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 John Chen, Are Traasdahl, Nicole Wilski, Jody Greenstone Miller, and Henry Blodget.

From Omar El Akkad: Rebuilding BlackBerry: CEO’s enterprise focus starts to pay dividends

“Shortly after his appointment as BlackBerry Ltd.’s new CEO in November of last year, John Chen began making the rounds. At the time, the company was in a state of virtual freefall, its future a matter of debate. As a result, consumers and enterprise customers were bailing. Looking to stop the bleeding, Mr. Chen targeted BlackBerry’s most lucrative and strategically important demographic – the big corporate customers.”

From Adam Bryant: Are Traasdahl, C.E.O. of Tapad, on Empowering Employees

“This interview with Are Traasdahl, the chief executive of the advertising firm Tapad, was conducted and condensed by Adam Bryant.”

From Frank Witsil: Checking in with Checkers franchise owner: ‘It’s a company I could grow within’

“Nicole Wilski, a fast-food franchise owner, is one of the fastest — if not the fastest — growing Checkers Drive-In Restaurants operators in the country.”

From Ronald D. White: Business Talent Group CEO places experts in short-term jobs

“Jody Greenstone Miller is chief executive of Business Talent Group, a firm that she says is changing the way companies obtain top business talent for consultation and project-based work. Miller’s company, which she co-founded with Amelia Warren Tyagi, has a talent pool of more than 3,000 experts — including former CEOs — on whom she can call to work with client companies. In other words, Miller supplies super-temps.”

From David Berman: The interview: Henry Blodget’s dot-comeback

“Henry Blodget is infamous for hyping dot-com stocks before the crash. Now he has one of his own Henry Blodget is enjoying an impressive second act. Eleven years ago, his career as a high-profile Wall Street analyst imploded with the collapse of the dot-com bubble, when he was accused of promoting stocks publicly and disparaging them privately. He was banned for life from the investment industry. Covering it is another matter: He has reinvented himself as editor-in-chief of Business Insider, an online publication he co-founded in 2007. Business Insider is loud and brash – a ‘scrappy upstart,’ as Mr. Blodget puts it, aimed at a young audience – with headlines that scream and content that roams well beyond a core business readership. It now claims more U.S. readers than The Wall Street Journal.”