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Prof. Dennis Tourish

Professor of Leadership and Organisation Studies and editor of Leadership, University of Sussex Business School

This is an important and exceptionally well written book. Willem Fourie thoroughly debunks the heroic bias that has derailed much leadership research, but also shows how we can do better. Highly recommended.

Julien de Fraipont

Advisor to the Belgian Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs, European Affairs and Foreign Trade

A major contribution to the field of leadership studies, this book can help the choices of both voters in their booths and leaders in chanceries around the world. Willem Fourie convincingly argues that the very traits that render heroic leaders attractive to their followers often lead them to failure.

Prof. Johanna Mair

Co-director at the Global Innovation for Impact Lab, Stanford University

We hardly talk about heroes and failures. Willem Fourie does! His book takes stock of decades of knowledge, challenges prevailing myths about leaders and failure, and resets the clock on how to appraise heroic leadership.

Dr Alex Vines

Director, Africa Programme, Chatham House

For anyone interested in better leadership, Willem Fourie’s new book is a welcome fresh contribution to the academic literature.

Prof. Wolfgang Amann

Professor of Strategy and Leadership and Academic Director, HEC Paris

Prof. Willem Fourie takes the reader on a captivating journey of discovery and addresses key questions. In his unique resource for leaders and leadership researchers alike, Prof. Fourie provides hands-on advice in the form of seven highly relevant lessons.

Henrik Skovby

Chairman, Dalberg Group; Executive Chairman: Nordic Development Corporation

A timely and thoughtful publication on the type of leadership we need to address unprecedented planetary challenges. Rather than hoping for the next hero to save the planet, Willem Fourie helps us understand how each one of us can take more personal leadership – perhaps the fastest and only way we can address the global challenges we all are facing together.

Cecilia Njenga

Director for Intergovernmental Process and Collective Progress at the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change

Willem Fourie offers us with a convincing account of the type of leaders we need to address urgent shared challenges: people who are courageous, take responsibility and who are able to cross group, sectoral and other boundaries to craft shared solutions.

Prof. Richard Bolden

Professor of Leadership and Management at Bristol Business School, University of the West of England

A timely exploration of the links between ‘heroic leadership’ and the causes of individual, group, and organisational failure. Fourie exposes the fault lines in contemporary thinking and the need to develop a more nuanced and contextualised appreciation of how and why leaders fail and an understanding of what can be done to mitigate against this.

Prof. Rick Delbridge

Professor of Organizational Analysis, Cardiff Business School, Editor-in-Chief of Research in the Sociology of Work

In this engaging book, Willem Fourie walks us through the evidence and draws some important conclusions on why understanding leaders’ failure can help lessen the likelihood of it happening. No leader is infallible – indeed, lesson one is ‘accept your fallibility’ – but reading this book will help leaders be better and do better.