In Good to Great , management guru Jim Collins closely examined a short list of elite publicly traded companies that substantially outperformed their competitors for at least 15 years. In structuring the extensive study that led to the book, Collins didn't focus particularly on management style.

Early in the project, Collins said, he told his team to “ignore the executives” because he believed that observers tend to overstate the role of corporate leadership. To his surprise, however, the study found that executives of top performing companies “were all cut from the same cloth.”

Leaders of great companies, Collins concluded, tend to be modest and highly principled. They are committed to sustained results and they work hard. They are willing to share the credit for success and to shoulder the blame for failure. And they tend to grow as leaders through self awareness and conscious self development.

Leadership is something that takes practice, and you can practice being a leader every day, no matter where you are in your career. Collins suggests that a key to becoming a leader is your “inner development as a person."

Other research suggests that great leaders have high “emotional intelligence.” In other words, they understand and are able to manage their own emotions, and at the same time they can sense the way other people feel and understand different perspectives.

Great leaders don't get the top jobs and then develop the characteristics that enable them to succeed. Rather, they practice leadership throughout their lives, and thus are ready to act like executives when the opportunity arises.

On the job, you can practice leadership no matter where you are in the hierarchy. If you want to act more like a leader, consider these strategies:

Below is a brief book review, as well as a link that will allow you to buy the book directly from Amazon.com. For reviews of other helpful books, along with Amazon links, go to the books page of Bev’s website. If you buy a book this way it will contribute to the cost of distributing Bev’s Tips, and be much appreciated.

The 360 Degree Leader, by John C. Maxwell, 2005.

According to Maxwell, your influence is greater than you know. No matter where you are in an organization, you can start now to act like a leader.

In his latest book, Maxwell offers succinct principles for practicing leadership. He organizes his recommendations into three categories, divided according to your organizational role. He suggests that you:

•  Lead up by lightening your leader's load, by being willing to do what others won't, and by knowing when to push and when to hold back.

•  Lead across by “completing” your fellow leaders, by letting the best idea win, and by getting to know and adding value to others.

•  Lead down by walking through the halls, by transferring the vision, by modeling positive behavior and by developing each team member as a person.

Buy this book.