Includes index.

Bibliography: p. 153-155.

The changing business environment: why effective leadership is increasingly important today -- Leaders in action: what effective leadership means within the context of the modern corporation -- Leaders in profile: the personal requirements needed to provide effective leadership today -- The "West Products" case: an examination of a firm with insufficient leadership -- Roots of the problem: a summary of why firms like "West" have weak managements -- Assessing the extent of the problem: how rare is the "West" case? -- Firms with a superior leadership capacity: practices that create better-than-average management teams -- The forces behind the practices: what it takes to mitigate short-term economic pressures and parochial politics -- Increasing the quality and quantity of leadership: what is being done today -- Increasing the quality and quantity of leadership: what else is needed.

Explains what effective corporate leadership is. Demonstrates through case studies how poor management and superior management affected different firms. Describes executive development programs and practices that increase the quality and quantity of leadership.