In this book, authors Tom Rath and Barry Conchie examine the question "What are the keys to being an effective leader?" To answer this question they had a team looking at data collected from Gallup polls. The data comes from interviews with 20,000 senior executives, more than one million teams, and more than five decades of Gallup polling of the world's most admired leaders. The authors then asked the team to conduct a study of over 10,000 followers to find out why they follow influential leaders in their lives. They discovered three key things in the research. These are, firstly, investing in your strengths, secondly, surrounding yourself with the right people while maximizing your team and thirdly, understanding the needs of your followers. First, when a leader focuses on employee strengths, the chances of employee engagement will increase dramatically. This is comparable to chapter one of our textbook which states that an effective leader is one who helps team members achieve productivity. The second key is for the most effective leaders to surround themselves with the right people and maximize their team. The book suggests that when leaders try to be good at everything, they will be good at nothing. While it is often preached to be well-rounded, this results in mediocrity. So instead of trying to be good at everything, find and know your strengths and hone those skills to be a more effective leader. The authors state that there are four domains of leadership with thirty-four themes divided into domains and which explain the real strengths of the leader. The domains are execution, influencing, relationship building, and strategic thinking. In our textbook all but influence are listed as one of ten leadership roles. ... half of the paper ... I hope there are employees. When hope is absent, employees lose confidence, disengage and feel helpless. When a leader can instill hope, especially in difficult times, he gives his followers something to look forward to and a way out of the chaos. The most effective leaders know better than to try to be someone they are not. They should always be on the lookout for opportunities to reinvest in their strengths. Leaders need to stay true to who they are and make sure they have the right people around them. The book says that those who surround themselves with similar personalities are at a disadvantage compared to those who are confident enough to be surrounded by people whose strengths will compliment theirs. Although some of the words are different, much of what is in our textbook has been found to be true by what is reported in the book Strengths Based Leadership.