Reviewed by Casey Bridgeman
Leadership Jazz by Max De Pree is a truly inspirational book that begins by examining leadership through a musical metaphor. This was especially catchy to me, as I am a huge music fan. De Pree opens his book by comparing his preferred style of leadership to the operations of a jazz band. He explains that the leader of the band must embody all of the aspects of a servant-leader, allowing his or her band members to shine in their respective areas while also guiding and encouraging the band as a whole. This introduction really sums up the ideas that De Pree presents throughout his book. He stresses over and over again that leadership is very closely tied to being a follower, and that leaders must always be in touch with the ideas and opinions of their followers. He believes that good leaders must exemplify the age-old qualities of a leader (integrity, honesty, accountability, etc.), but he also presents more interesting ideas, such as his supposition that the greatest leaders really are “amateurs.” In explaining his amateur theory, De Pree uses the example of Leonardo da Vinci – a jack-of-all-trades who may or may not have truly been an expert in one field, but whose curiosity and varied sources of knowledge made him a truly remarkable creator and leader.
De Pree also asserts that leaders must be willing and happy to concede their roles as leaders to subordinates who may have more knowledge than they. He notes that in a society that is always changing and developing, innovation is absolutely key to surviving in this world. Often, leaders can reach new levels of innovation by recognizing the special talents and areas of expertise in their followers, and then deferring to their knowledge. Overall, De Pree stresses this whole idea that leaders must always be open to learning, growing, accepting when they are wrong, and cooperating with their teams. Obviously, leaders must have a vision and a plan, but the success of their implementations is related almost entirely to their level of humility and openness. De Pree’s ideal form of leadership follows a very clear path of personal morals and ethics, where means are much more important than ends and the humanity of all people involved in a corporation or organization is always respected. In fact, De Pree even has a chapter in his book entitled “Where do Ethics and Leadership Intersect?” and the first line of the chapter is “believe me, they do intersect, all the time.” He states that three ideas seem to be at the exact intersection of ethics and leadership, and he identifies these ideas as justice, celibacy (defined not in a sexual way, but rather as making room for things such as stewardship and family), and the common good. It’s no wonder that Peter Drucker is quoted on the cover as saying, “read this slowly. This book is wisdom in action.” This book does not follow a clear plot line, but rather it is a delineation of a philosophy and should be read closely. A large part of understanding this book is tied to taking the time to relate De Pree’s ideas to areas in our own lives and leadership roles.
Clearly, the ideas in this book are very closely tied to the ideas of Drucker and Management by Objectives. Just as Drucker was a proponent of integrity, honesty, teamwork, and recognition of special skills, De Pree continually points out that these qualities are absolutely essential to effective leadership. I do believe that there is a lot of logic to De Pree’s arguments. I have a hard time imagining trying to be a leader who has no care or concern for the members of my team, and I do believe that a good leader should always be accountable and humble. De Pree is a huge proponent of servant leadership, which is widely believed to be one of the most effective forms of leadership. Obviously, it is unrealistic to think that a manager or CEO of a company will always act with the greatest of character, and I’m sure that De Pree often fell short of his own mark, but the ideal that he sets is certainly an ideal for which to strive.
I would probably recommend this book to other public relations students, mostly because it does have some very sound ideas and it’s not a very hard book to read. De Pree’s writing style is very understandable while still being interesting and is eloquently executed. He breaks down some somewhat clichéd ideas into new and different approaches. For instance, he takes the old idea that a leader should always be willing to learn and proposes that leaders should actually strive to be amateurs, therefore always being curious, questioning, and open to new growth. I do think that reading this book slowly while taking a lot of notes and reflecting on the ideas that are presented could be very useful to anyone in a leadership position. This book is thought provoking and at the very worst, it is completely harmless. There is, of course, nothing wrong with striving to treat people fairly and respectfully while always working to better yourself and build a solid reputation in your field. Anyone who is drawn to the MBO form of management and seeks to use it in their workplace would benefit especially from De Pree’s expansion on the ideas that are presented by Drucker.
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