This month's Book 1 is Leading Up: How to Lead Your Boss So You Both Win, by Michael Useem. If after reading the summary you would like to learn more, please visit Amazon.com.

Summary of Book 1

Leading Up
How to Lead Your Boss So You Both Win
by Michael Useem

Today's leaders aren't just bosses, they are self-starters who take charge even when they haven't been given a team. They lead upward, ensuring that all voices in the organization are heard. And rather than simply giving orders, they help their superiors lead.

Author and professor of management Michael Useem presents eight true stories that illustrate this vital facet of leadership. Leading Up demonstrates what happens when those who are not in charge rise to a challenge, and what happens when those who should step forward fail to do so.

Informing Your Commander

History offers few more stark examples of upward leadership performed so differently to such great consequence, as that exhibited in the Civil War.

In the spring of 1862 a Union army under the leadership of General George B. McClellan was on the offensive. McClellan's strategy was simple: destroy the defending army, capture the Confederate leadership and end the war. In his pursuit of this goal, he treated his commander in chief with disdain. In McClellan's mind Abraham Lincoln was uncouth and untutored in battlefield affairs. Because of this belief, the General would discourage "meddling" from the President by withholding battlefield reports. He would also resist Lincoln's policy directives.

The premier commander for the Confederacy, Joseph E. Johnston took a similar approach. He was very confident in his own abilities and did not welcome the interference of his own supreme commander, President Jefferson Davis. Although President Davis had been a military commander in his own right, Johnston chose to keep him in the dark.

When a shell fragment felled General Johnston, President Davis replaced him with Robert E. Lee. Lee kept the President informed and consulted with him regularly. This resulted in Davis' full support of Lee who then secured the men and material he required. Within days Lee stopped the Union advance on Richmond that General Johnston had been unable to reverse. "By aggressively keeping his president in the picture, Lee acquired what he needed from his superior for both to win."

Lee held to the following four guiding principles, which are as pertinent to corporate warfare today as they were to the war between the states many years ago.

1. Keep your superiors well informed of your actions and plans.
2. Regardless of how you feel about your superiors, display a respect for their positions.
3. Avoid petty quarrels with your superiors, even if you are right your reputation will suffer.
4. Estimate your competitive advantage as precisely as possible, not only to avoid the dangers of overconfidence and overcautiousness, but also to sustain your superiors' confidence in your capacity for precise analysis.

Convincing a Company to Turn Inside Out

David Pottruck of Charles Schwab & Co. knew his company needed to take advantage of the Internet age and the first step was to convince his boss and the Board of Directors that they must reinvent the business. If he had not learned the skills of upward leadership, Pottruck might have left the firm for an uncertain future elsewhere, and Charles Schwab & Co. might never have served its customers and shareholders as well as it did.

One of the most important lessons Pottruck learned is that battling your boss, especially in public, is a losing proposition. Learning to question the boss behind closed doors, however, will get your ideas heard and eliminate power struggles. Also remember, before you go to your boss make sure your plan is thoroughly analyzed and fully developed; communicate why the plan is necessary, and how it can be accomplished with minimal upheaval.

Begging Your Boss to Untie Your Hands

Had he been able to convince his superiors of the dire situation in Rwanda, United Nations commander Romιo Dallaire might have prevented the genocide that claimed 800,000 lives in 1994. In just 100 days, militant extremist Hutus massacred more than 80 percent of the minority Tutsis, as well as a large number of moderate Hutus and ten Belgian peacekeepers sent into the country by the U.N.

Dallaire found himself in Rwanda with an inability to adequately meet his opponent because of insufficient troops and equipment, paperwork delays, lack of trained soldiers and military intelligence, and the general failure of his superiors to respond to his requests. The Rwandan tragedy teaches us that when there is a grave threat but superiors are simply not getting it, it may be essential to transcend the normal channels of communication.

If superiors reject your appeals or offer little guidance, you must take matters into your own hands. "If your decisions serve the mission, they will ultimately serve your superiors as well, however shortsighted their perspectives may be at present."

Retaining the Confidence of Your Directors and Investors

The CEOs of CBS, Compaq, and British Airways concentrated only on leading down when they needed to lead up — to their boards. The result was poor relationships with their boards, and all three were eventually fired. Although each man's story is unique, Useem uses their tales to illustrate the importance of appreciating the power of superiors — and the idea that superiors despise surprises.

Even if you are the chief executive and board chair, your outside board members can still retain the upper hand. That is why Useem urges against overconfidence. Overconfidence can blind you to seeing the moves you need to make to ensure you maintain the trust and support of the board.

