I think that one of the best ways to learn leadership isn’t studying “leadership” at all. Instead, study individual leaders in their natural habitat and decide what they do that you want to try. Articles by and about leaders and interviews with them are mini-case studies that show you an actual leader in a real situation.

That’s why, every week, I bring you a selection of post about individual leaders. This week I’m pointing you to pieces by and about Alan Braynin, Michael Dell, Katherine Power, Manuel Balado, and Yuchun Lee.

From Rob Nikolewski: Aya Healthcare CEO on the difference between a leader and manager

“Alan Braynin is the CEO of Aya Healthcare, which provides staffing for travel nurses in all 50 states plus the District of Columbia and the Virgin Islands. A UC-San Diego graduate, Braynin has led Aya Healthcare since 2001. The company has been featured in two television shows — ‘13 Weeks: The Travel Nursing Reality Show’ and MTV’s ‘Scrubbing In.’ Braynin sat down with the Union-Tribune to discuss his leadership philosophy. The interview has been edited for space and clarity.”

Thanks to Smartbrief on Leadership for pointing me to this story

From Michel Lev-Ram: The Gamblers Behind the Dell-EMC Deal

“The bigger the gamble, the better, in Dell’s view—and this isn’t his first rodeo. This is a guy who revolutionized the computer industry by selling PCs directly to consumers, then spent billions on acquisitions to give Dell a post-PC future. ‘I have never been afraid to take a different approach to things that other people thought made no sense at all,’ Dell says in an interview during a conference in Austin, 20 miles from the tech giant’s headquarters.”

Thanks to Smartbrief on Leadership for pointing me to this story

From Adam Bryant: Katherine Power of Clique Media: Think Like an Entrepreneur

“I called Touchstone and said, ‘I’m available Monday through Friday, 9 to 5, if you’ll have me.’ I worked for this producer every single day for free, and soon after she hired me as her assistant. I have just been working ever since.”

From Howard Cohen: From Cuba with tires, Balado National Tire founder Manuel Balado dies at 98

“When Manuel Balado left Cuba in March 1962 with his wife, the late Mercedes Balado, five months after sending his teenaged daughters to Miami, he left behind a chain of gas stations and a tire and auto service business, Gomera Nacional Balado.”

From Adam Bryant: Yuchun Lee of Allego: The Value of a Daily Mistake

“So there we were, our whole family, and no job. Our standing in society just dropped all the way down to survival mode for about a year. Then we moved to Houston when my father got a job. My mother opened a Chinese restaurant, and I would help out. Then I started my first software company in my junior year of high school.”