The Little Book of Big Management Wisdom

INTRODUCTION

During the 1980s, managers were seen as proactive go-getters who were taking over from the mere administrators who were to blame for the state of British business. They were the new knights in shining armour riding to the rescue in their bright, shiny Porsches. By the 1990s, managers were being cast as reactive and lacking vision and the new heroes on the block were leaders.

Now the truth is that Britain didn’t build an empire and win two world wars without leaders. The administrators of those days were acting as leaders just as the managers of the 1980s were leading their companies out of the stagnation of the 1970s.

What I’m saying is that leaders are not some elite band of people born with innate skills that means their destiny ...