Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

You aspire to lead with greater impact. The problem is you're busy executing on today's demands. You know you have to carve out time from your day job to build your leadership skills, but it's easy to let immediate problems and old mind-sets get in the way. Herminia Ibarra--an expert on professional leadership and development and a renowned professor at INSEAD, a leading international business school--shows how managers and executives at all levels can step up to leadership by making small but crucial changes in their jobs, their networks, and themselves. In Act Like a Leader, Think Like a Leader , she offers advice to help you:<br> <br> * Redefine your job in order to make more strategic contributions<br> * Diversify your network so that you connect to, and learn from, a bigger range of stakeholders<br> * Become more playful with your self-concept, allowing your familiar--and possibly outdated--leadership style to evolve<br> <br> Ibarra turns the usual "think first and then act" philosophy on its head by arguing that doing these three things will help you learn through action and will increase what she calls your outsight --the valuable external perspective you gain from direct experiences and experimentation. As opposed to insight, outsight will then help change the way you think as a leader: about what kind of work is important; how you should invest your time; why and which relationships matter in informing and supporting your leadership; and, ultimately, who you want to become.<br> <br> Packed with self-assessments and practical advice to help define your most pressing leadership challenges, this book will help you devise a plan of action to become a better leader and move your career to the next level. It's time to learn by doing.<br>

Table of contents provided by Syndetics

• Chapter 1 The "Outsight" Principle: How to Act and Think Like a Leader (p. 1)
• Chapter 2 Redefine Your Job (p. 25)
• Chapter 3 Network Across and Out (p. 71)
• Chapter 4 Be More Playful with Your Self (p. 117)
• Chapter 5 Manage the Stepping-Up Process (p. 159)
• Conclusion: Act Now (p. 185)
• Notes (p. 191)
• Index (p. 207)
• Acknowledgments (p. 217)
• About the Author (p. 221)

Reviews provided by Syndetics

Library Journal Review

Ibarra (Working Identity) outlines a path to successful leadership based on the idea that direct action changes the way people think. The author centers her book on the concept of outsight, the perspective created through networking and experimenting with different mindsets. The book is filled with case studies of managers who learned how to look beyond their job description and think about how their departments can work in relation to others as part of the top-level corporate strategy. Ibarra breaks down her path to leadership into three steps: redefining your job, reexamining your network, and reimagining yourself. The three chapters on this path provide valuable insight into how successful leaders view their role in the company and how they think about networking. Chapters include self-assessment exercises that help the reader find blind spots in their leadership skills. The book bridges the gap between Ken Blanchard and Spencer Johnson's The One Minute Manager and works such as James Kouzes and Barry Posner's The Leadership Challenge. VERDICT Offering important strategies for managers and executives who need some direction in advancing to the next level of leadership within their companies, this work is well recommended.-John Rodzvilla, Emerson Coll., Boston © Copyright 2015. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Author notes provided by Syndetics

Herminia Ibarra is an expert on professional and leadership development. She is the Cora Chaired Professor of Leadership and Learning at INSEAD, the founding director of The Leadership Transition executive education program at INSEAD, and the author of Working Identity: Unconventional Strategies for Reinventing Your Career (Harvard Business Review Press, 2003).<br>