The Power Principle

There are only three sources of power, maintains Lee, a founding vice-president of the Covey Leadership Center: coercive power--people do what you want because they are afraid not to; utility power--they do something to get something; and principle-centered power--people comply because they want to. Having set up the first two sources as straw men, he goes on to explain at great length why having others follow you because they truly want to is best. At a time when the nation's most successful CEOs talk about ""servant leadership"" and books about the ""softer side"" of management are popular, Lee's conclusion will not strike readers as groundbreaking. Moreover, his countless superfluous stories, coupled with a chapter-long digression into how people feel when they are powerless, distract from the point he is trying to make. (May)