Chapter 12. Moments of Greatness: Entering the Fundamental State of Leadership

Robert E. Quinn

As leaders, sometimes we're "on," and sometimes we're not. Why is that? What separates episodes of excellence from those of mere competence? In striving to tip the balance toward excellence, we try to identify great leaders' qualities and behaviors so we can develop them ourselves. Nearly all corporate training programs and books on leadership are grounded in the assumption that we should study the behaviors of those who have been successful and teach people to emulate them.

My colleagues and I have found that when leaders do their best work, they don't copy anyone. Instead, they draw on their own fundamental values and capabilities—operating in a frame ...

Get Business Leadership: A Jossey-Bass Reader now with the O’Reilly learning platform.

O’Reilly members experience books, live events, courses curated by job role, and more from O’Reilly and nearly 200 top publishers.