Instead of studying leadership, why not spend some time studying leaders and strategies in the wild? You can learn a lot from leadership experts, but you always see the leader and what he or she does through the expert’s personal lens. Supplement that learning with studying real leaders in real life situations and draw your own conclusions. The posts in this series will help you.

Every week I’ll point you to articles by and about real leaders in real situations and to articles about how real companies are faring in the marketplace. Read them. Think about them. Draw your own lessons and conclusions from them. Then try to apply those lessons in your own real life.

This week I’m pointing you to articles about Steve Hughes, Kevin Johnson, Dale Clareburt, Colin Doherty, and Ray Dalio.

From Taddy Hall and Eddie Yoon: Searching for New Ideas in the Curious Things Your Customers Do

“Twenty five years ago Steve Hughes, now the CEO of Sunrise Strategic Partners, was walking through an orange juice plant when he had an epiphany that turned into a $500 million business.”

From Ross Kelly: You Don’t have to Be a Tech Expert to Confront Disruption, says Incoming Starbucks Chief

“When Kevin Johnson was picked to replace Howard Schultz as the head of Starbucks, the move was hailed as a smart of way of bringing the coffee chain further into the digital age.”

From Suzi McAlpine: Interview: Dale Clareburt, CEO of Weirdly

“I have to admit, I have a bit of a girl-crush on the person featured in today’s Leader’s Digest interview. Dale Clareburt, founder and CEO of high-growth kiwi tech company Weirdly has attitude and spunk and makes the Energiser Bunny look like a lazy sod. I first noticed Dale’s X factor when I placed her in a senior executive role a few years back. It’s no surprise to me that she’s at the helm of a company that’s turning heads and going places. (Weirdly won the Emerging New Zealand Innovator Award at the New Zealand Innovation Awards in 2015). Here she is to tell us a little about what it’s like to lead Weirdly through its start-up and growth phase and what she has learned about the ups and downs of the tech space.”

From Joel Trammell: CEO Interview: Colin Doherty, Fuze

“Colin Doherty is the new CEO of Fuze, a global, cloud-based unified communications platform. He is an experienced CEO, so it was interesting to hear his perspectives on how to approach a new CEO role and why understanding the company’s situation is key. He also had great advice about having the nerve to make changes sooner rather than later, focusing on all areas of the business rather than just your strengths, and why thinking you need all the answers as a CEO is a non-starter.”

From Richard Feloni: Ray Dalio says going broke in 1982 was the ‘best thing that ever happened’ to him

“Ray Dalio, head of the world’s largest hedge fund, lost a fortune back in 1982. It made him change his entire approach to business.”