The Nature of Leadership: Reptiles, Mammals, and the Challenge of Becoming a Great Leader Book

White shares his own thoughts about effective, indeed "great" leadership. More specifically, as C.K. Prahalad so succinctly explains in the Foreword, White's core message is profound and clear: "The capacity to be focused on the critical economic and performance issues and at the same time be sensitive to the social dimensions of leadership - the reptilian 'coldblooded' and the mammalian `warm and caring' - is at the core of leadership." White asserts (and I wholly agree) that a great leader must be successful at achieving change - "important, consequential change in the results for which [she or he is] responsible. Making change successfully is a leader's greatest challenge."

White makes effective use of a pyramid metaphor to illustrate a three-phase process. First, having a foundation that requires a desire to be in charge in combination with ability, strength, and character. During the next phase, to maintain an appropriate balance of quite different but not mutually exclusive qualities (i.e. reptilian and mammalian) as the leadership development process continues. All great leaders know when to discipline and when to nurture...when to focus on details and when to focus on context...when to verify and control, when to trust and delegate. The material in Chapters 4 and 5 suggest the relevance of the term "tough love" to the business world. Those who complete the second phase, who aspire to become great leaders, care enough about their direct reports to hold them fully accountable for their performance and behavior. They realize that great leaders are not always popular but they are respected by everyone with whom they are associated. Their constructive criticism as well as praise is credible because those who receive either believe that it is always honest, sincere, and (yes) deserved.