The Shadow Side of Power

In this thought-provoking and imaginative allegory, join a fictional hero for an all-too-real journey through the shadow side of leadership and its many challenges. Our hero faces the distortions and personal dilemmas that accompany his leadership role, seeing five ways that leaders fail and two ways they abuse their power. In the process, he learns seven lessons that will make him a great and principled leader for these very challenging times.

The world is evolving and the values and capabilities of leaders must keep pace with and even help shape that evolution. While the virtues of good leaders may be similar through the ages, the consequences of abuse and misuse are amplified in our highly networked, complex, and uncertain times. What does it mean to be a leader with formal power today? The age of command-and-control authoritarianism is fast slipping away, but our need for competent, courageous, and principled leadership is, if anything, even more critical.

Jim Kouzes, coauthor of the bestselling The Leadership Challenge and Executive Fellow of Leadership at the Leavey School of Leadership, Santa Clara University, asserts, “The Shadow Side of Power is just plain great storytelling—the kind that draws you in, stirs your passions, sustains your interest, teaches meaningful lessons, and leaves you both gratified and wanting more.… Before you embark on your next leadership adventure, take a guided tour through the allegorical world of the Leadership Inferno. You’ll be better prepared for your other challenges once you have.”

This book is for those who are or want to be in a formal leadership role; aspire to be great and respected leaders, leveraging for impact, learning, and leaving a legacy; and are willing to face into the darker aspects of power, its temptations and misperceptions. Readers will be energized to meet the challenges of leadership as a choice and a responsibility—more than simply a title or an opportunity to make more money.