Base your leadership development programs on proven-to-work techniques. In Building Leaders, authors Conger and Benjamin examine the very best practices of American and foreign companies to present a comprehensive plan for developing leadership talent at every organizational level. Here, readers will find an in-depth presentation of the specific skill sets that individual managers need in order to lead. They'll also discover which organizational values promote leadership, examine successful strategic interventions, and see what a successful leadership plan looks like. Equally illuminating is the section on plans that are destined to fail, along with the section on the future of leadership that shows readers how to design development programs that are most likely to last.

JAY A. CONGER is the director of the University of SouthernCalifornia's Leadership Institute and the author of Learning toLead. Named Business Week's Best Professor to Teach Leadership toExecutives, he has served on the faculties of the Harvard BusinessSchool, McGill University, and INSEAD, and is an internationallyrecognized leadership expert. BETH BENJAMIN,Ph.D., is a leadershipconsultant for Booz?Allen & Hamilton and has conductedextensive research with the University of Southern California'sLeadership Institute and RAND Corporation.