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 Kathleen Finch, N. R. Narayana Murthy, Derk Hendriksen, Christopher Franklin, and Walt Disney.

From Adam Bryant: Kathleen Finch: Get Better Ideas With a ‘Pile On’ Meeting

“Ms. Finch, the chief programming officer of HGTV, Food Network and Travel Channel, brings about 25 people together every few months to plan projects.”

From Dibeyendu Ganguly: Infosys founder NR Narayana Murthy: Making of a legend

“At the age of 27, NR Narayana Murthy took off on a year-long backpacking trip across Europe. He had just finished a three year stint with an information technology (IT) company in Paris, working on a project for the French government, and he wanted to see a bit of the world before returning to India. ‘I knew I would I never be able to do it if I didn’t do it then,’ he recalls. ‘Many of the people I met in France had done such trips. But I had to plan it more carefully since I needed a visa for every country I travelled to, as an Indian.'”

From Eric J. McNulty: Teaching the World to Do More Than Sing

“Coca-Cola’s Derk Hendriksen says his company wants to lead the way in positively affecting communities and empowering women entrepreneurs.”

From Jane M. Von Bergen: New CEO evolving his own culture at Aqua

“Imagine being Christopher Franklin, the new chief executive at Aqua America Inc., the Bryn Mawr-based water and wastewater-treatment firm. In Philadelphia business circles, everybody knows the guy who was CEO before him, Nick DeBenedictis – and not just because DeBenedictis spent 23 years with the title, until he retired June 30.”

From Neal Gabler: Walt Disney, a Visionary Who Was Crazy Like a Mouse

“Disney was constantly reinventing his company, a practice that drove his more business-minded brother crazy but ultimately helped his studio thrive.”