"After reading many current educational leadership books which seem less about leadership and more about the ‘evils’ of government reform and ‘commodification’ it is a real delight to read such a splendid book as this. Peter Northouse has combined an academically robust account of the major themes and approaches with an accessible style and approach that makes the book very readable. This book is a major source of insights and perspectives for all those studying on leadership courses in both the business and education sectors. It is also an excellent source for school leaders and educators who want to go deepen their understanding of leadership.The book is divided into fourteen chapters which cover all the key aspects in the leadership field: defining leadership; trait approaches; skills approaches; style approaches; situational approach; contingency theory; path-goal theory; leader-member exchange theory; transformational leadership; team leadership; psychodynamic approach; women and leadership; culture and leadership and leadership ethics. It is unusual to get such a comprehensive coverage of leadership, with such a perceptive and engaging account.The layout of the book is excellent making it very reader friendly with great use of colour display of models and tables. This is a major improvement on earlier editions of the book. It has outstandingly good case examples and questions for reflection and very useful leadership instruments and questionnaires. These instruments, case studies and questionnaires provide practical applications and reflection tools and add a significant reality check to theory as the reader can apply the leadership analysis to themselves or their situation. For anyone starting out as a student of leadership or an experienced leader reviewing their leadership style and approach this book would be an essential starting place.After reviewing leadership books for over twenty years this book is by far one of the best I have come across. It provides an excellent leadership account and discussion for those working in the education and business field." —INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF EDUCATIONAL MANAGEMENT
International Journal of Educational Management - Brent Davies
"Love the analysis of theories and end of chapter exercises. "
A useable and up-to-date introduction of the psychodynamic approach that brings psychological concerns about motivation and personality into a helpful conversation with mainstream leadership theory.
This is an excellent introductory text to the field of leadership studies. It features short, concise, readable chapters complemented by case studies and self-analyses for those wishing to apply the material. It is the first book I recommend to anyone wishing to learn more about the field and how they can improve their own leadership practices.
". . . A structured opportunity to view leadership through various lenses. . . . This book fully delivers on what the title promises—leadership theory and practice. The research is reviewed in a way that is user-friendly to scholars and practitioners . . . Northouse’s writing is crisp, direct, and explicit."
Public Productivity & Management Review
This book presents strong learning material on leadership approaches, traits, and theories, and presents the material in a very succinct learning text.
This book is a good starting place for those who are interested in learning about the broad range of leadership theories and a good follow-up resource for those wanting to know more in-depth information and also how to apply theories to real life situations through the case studies.
Northouse offers comprehensive coverage of leadership that spans decades of classic and contemporary approaches. He effectively translates the evidence-base in a way that students can put into practice. I have always been impressed with the balance in his presentation of leadership theories, offering a section on strengths and criticisms in each chapter. If you are looking for a book that encourages critical thinking about leadership, this is the one.”
Leadership: Theory and Practice and its accompanying resources are exceptional. The text is an essential resource for faculty and for students at the undergrad, graduate, executive education, and doctoral levels. There’s nothing out there that even come close in terms of quality and comprehensiveness. Don’t teach leadership at any level without it.”
Northouse is highly readable and explains leadership material extremely well. He then presents the strengths and weaknesses of various leadership approaches in a compelling way, yielding evidence based leadership practices.
This is the ideal text for a survey course on leadership theory that also helps students put their leadership into practice.
A must read for anyone preparing to take a leadership position in any setting.
This is an essential authentic textbook that not only discusses all aspects of leadership but provides application and opportunities for students to self-assessment in one place.
It’s a well-written, research-based, comprehensive resource that any scholar of leadership, organizational developer, and current or aspiring leader should be familiar with.
You need to start with Northouse’s Leadership. It is a great book that gives you a broad-sweep overview of the various leadership theories and how you can apply those theories in real-life situations.
A comprehensive guide to the study of leadership.
Northouse’s Leadership: Theory and Practice is a comprehensive, easy-to-understand overview of the field of leadership. It summarizes key concepts and knowledge and explains how we got to where we are today in our understanding of leadership. It is a student-centered approach to studying leadership by explaining key strengths and criticisms of each theory and topic as well as including assessments students can use to better understand their own traits/skills/behaviors and potential as leaders.
This is a power-packed text that provides personal application opportunities for students and the content support a professor needs to be successful.
I recommend this as the leadership book to read/assign over all others. I tell students this is the most important book in our undergraduate Organizational Leadership major. If I could only buy and keep one book in the program, it would be Leadership: Theory & Practice.
This single text has become the primary resource for our doctoral program in Educational Leadership. It provides the foundation upon which we base our program of study and encompasses the breadth of leadership theory and practice in a manner accessible to students, practitioners, and scholars.
