluable and as a summary a one of a kind! This very readable book is destined to appear on the book shelves of all serious leaders in Asia and beyond.
Steven J. DeKrey, Ph.D.
Senior Associate Dean, HKUST Business School
Editor, Learning from Leaders in Asia and co-editor, Leadership Experiences in Asia

Have you ever wondered what it might be like to interview 13 of the world's most thoughtful leadership scholars? I have, but never acted on it. Thank goodness Lan Liu not only had the courage to act on his dream, but also the generosity to share it with the rest of the world. This is a stunning book. What makes this sweeping review so extraordinary is not only that it contains the distilled wisdom of great masters, but that it does so in such a deeply personal and refreshingly provocative way. As Liu reminds us, "Dialog is the oldest and the most effective way of learning from a master." He's right. As a result, no serious leadership scholar or practitioner can afford to miss out on this remarkable conversation!
Scott A. Snook
Associate Professor, Organizational Behavior
Harvard Business School

In bringing together the personal thoughts and ideas of some of the leading leadership thinkers of our time, Lan Liu has managed an important achievement and rendered a distinguished public service for all those interested in leadership, whether it be leadership application, leadership research, leadership development or simply a look into the thinking of those on the cutting edge of this critical topic. Conversations on Leadership would have interested Peter Drucker and made him proud of the insights expressed as well as Mr. Liu's achievement in gaining them. This book should be read by all leadership researchers, educators, and above all, leadership practitioners.
William A. Cohen, PhD, Major General, USAFR, Ret.
Vice President, The Peter F. Drucker Academies of China and Hong Kong
Author of Drucker on Leadership and Heroic Leadership: Leading with Integrity and Honor

Conversations on Leadership by Lan Liu offers the backstory on how these leading thinkers came to hold the views that they have about leadership. You will learn more about the real meaning of leadership from these delightfully intimate conversations than you will learn from most leadership textbooks.
Stephen Denning
Author of The Secret Language of Leadership and The Leade's Guide to Storytelling

A provocative, engaging and lively series of conversations with top thinkers that provide both inspiration and illumination for managers.
Hayagreeva Rao
Atholl McBean Professor of Organizational Behavior
Stanford Graduate School of Business

Lan Liu's book Conversations on Leadership is full of insights and practical advice on the nature of leadership. The book is unique not so much in its summary of leadership theories by scholars of world renown, but in its conversational approach to discussing leadership in its historical and cultural contexts with many of those who have been instrumental in shaping ideas and practice in this field. As such, this book is a valuable addition to the bookshelves of both students of leadership and corporate practitioners alike.
Dr. John Yang
Dean and Professor, Beijing International MBA Program
Peking University

Through his vivid conversations with leadership masters from both the West and the East, and through his efforts to integrate their thoughts in a way that takes them beyond the American model, Lan Liu has opened a new page in our understanding of what leadership is, what it means and the qualities required of leaders. This book will, I am sure, prove to be a great guide to anyone who aspires to lead in this global era, whatever the context.
Michael Yu
Founder, Chairman and CEO
New Oriental Education & Technology Group

About the Author

Lan Liu is a researcher at Peking University's Center for China Strategic Studies and adjunct professor at the Beijing Peter F. Drucker Academy, where he teaches leadership courses on their executive programs. The author of five books in Chinese, including People First (2010, co-author), Master Classes of Leadership (2009), and Ten Truths of Management (2008), for seven years he was editor-in-chief of Chief Executive China, a leading business-management magazine with around 200,000 subscribers. In a varied career, he has been a columnist of China Business Times, associate director of case center of Cheung Kong Graduate School of Business, and deputy general manager of an advertising agency. Liu holds a B.A. in International Politics and an M.A. in International & Intercultural Communication from Peking University, and an M.P.A. in International Development from Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government.