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I think that one of the best ways to learn leadership isn't studying "leadership" at all. Instead, study individual leaders in their natural habitat and decide what they do that you want to try. That's why, every week, I bring you a selection of post about individual leaders. This week I'm pointing you to posts by and about Steve Stoute, Mark Fields, John Bell, and Indra Nooyi.

From the NY Times: Do You Share Our Goals? Sign Our Constitution
"One of the hardest things to do is run an organization. And teaching people who work for you is a very important skill set that requires patience. I’ve seen a lot of great leaders fail to execute because they couldn’t get a team to rally behind them. You meet a lot of entrepreneurs who want to build great businesses and they have great ideas, but their leadership style doesn’t allow them to have any patience to teach people."

From the NY Times: Ford’s Mr. Inside, in Sight of the Crown
"The Ford Motor Company, his employer for the last 23 years, is in the midst of a remarkable turnaround. Since the American auto industry’s big wreck in 2008, Ford has reported 10 consecutive profitable quarters. And Ford, the only one of Detroit’s Big Three that wasn’t bailed out by taxpayers, has steadily gained market share with each new product it has introduced. To top it off, the biggest contributor to this comeback, by far, is Mr. Fields' business unit, which encompasses all of Ford’s manufacturing and sales in North and South America. So why is Mr. Fields looking so tense on this morning in early February, as he convenes his weekly meeting of senior managers in a second-floor conference room at the company’s sprawling Product Development Center here?"

Wally's Comment: Scott Eblin posted about Alan Mulally's role in Mr. Fields' development in "How to Coach a Future CEO."

From Dan Rockwell: A CEO says "If I Could Do it Again …"
"John Bell, former CEO of Jacobs Suchard (Nabob, Kraft), suggested he would not do different things as much as he would do things differently, if he could do it again."

From Fortune: Pepsi's CEO faces her biggest challenge
"During her tenure, Pepsi CEO Indra Nooyi has often failed to hit her stated profit targets, which investors consider an unforgivable sin. A great deal is riding on how she leads over the next several months."

Wally's Working Supervisor's Support Kit is a collection of information and tools to help working supervisors do a better job. It's based on what Wally's learned in over twenty years of supervisory skills training. Click here to check it out.