Leadership today is about building followership, and Leadership: Theory and Practice provides a practical approach for how to build that followship in today’s workforce.
Leadership: Theory and Practice is a ‘must have’ for all students studying leadership at both undergraduate and postgraduate level. Theories of leadership are articulated in a very accessible manner and supported by appropriate case studies which bring meaning to the rhetoric –reality debate. This text is well structured and takes the student on a learning journey which leads to a greater understanding of leadership in its broadest sense.
The text does an excellent job of addressing leadership at the individual level of analysis. The single greatest strength is the empirical review of the major theories of leadership, provided in a chapter framework that describes the theory, explains how a particular approach works, describes strengths and criticisms, discusses how to apply the theory, provides relevant cases, and a related assessment instrument.
Northouse’s approach to leadership provides a balanced overview of both theory and relevant application while presenting it an easy to understand format. Students will find it an excellent resource for years to come.
"This is a comprehensive textbook for undergraduate and postgraduate classes in business, training and development, and organizational communication and should also be useful in continuing education and in-house leadership development programs."
It is an understandable and concise book highlighting the traits, characteristics, and features of a leader.
This is an excellent textbook at both the beginner and intermediate levels, and would be best undertaken at the Junior or Senior level, as the concepts will be more meaningful for application. This enrichment from the book is also relevant to the supplemental material including case studies, self-evaluation questionnaires, and the interactive e-book.
The book is a great primer for an overview of basic leadership theories. It is a text that puts complex leadership theories into digestible forms for those unfamiliar with the language. The book provides a great historical context for the study of leadership, serving to inform the work of leadership moving forward.
"The book seems to have been sprung from the author's experiences of teaching and consulting on leadership issues. This is evident from the way in which the approaches and theories to leadership are structured for easy application and practice in active scenarios. A clear positive aspect of the book is the Summary at the end of each chapter with serves the purpose of integrating several dimensions that the chapter deals with. "
Book Reviews - Venkatesh Pamu
This is simply my bible for teaching on Leadership. It is informative, yet an enjoyable read and essential for lecturers and students alike. No module on Leadership should be without one!
Leadership: Theory and Practice is a scholarly examination of leadership as a dynamic, evolving, and elusive influence process with differing approaches to effectively build relationships and facilitate the achievement of goals and visions.
This is a great addition to the text. It is important for leaders to understand and meet the needs of those whom they are leading and the environment in which their interactions take place. They must seamlessly account for all these factors in a way that is not focused on the leader him or herself, but on the context. [The Adaptive Leadership Chapter] presents leadership through a new lens and provides an approach to leadership that was missing from previous editions. It offers concrete practical examples that are relatable and provide context to both current and future leaders.
"Excellent review of major concepts and theories; applications at close of chapter is a perfect ending! "
I have found Peter’s books exceptionally well written, applauded by my students for its quality and readability. It immediately leads us excitingly toward the geneses of the symptoms we often treat as causal. It is direct and logical in its development. It is easy reading but by no means elementary. Finally but more importantly, it will I feel help students better understand their own needs and develop plans for further development.
"Leadership: Theory and Practice provides excellent analyses of a number of leadership theories and research findings in considerable detail...The book succeeds in advancing our understanding of the different approaches to leadership and the methods by which it can be practiced more effectively. "
"Leadership, Theory and Practice is very highly recommended — whether for both academic study concerning leadership behavior and concrete, or for practical use by any aspiring or practicing leader in the business community today."
"Northouse's third edition of Leadership: Theory and Practice is one of the clearest presentations of the major theories and concepts of leadership available in print anywhere. It should be required reading for every leadership program. "
"The third edition of Leadership by Northouse provides students with a powerful introduction to the strengths and limits of the social science strand of research in leadership. It provides application for undergraduates while for graduate students, it provides the context needed to plunge into reading research and developing research questions. At the same time, the book raises significant questions about the link between leadership and ethics and values. "
With each new edition, Peter Northouse has consistently produced a textbook that provides students with a thorough introduction to Leadership. Moreover, he continually updates with cutting-edge topics and important issues facing leaders today. My students love this text.
"I have used Leadership: Theory and Practice for the past four years as the primary text for an undergraduate leadership course that I teach. The comprehensive nature of the chapters, critiques, exercises, self-assessment instruments, and case studies make it very user-friendly for students and faculty. "
It provides a comprehensive and concise coverage of many leadership approaches. This text has the best on-line support for instructors and students I have ever seen.
A seminal work; a keeper!
What a great resource!Great book - Great case studies for the students - Easy to use. My students find this book very sharpened and readable. I describe this book as a pinch of background of what leadership is. This book is one of the rare book that presents Servant leadership in a new form for both instructors and students.
