IMD Books

I by IMD’s Best Practice in Leadership

From self-awareness to team excellence – master the essential skills that separate great leaders from the rest.

Today’s leaders face unprecedented challenges: navigating ethical gray zones, building trust across generations, and making critical decisions under intense pressure. This collection brings together breakthrough insights from world-class faculty and proven practitioners to help you develop the inner strength and strategic capabilities that drive real organizational impact.

What you’ll discover:

  • How to overcome impostor syndrome and leverage your authentic leadership voice
  • The neuroscience behind childhood behavioral patterns that sabotage executive decisions
  • Why stopping bad habits is four times more powerful than starting good ones
  • Proven frameworks for building high-performing teams that transcend individual talent
  • Decision-making strategies from a world-renowned referee who made split-second calls in front of millions
  • Leadership wisdom from nine global CEOs navigating everything from rapid growth to major turnarounds
  • How to unlock the potential of four different generations in today’s workforce

Publisher

IMD

Publication date

20 June 2025

“A collection of 10 articles designed to provide actionable insights and practical wisdom for leaders. As the publishing house of IMD Business School, I by IMD is committed to delivering real impact through real learning.”

“Whether you‘re commuting, exercising, or simply prefer to absorb insights while moving, this curated collection of 10 essential leadership audio articles transforms your downtime into development time.”

This book presents a curated selection of conceptually robust, practically relevant, and well-regarded articles authored by IMD faculty and esteemed external contributors. Covering key dimensions of leadership—from personal psychological insight to effective team building and decision-making under pressure—the contributions are designed to enhance self-awareness, strengthen interpersonal effectiveness, and develop strategic thinking.

Together, these insights aim to equip leaders with the tools to drive meaningful and sustained organizational success.

Contents

  • Introduction from the editor
  • Part 1: The inner work of leadership
  • Fake it though you‘ve made it: battling leader impostorism
  • Ronit Kark, Alyson Meister, Kim Peters
  • Master childhood emotions to become a better leader
  • Nikolas Kinley and Shomo Ben-Hur
  • How good leaders can be bad role models
  • John Weeks and Guilia Mereu
  • Inside the ‚gray zone‘: How to lead when no one is right
  • Jennifer Jordan
  • Part 2: Building trust and driving results
  • Trust is like a dance. Learn the steps to be a better leader
  • Ben Bryant
  • From a team of stars to a star team
  • Ina Toegel
  • The three pillars of effective performance management
  • Jeff Hancher and Michael Watkins
  • From boomers to Gen Z, there is much to learn from each other
  • Katharina Lange
  • Part 3: Wisdom from the field
  • How to make good decisions as a leader under massive pressure
  • Pierluigi Collina
  • Leadership lessons from 9 global CEOs
  • Jean-François Manzoni

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