Can Leadership Books Help Executives Become Better Leaders?

The socialite, when asked by a reporter at the end of the night who she would vote for, said Gladstone.

“Why?” asked the reporter.

“I met Disraeli first and found him the brightest, most intelligent and perceptive person at the party,” she replied.

“Then why vote for Gladstone?” the reporter asked, confused.

“Then I spoke with Gladstone,” said the socialite. “And after talking with him, I felt like I was the brightest, most intelligent and perceptive person at the party.”

“That leadership story taught me that you should be more concerned about making others feel good than you are about making them feel good about you,” says Eitel.

“John Eitel embodies this type of servant leadership, “adds Jennifer Miller.

Good or Great Results

Have the leadership books helped Eitel to become a better executive? Has Eitel produced better business results than comparable UPS execs who’ve never opened a leadership book?

“John has generated exceptional results whenever he has gone at UPS,” says Willow Grove Facility Manager Stan Fluck, who has been John’s boss several times. “What separates John from other managers is that he creates an environment where people can thrive and grow as leaders.”

“One sign of effective leaders is their ability to motivate and inspire people to follow a certain path after they’ve left, “says Leadership Expert Cain.

“John set high-water marks for service, employee relations and cost control,” begins Fluck, “When he left in January 2008 for his airport assignment, the Willow Grove operation sustained those results. In fact, Willow Grove was the best-run sorting facility among large operations at UPS in the first quarter of 2008.”

It’s a hot, sticky late May night off the Delaware River where UPS’s airport facility is located. As planes land and takeoff with pinpoint precision, Eitel can be found almost everywhere, talking with a part-time supervisor about finishing college, mentoring a package handler who is thinking of submitting a letter of intent for management, and urging an employee loading overnight shipments to check every label to ensure perfect service.

He stops for only a few seconds to answer a question about how successful these leadership books have been for his career.

“These leadership books have helped me to build a guiding philosophy at work and in my life,” asserts Eitel. “As Peter Drucker once said, “Management is doing things right, but leadership is doing the right thing.””

Then Eitel’s off to talk with a pilot or handle a bottleneck in the international customs clearance area. In the distance, you can hear him say, “You’ve got to go look and verify.”