If you're like most managers, you don't just want to be good at what you do; you want to be great. Where to begin?

Tools abound to help average leaders become extraordinary. Self-help books. Web sites. Executive coaches. 360-degree feedback. All have merit, but they're no substitute for the most powerful leadership guru - you. No one else can chart your course to leadership greatness as well as you can

Begin by considering these questions : what are my strengths? what abilities have I acquired from surmounting tough personal and professional challenges? Becoming more aware of how you lead when at your best will make it easier to call on those skills when you need them most.

Next concentrate on helping your employees become great. Instead of trying to change your people, help them identify their existing talents. Then find ways for them to use their distinctive skills to excel.

Leaders who nurture strengths - their own and their employees' - will reap the rewards of leadership excellence : motivated employees and high-performing organizations.



Contents:

* Manging Oneself by Peter F. Drucker

* Moments of greatness : Entering the fundamental state of leadership by Robert E. Quinn

* What great managers do by Marcus Buckingham