Series: Harvard Business Review Classics

Ten years ago, two INSEAD professors broke ground by introducing blue ocean strategy, a new model for discovering uncontested markets that are ripe for growth. In Blue Ocean Leadership (Harvard Business Review Classics), they apply their concepts and tools to what is perhaps the greatest challenge of leadership: closing the gulf between the potential and the realized talent and energy...

As established markets become less profitable, companies increasingly need to find ways to create and capture new markets. Despite much investment and commitment, most firms struggle to do this. What, exactly, is getting in their way? The authors of the best-selling book Blue Ocean Strategy have spent over a decade exploring that question. They have seen that the trouble lies...

Why are your smartest and most successful employees often the worst learners? Likely, they haven't had the opportunities for introspection that failure affords. So when they do fail, instead of critically examining their own behaviour, they cast blame outward—on anyone or anything they can. In Teaching Smart People How to Learn, Chris Argyris sheds light on the forces that prevent...

Peter F. Drucker argues that what underlies the current malaise of so many large and successful organisations worldwide is that their theory of the business no longer works. The story is a familiar one: a company that was a superstar only yesterday finds itself stagnating and frustrated, in trouble and, often, in a seemingly unmanageable crisis. The root cause of...

When asked to define the ideal leader, many would emphasise traits such as intelligence, toughness, determination, and vision—the qualities traditionally associated with leadership. Often left off the list are softer, more personal qualities, but they are also essential. Although a certain degree of analytical and technical skill is a minimum requirement for success, studies indicate that emotional intelligence may be...

A leader's singular job is to get results. But even with all the leadership training programs and expert advice available, effective leadership still eludes many people and organisations. One reason, says Daniel Goleman, is that such experts offer advice based on inference, experience, and instinct, not on quantitative data. Now, drawing on research of more than 3,000 executives, Goleman explores...

Harvard Business School's Clayton M. Christensen teaches aspiring MBAs how to apply management and innovation theories to build stronger companies. However, he also believes that these models can help people lead better lives. In How Will You Measure Your Life?, he explores questions everyone needs to consider: How can I be happy in my career? How can I ensure that...

The classic Harvard Business Review articles every manager and aspiring leader should read—and share with their teams—from such bestselling Harvard Business Review authors as Peter Drucker, Clayton Christensen, John Kotter, Daniel Goleman, Jim Collins, Gary Hamel, W. Chan Kim, Renee Mauborgne, and many more. Each compact book represents the most important ideas on management, leadership, and life. Build your professional...

Most executives have a big, hairy, audacious goal. They write vision statements, formalise procedures, and develop complicated incentive programmes—all in pursuit of that goal. In other words, with the best of intentions, they install layers of stultifying bureaucracy. But it doesn't have to be that way. In Turning Goals into Results (Harvard Business Review Classics), Jim Collins introduces the catalytic...