Everyday Leadership

Everyday Leadership provides an accessible, no-nonsense take on a perennial subject from the perspective that it's not just about business. This highly readable book reflects the synergy between a clinician/business advisor -- Dr. Ahron Friedberg -- and a lawyer/nonprofit director, Sandra Sherman. Its approach is unique: “leadership is never lonely,” i.e., we lead by working (intelligently, empathetically) with others. Dr. Friedberg’s up-close-and-personal guidance takes us through an array of everyday scenarios (how a trucker built a team, how an art-dealer groomed her successor) that show real people tackling real problems. Though I have been a lab head for fifty years, I still learned a lot.

Donald Pfaff, Neurobiology and Behavior, Rockefeller University. Author, How the Vertebrate Brain Regulates Behavior

In Everyday Leadership, Dr. Ahron Friedberg examines the challenges of leadership from the ground up -- where most people find themselves -- rather than from the top-down position of the few, high, and mighty. This is a book that people can relate to, that they can use and grow with. It offers true-to-life scenarios, as Dr. Friedberg works with individuals to make the most of their leadership potential. We get up close and personal with these people, and learn along with them. Everyday Leadership is encouraging because it demystifies the way we can all take charge when we are called to do so.

Kerry Sulkowicz, M.D, founder and managing principal, Boswell Group LLC, clinical professor of psychiatry, NYU Langone Medical Center

I have been waiting for a book like Everyday Leadership. In the past, I have rarely been able to recommend something for people who, in the middle of busy lives, have had to step up and be larger than they thought they ever could be. But now, thanks to Dr. Ahron Friedberg, I know just what to recommend. No matter where someone is situated -- just starting out, or on the way to being well-established -- Everyday Leadership will provide solid, relatable advice that will help them meet the challenge of taking charge. It will help them grow into a new position and, especially, help them to leverage their professional relationships along the way. This book is filled with real people. It humanizes the journey towards leadership. It asks and answers the deep as well as practical questions that every leader (and potential leader) will eventually face.

Heather Berlin, Ph.D.Cognitive Neuroscience Research Lab, Mount Sinai Health System, New York City

Most leaders will tell you that leadership is a combination of instinct and skill. They may even say that instinct depends, in part, on character. All this is true. But beyond the generalities, what do these terms mean in practice? When does a leader know when to rely on instinct, and go with the flow? When must he or she learn skills needed to lead a specific group in a particular situation? It's these hard, real-world, rubber-hits-the-road kind of questions that Everyday Leadership tackles. The answers resist easy formulae, and they vary from person to person. But the virtue of this book is that it recognizes that no single answer is possible. Rather, we learn by seeing how other people address leadership challenges similar to those we may face. In this sense, Dr. Friedberg is uncommonly candid and effective. I learned lots of new approaches to leadership just by picking up on the principles that emerge from this book.

Jorge Mariscal, Ph.D.lecturer at the SIPA School of Columbia University, New York City

Everyday Leadership is a book that you will turn to again and again. If you are still formulating a vision of where you want to go, it will be indispensable ("How do I know what's right for me, how do I adjust when things don't turn out as expected?"). Once you are on your way, it will help you get there ("How do I leverage collaborations, how can I be flexible but still adhere to my goals?"). If you have arrived, it's there to assist you with everything from communication, to planning ahead, to mentoring the next generation of leaders. These are issues that all leaders -- and potential leaders -- face throughout their careers. Dr. Friedberg understands the challenges. He provides practical, incisive advice, and helps you apply it to your own situation. The questions preceding each case study, and the principles that he draws from each study, are right on target. I found myself thinking about them long after I finished reading. Actually, you don't really "finish" Everyday Leadership -- you integrate it into how you think about leadership.

Daniel D. Bartfeld, J.D. partner, Milbank LLP