Book Review: ‘The Leadership Gap: What Gets Between You and Your Greatness’ by Lolly Daskal

Lolly Daskal’s The Leadership Gap: What Gets Between You and Your Greatness stands out among the large pack of contemporary leadership-focused books.

Rather than offering advice similar in nature to that found in other works – as is so often the case in today’s library of leadership-related offerings – Daskal examines important personal attitudes and behaviors that humans often do not detect within themselves, but which can lead to professional self-sabotage.

Specifically, The Leadership Gap explores the shortcomings that reflect the downsides of the positive characteristics that have helped people achieve success and assume leadership roles; the book helps readers to identify the factors and behaviors that serve to sabotage their own treks towards greatness. Often, Daskal points out, people tend to ignore their own deficiencies, and, instead, address difficult situations in manners that worked for them to resolve prior issues – a strategy that is doomed to eventual failure. As is true in nature, adaptation is absolutely critical to reach one’s potential in today’s ever-changing world.

The Leadership Gap explores seven archetypes of professionals – explaining how each of the seven exhibits both amazing skills and corresponding growth-blocking “gaps” – and providing readers with guidance as they seek to identify both important positive and negative traits within themselves. Armed with such knowledge, readers gain greater clarity into both the strengths and weakness of their leadership styles, as well as into how to better adapt and pursue success as leaders.

Daskal’s book is based on the substantial knowledge and extensive experience that the author accumulated over the past 30+ years coaching executives, entrepreneurs, and other leaders – including high-profile folks whose success stories have become the subject of articles and books. I have personally benefited from Daskal’s coaching, and I strongly recommend learning from the wisdom that she shares in The Leadership Gap.