LEADERSHIP B.S.

Puncturing the façade of what passes for leadership knowledge, Stanford Professor Jeffrey Pfeffer reveals not only that most of it is bogus, but why it is and the damage that this misinformation causes.

Written as a manifesto of sorts, in the spirit of his frequent collaborator and colleague Robert Sutton's The No Asshole Rule, Pfeffer makes the argument that while the leadership industry is a huge business, with multiple billions of dollars spent annually and with lofty aims of encouraging authenticity, transparency, benevolence et al, it actually makes things worse, not better. Pfeffer lays bare why this is, how it works, and offers specific recommendations that might make things better. With chapters on trust, truth and lying, modesty, among others, he captures the myths and shows in very clear, pointed ways their destructive power—in a refreshingly blunt and energizing 53,000 words.

With Pfeffer’s expertise and the rigor he brings to his work, LEADERSHIP IS B.S. is not a rant. It’s an incredibly convincing case, put forward by a provocateur buttressed by a lifetime as a researcher and astute observer of how the world really works.

Jeffrey Pfeffer is the Thomas D. Dee II Professor of Organization Behavior at the Graduate School of Business, Stanford University, where he has taught since 1979. He has also held visiting professorships at the Harvard Business School, London Business School, IESE Business School in Spain, and other institutions. He is the author and co-author of several academic crossover management books including POWER: Why Some People Have It and Others Don't, THE KNOWING-DOING GAP, WHAT WERE THEY THINKING?, and HARD FACTS, all of which have sold very well in English and are backlisted. He does extensive speaking and consulting work in addition to his teaching and was included in the Wall Street Journal's top ten management gurus