Poor profit performance and declining share price are enough for your directors to question their confidence in you, and that is why your upward leadership skills are so critical. To keep your investors happy and keep your board "on board," you'll need to keep them informed and let them know the rationale for your actions. Otherwise, you run the risk of having shareholders and directors forming an alliance against you.

Keeping directors on your side also requires building and maintaining a top management team. "Executives always sit on a three-legged stool, supported by directors, investors, and employees. If the stool lacks either investor or employee support, the directors will find it difficult to keep it upright with their leg alone."

Keeping Your Head When You Have Several Superiors

Throughout his career U.S. Marine Corps General Peter Pace has reconciled conflicting priorities while reporting to multiple bosses with varying agendas, by keeping all of them informed and challenging them when necessary. Pace began his career in leadership as a 23-year-old lieutenant serving in Vietnam.

Today Pace reports to no less than six superiors, including the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the U.S. Secretary of Defense. He has learned that it's best to face and serve each superior as though he or she is your only boss. Pace also believes that full disclosure of your recommendations and actions is essential, including frankly challenging any boss whose proposals or policies are in conflict with your own informed judgment.

Likewise, he states that you must encourage all subordinates to examine your performance and challenge your questionable decisions. Asking those of lesser rank to say candidly what they think and complimenting them for doing so are small measures that can manufacture a big mind-set. A culture of upward leadership is built; it does not develop spontaneously.

Guiding Your Guide

Mountaineers Beck Weathers and Sandy Hill Pittman could have protected themselves and others from harm during a fateful ascent of Mount Everest, if only they had questioned their guides' flawed instructions and decisions. On May 10, 1996, Pittman passed up an opportunity to dissuade her guide from making a summit bid in a terrible storm and Weathers passed up the chance to ask his guide for clearer instructions when he found himself facing blindness on the peak.

It was the most deadly day in Everest's history — eight climbers, including both Pittman's and Weathers' guides — lost their lives. Weathers was left for dead but survived, enduring the amputation of his right hand and all the fingers on his left due to severe frostbite. These two courageous climbers' experiences on Everest offer a lesson that can be rationally applied to the corporate world.

Confidence in and respect for your superior is essential, but remember that no one is invincible or faultless. Biding your time and deferring to authority serves no one well when it's clear that the boss would fare far better with your help. Asking your boss to elaborate and clarify inadequate instructions can make the difference between survival and success. So can checking on your boss to ensure there is no faltering at the helm.

Designing a Future Your Boss Can't Quite Envision

Even in government, representatives often need to first strike a deal, then lead their bosses to embrace it, as examples from the United States and Argentina illustrate. Charlene Barshefsky negotiated the U.S. trade agreement with China on behalf of her boss, President Bill Clinton, and Domingo Cavallo stabilized the Argentine currency for his boss, President Carlos Menem. Both redefined the future without instructions on how to do so.

Whether a leader works for a private company or a government agency, he or she is often forced to design policies and initiatives without the direct involvement of a superior. In such a case, it is imperative to be clear minded about the organization's overall purpose and to make decisions that are clearly directed at that purpose.

Your obligation is to act strategically on behalf of your superior, whatever personal hardships may be encountered. A mandate to reform an organization is an historic opportunity that calls for forceful implementation. The more uncertain superiors are about how to achieve the goal they desire, the more focused and determined you will need to be in formulating and executing your strategy.

Persuading the Ultimate Authority

No one ever had a tougher job of leading up than did the Old Testament prophets Moses, Abraham, and Samuel, who interceded with the ultimate authority. Useem describes how these three prophets found the strength to challenge the most unassailable power of all. For example, upon hearing of God's plan to destroy the villages of Sodom and Gomorrah, Abraham convinced Him to agree to spare the city of Sodom if at least ten righteous individuals could be found there.

Even when you report to the ultimate authority, it is your solemn duty to render your best judgment and give your best counsel whether such upward leadership is specifically sought or not. However wrathful your superior, however merciless the message, the well-being of those in your hands must remain preeminent.

The accounts of Moses, Abraham and Samuel offer insights into hard choices: whether to obey commands from the top when we believe they are questionable or to push for a better solution. Even ultimate authorities make mistakes, and your obligation as an upward leader is to recognize them and work to correct them.

The Upward Leader's Calling

Even if upward leadership now seems a distant concept in your organization, it can be stimulated with time and hard work. Useem recommends identifying managers with a capacity for upward leadership, personally coaching them, offering development programs for them, and setting examples through your own upward leadership.

You may not face conditions as extraordinary as any of the protagonists in Leading Up, but we certainly all face moments of crisis. We can all look to what these individuals did — and did not do, in some cases — to prepare ourselves for those times when we, too, are called to lead from below.