| Leading Quietly Case Study | Organizational Behavior |

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Summary
Traditionally, we think of great leaders as people who bring about change by their charisma, passion, and dedication to a noble cause. Thus, most of us think of leaders as courageous risk takers or in other words, heroes. Yet, in our daily life, we often find that the most effective leaders are rarely public heroes. They maintain a low profile, but do what is right for themselves and their organizations unnoticeably and without casualties. Harvard Business School professor Joseph Badaracco calls them "quiet leaders"--people who choose responsible, behind-the-scenes action over public heroism to resolve tough leadership challenges. Badaracco believes that what drive the society are the millions of small but important decisions that individuals make on a daily basis. He points out in the book that everyday leadership is not so dramatic, and daily leadership decisions are rarely being made by the top management of an organization. Thus, the book focuses the study on the middle and senior-level managers who make the ordinary decisions that ultimately determine an organization's success.
The book is full of practical advice as it describes eight strategies for making effective leadership decisions in murky situations where the "right" thing is far from obvious. It also describes that good leaders are those who are honest with themselves about how well they truly understand a situation and how much control they really possess. Effective leaders learn to trust their mixed motives and use this mixed motives to solve problems or create compromises. Successful leaders often create ways to gain enough time to think about the difficult situations. Wise leaders build political capital and use it wisely. Quiet leaders gather the details of complex problems and take the time to drill down through the