????如今有志于為優(yōu)秀企業(yè)領(lǐng)導(dǎo)者的經(jīng)理人真是不幸。他們的書架充斥著各種各樣的領(lǐng)導(dǎo)力書籍，把書架壓得咯吱作響，書里的內(nèi)容卻胡編亂造、沒邊沒譜。讀這樣的書不但永遠也成不了強有力的商業(yè)領(lǐng)袖，相反，讀這些誘人的寶典，他們的腦子里只會充斥著各種陳詞濫調(diào)，其中絕大多數(shù)毫無營養(yǎng)可言。

????這些書存在兩個弊病。首先，這些書的作者多半并不是真正取得過驕人業(yè)績的商業(yè)領(lǐng)袖。他們只是置身事外的旁觀者，通常對他們著墨的圈子也缺乏深入的了解。因此，怎么能冒險讓這幫人指導(dǎo)你的職業(yè)生涯？

????第二個問題是，即使是可信的作者撰寫的領(lǐng)導(dǎo)力圖書通常不會事無巨細地解釋如何將他們給出的建議付諸實施。比如，培養(yǎng)開放坦誠的文化。想法很不錯，但是如果沒有具體的計劃，同樣走不了多遠。

????我有很多理由來推薦大衛(wèi)?諾瓦克的《超級領(lǐng)導(dǎo)力：實現(xiàn)偉大目標的唯一道路》（Taking People With You: The Only Way to Make Big Things Happen）這本書，其中很重要的一個原因在于，這本書在兩個至關(guān)重要的方面都做得異常出色，而大多數(shù)領(lǐng)導(dǎo)力圖書在這方面的表現(xiàn)都很糟糕。具體說來就是下面這兩個方面：

????可信性。大衛(wèi)?諾瓦克是百勝餐飲集團（Yum! Brands）總裁（我會在下面的段落里刪掉驚嘆號，免得不斷反復(fù)提到這家公司引起的激動情緒干擾了我們的思路）。百勝餐飲集團是百事可樂公司（PepsiCo）1997年分拆餐館業(yè)務(wù)后成立的餐飲企業(yè)，旗下有肯德基、必勝客和塔可鐘（Taco Bell）等品牌，諾瓦克從公司成立之初就開始擔(dān)任首席執(zhí)行官。他的經(jīng)營業(yè)績非常可觀，公司股價每年平均上漲16%；百勝餐飲集團的資本收益率一直超過其資本成本。如果說有哪位商界精英在領(lǐng)導(dǎo)力方面具有發(fā)言權(quán)，這個人非諾瓦克莫屬。

????實用性。“超級領(lǐng)導(dǎo)力”不僅是這本書的名字，同時也是一個為期三天的領(lǐng)導(dǎo)力培訓(xùn)課程的名字。諾瓦克每年都會在公司內(nèi)部舉行8次這樣的培訓(xùn)；百事公司分拆百勝餐飲集團前，他就已經(jīng)開始打磨這個培訓(xùn)項目，對4,000多名員工進行培訓(xùn)。因此這本書不但凝聚了諾瓦克在領(lǐng)導(dǎo)力方面的智慧結(jié)晶，更是一個精心策劃的培訓(xùn)方案。事實上，這不是一本單純讓你愛不釋手的好書，它更是一本切實可行的工作指南。因此，千萬不要滿足于紙上談兵。諾瓦克推薦讀者每天只讀一章，我建議，每周只讀一章效果可能更好。

????Pity the aspiring manager who wants to become an excellent business leader. His or her bookshelf creaks and buckles under the weight of leadership books that authors crank out seemingly without limit or shame. But readers of these books don't become stronger leaders; instead they grow fat with platitudes as they consume these alluring tomes, the vast majority of which offer only empty calories.

????The problems are two. First, most of these books aren't by real leaders who've produced knockout business results. They're by observers who weren't under the gun to hit numbers and often didn't even have up-close access to the people they write about -- so why risk your career by doing what they tell you?

????The second problem is that even leadership books by credible authors generally don't explain, in useful, nuts-and-bolts detail, how to do what they recommend. Foster an open, candid culture? That's a great idea, but without an instruction manual, it won't get you far.

????Among the many reasons to like Taking People With You: The Only Way to Make Big Things Happen by David Novak is that on these two critical points where most leadership books are terrible, it's extraordinarily good. Specifically:

????Credibility. Novak is CEO of Yum! Brands (I will henceforward omit the exclamation point, lest the constant excitement of mentioning the company become distracting). Yum (YUM) is the restaurant business spun off from PepsiCo (PEP) in 1997, comprising KFC, Pizza Hut, and Taco Bell, and Novak has run it from the beginning. Its performance has been spectacular. The stock has risen almost 16% a year on average; Yum's return on capital consistently towers over its cost of capital. If anyone in business has earned the right to opine on leadership, Novak has.

????Usefulness. Besides being the title of this book, Taking People With You is the name of a three-day leadership program that Novak teaches up to eight times a year within the company; he began developing it even before Yum was spun off and has taught it to more than 4,000 employees. So this book isn't just Novak's thoughts on leadership; it's a highly organized program. In fact, it isn't a book you curl up with at all; it's a workbook, so be prepared to work. Novak recommends reading just one chapter a day. I'd say one a week.