Books

The Harvard Business Review
Leader's Handbook

(Harvard Business Review Press, 2019. Co-authored with Ron Ashkenas)

Put aside the over-hyped frameworks and “10 new ways to succeed as a leader.” The critical leadership practices—to help leaders make the biggest impact over time—are well established: creating a vision and inspiring others. Making difficult strategic choices. Leading innovation. Getting results. And leading yourself too. These fundamentals are even more important today as organizations become increasingly networked and the nature of leadership hierarchies changes.

In this comprehensive handbook, Ron Ashkenas and Brook Manville distill proven ideas about leadership from Harvard Business Review, interviews with senior executives, and their own experience in the field. As a rising leader you’ll learn how to develop and pursue the critical practices for your own career journey towards ever greater impact.

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Judgment Calls

12 Stories of Big Decisions and the Teams That Got Them Right
(Harvard Business School Press, 2012. Co-authored with Thomas H. Davenport)
A narrative-based study of organizations that have successfully tapped their data assets, diverse perspectives, and deep knowledge to build a collective decision-making capability --so that the right decisions are made, and the entire organization profits.
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“Integrating the lessons of twelve momentous decisions with a freshly imaginative perspective, Judgment Calls is a foundational contribution to the art and science of decision-making.”
- Warren Bennis
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A Company of Citizens

What the World’s First Democracy Teaches Leaders About Creating Great Organizations
(Harvard Business School Press, 2003. Co-authored with Josiah Ober)
A case study of the classical Athenian democracy, but framed for its implications for any leader of today’s knowledge-based and networked organizations.
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“This brilliant little book isn’t just about building better companies but also about creating companies that are themselves better citizens in the larger global society.”
- Paul Saffo
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The Origins of Citizenship in Ancient Athens

(Princeton University Press, 1990 and 1997)
A pioneering synthesis of political and socio-economic history that uncovers the complex concept of membership in the ancient Athenian democratic polis—and with it the origins of the classical state.
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“A very thorough, intelligent investigation…a real contribution to the perennial debate on the Athenian way of life. I would recommend it strongly to all who are also interested in the orignis of our own society and our own brand of citizenship.”
- Harold Mattingly
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