By Jean-François Manzoni, Professor of leadership and change management at INSEAD.

Leadership: The Inner Side of Greatness is a revised edition of Koestenbaum’s major book, initially published in 1991. It was revised following the events of September 11, which raised for many people the type of « fundamental questions » Peter Koestenbaum discusses in the book.

Koestenbaum taught philosophy for over 30 years, and the book jacket labels him “the preeminent business philosopher.” I hence expected the book to depart from “cookbooks” offering unambiguous and simplistic prescriptions, to offer instead complex and balanced analyses referring extensively to the writings of major philosophers. The book is in fact closer to the former than to the latter. Koestenbaum may come across more as a moralizer than what one would call a philosopher. He has a very unambiguous point of view on life and leadership, and his references to past philosophers involve a series of short quotes rather than deep analysis.

I have very mixed feelings toward this book. I found it difficult to read – Koestenbaum fires one idea per line and one feels rapidly overwhelmed. When discussing the meaning of ethics, courage or vision, for example, the author lists a long series of dimensions that, taken together, make the notion of ethics, courage and vision very daunting. The writing style, which uses rhetorical questions to the point of being aggravating, does not make things easier.

I was also disturbed by the absence of evidence or data of any kind. To his credit, Koestenbaum states upfront that this is not an empirically grounded book, but rather a deductive book, starting from his analysis – based on his life long work with leaders, the “history of ideas” and “common sense” – of the kind of qualities a great leader should have. Still, I would have liked to see more data, if only in the form of quotes or illustrations.

Last but not least, Koestenbaum’s description of key concepts become so exhaustive that they ultimately become all-encompassing to the point of becoming bland. After a long list of dimensions included in his concept of ethics, for example, he goes on to conclude that “ethics is close to wisdom” and that “an ethical leader is sensitive to people.” This may well be true, but it is not very deep.

On the positive side, I liked very much Koestenbaum’s “commitment to greatness.” This book definitely appeals to the best in us and encourages the reader to make a commitment to excellence and strive for it. In a world that most of us find daunting and overwhelming, Koestenbaum is not ready to settle for “good enough.” He has not become “reasonable” or “realistic,” but rather remains committed to excellence. And while one can of course argue that excellence is a relative concept, I must say that I agree with the author on this point. Leaders must fight the temptation of mediocrity and strive for excellence in everything they do. A leader cannot be inspirational if he or she is not inspired.

I also liked Koestenbaum’s insistence that leaders can (and should) develop themselves, and that this personal change requires a change of mindset and attitudes to support the change in behavior. This does not mean that we are all equally gifted on all fronts nor that we all have the same ability to override our initial programming, but it does mean that – if we want to – we can all improve from where we are at any point in time.

Finally, the book does contain a number of very perceptive statements. Koestenbaum is clearly a smart man who has learned a lot from a lifetime of working with leaders. Identifying these “nuggets” requires careful reading, but there are quite a few.

I do not regret reading this book, but as an academic, I have more time to read than most practitioners do. Koestenbaum’s commitment to greatness is inspiring and his leadership framework is useful, but these can be gleaned from the book only with much time and effort.

Jean-François Manzoni has recently published with Jean-Louis Barsoux The Set-Up-to-Fail Syndrome: How Good Managers Cause Great People to Fail (Harvard Business School Press , 2002).