This is a great textbook that provides the foundational theories of leadership. The book achieves a critical balance of providing scholarly research and practitioner perspectives. Case studies, class activities and leadership surveys provide an integrative perspective of individual, team and organizational leadership styles and practices
The Northouse book presents a comprehensive view of leadership and the theories associated with leadership behavior. This is an outstanding text to use with a graduate-level leadership course.
Great survey text of leadership theory, with leadership inventories connected to each theory presented.
The Northouse text offers relevant material pertaining to leadership which can be utilized by any discipline. The case studies at the end of each chapter are priceless.
I liked the summary of leadership theory it provides. It is very good overview that is easy to read and understand. There is nothing like this specifically related to higher education.
Northhouse explains the various leadership theories in understandable bite-size concepts and provides examples to support the explanations. The students actually enjoy the lessons. The study of leadership can be a difficult concept to explain. By theorizing about observed phenomena, we can make predictions that can be tested in the real world as well as in more controlled settings. Northhouse provides this procedure.
Great baseline leadership theories from which to explore more recent research and context-specific discussions of theories. Good case studies for students to work through.
An affordable text with good coverage of leadership theory and concepts.
"A 'must have' comprehensive presentation of leadership theories from historical to contemporary views. An invaluable resource for students and scholars."
"It is an excellent primer on the history and fundamental notions of leadership. I am particularly impressed with the presentation of many different types of leadership, the newest forms of leadership, and the case studies."
User-friendly theory for students and teachers. Well-structured, clear, and crisp.
"Northouse's third edition of Leadership: Theory and Practice is one of the clearest presentations of the major theories and concepts of leadership available in print anywhere. It should be required reading for every leadership program. "
Doctor - Thomas E. Matthews
-I have found Peter's books exceptionally well written, applauded by my students for its quality and readability. It immediately leads us excitingly toward the geneses of the symptoms we often treat as causal. It is direct and logical in its development. It is easy reading but by no means elementary. Finally but more importantly, it will I feel help students better understand their own needs and develop plans for further development.---William A. Welch, Sr., Ed.D.
-A useable and up-to-date introduction of the psychodynamic approach that brings psychological concerns about motivation and personality into a helpful conversation with mainstream leadership theory.---Jack Barentsen
-This is a great addition to the text. It is important for leaders to understand and meet the needs of those whom they are leading and the environment in which their interactions take place. They must seamlessly account for all these factors in a way that is not focused on the leader him or herself, but on the context. [The Adaptive Leadership Chapter] presents leadership through a new lens and provides an approach to leadership that was missing from previous editions. It offers concrete practical examples that are relatable and provide context to both current and future leaders.---Daniel W. Calhoun
-This is an excellent introductory text to the field of leadership studies. It features short, concise, readable chapters complemented by case studies and self-analyses for those wishing to apply the material. It is the first book I recommend to anyone wishing to learn more about the field and how they can improve their own leadership practices.---Benjamin W. Redekop
-This is simply my bible for teaching on Leadership. It is informative, yet an enjoyable read and essential for lecturers and students alike. No module on Leadership should be without one!---Frances Dodd
-Leadership: Theory and Practice is a scholarly examination of leadership as a dynamic, evolving, and elusive influence process with differing approaches to effectively build relationships and facilitate the achievement of goals and visions.---Horacio Salinas, Jr.
-Northouse is highly readable and explains leadership material extremely well. He then presents the strengths and weaknesses of various leadership approaches in a compelling way, yielding evidence based leadership practices.---Jon Sager
-Northouse's approach to leadership provides a balanced overview of both theory and relevant application while presenting it an easy to understand format. Students will find it an excellent resource for years to come.---Kaye Shelton
-This is the ideal text for a survey course on leadership theory that also helps students put their leadership into practice.---Lisa Burgoon
-A must read for anyone preparing to take a leadership position in any setting.---Moja Teboho
-This single text has become the primary resource for our doctoral program in Educational Leadership. It provides the foundation upon which we base our program of study and encompasses the breadth of leadership theory and practice in a manner accessible to students, practitioners, and scholars.---Pamela Scott
-Leadership today is about building followership, and Leadership: Theory and Practice provides a practical approach for how to build that followship in today's workforce.---Patti Ippoliti
-Leadership: Theory and Practice is a 'must have' for all students studying leadership at both undergraduate and postgraduate level. Theories of leadership are articulated in a very accessible manner and supported by appropriate case studies which bring meaning to the rhetoric -reality debate. This text is well structured and takes the student on a learning journey which leads to a greater understanding of leadership in its broadest sense.---Rose Envy
-The text does an excellent job of addressing leadership at the individual level of analysis. The single greatest strength is the empirical review of the major theories of leadership, provided in a chapter framework that describes the theory, explains how a particular approach works, describes strengths and criticisms, discusses how to apply the theory, provides relevant cases, and a related assessment instrument.---Thomas Meriweather
