Bryant and Sharer: seven challenges most likely to make-or-break leaders

Purpose This interview with Adam Bryant and Kevin Sharer, the authors of “The CEO Test: Mastering the Challenges that Make or Break All Leaders,” examines the relationship between the leaders and followers and the key challenges that tend to determine leadership success or failure. Design/methodology/approach The authors told S&L’s interviewer Brian Leavy: “We focus specifically on leading others - illuminating seven of the most common make-or-break challenges, and then showing how to navigate them effectively.” Findings The authors' research found that “It’s the leader’s job to capture the essence of what matters and then be able to boil down the strategy to just a handful of memorable ideas so that everyone understands, remembers and knows how to contribute to its success.” Practical implications Leaders have to learn that listening is a multidimensional practice that requires commitment and constant attention, and the aim is to get a true sense of the nature of their organization and its dynamics. Originality/value Much of the on-going outpouring of leadership literature tends to focus on the personal qualities and characteristics of the individual leader. Less studied are the dynamics of the relationship between the leader and the led, or the nature and content of the role itself and the key tasks associated with it. One exception is "The CEO Test: Mastering the Challenges that Make or Break All Leaders" by Adam Bryant and Kevin Sharer. Their "overarching framework to mastering the inner game of leadership is to embrace it as a series of paradoxes,” is an original perspective.