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 Dominic Barton, David Long, Andrea Stairs, Jonathan M. Tisch, and Marnie Oursler.

From Wharton: McKinsey’s Dominic Barton on Leadership

“Dominic Barton, global managing director of consulting firm McKinsey & Company, has an impressive bio. He was previously the firm’s Asia chairman and leader of its Korea office, is a recipient of South Korea’s Order of Civil Merit and Singapore’s Public Service Star, and is also the author of more than 80 articles about business.”

From BCG Perspectives: Never Get Comfortable

“An Interview with David Long, Chairman and CEO of Liberty Mutual Insurance Group”

From Marina Strauss: EBay Canada’s Andrea Stairs takes pragmatic approach to business, life

“Andrea Stairs recalls her darkest days as head of eBay Canada in early 2009, after the company’s U.S. parent dramatically scaled back its operations and left her with just five staff members – a painful 80-per-cent cut.”

From Adam Bryant: Jonathan M. Tisch: Beware of the Thin Air at the Top

“My cousins, my siblings and I were fully indoctrinated into the hotel business as children. In 1957, my father and uncle opened the Americana of Bal Harbour, and we would often go there on vacation. If I was bored, I would go behind the front desk at 7 years old. I would go into the kitchen. I would go into the laundry. I had free rein to walk around the property, and I took full advantage of that.”

From Libby Kane: How one woman went from making $11 an hour to building a business that earns nearly $7 million a year

“In 2003, when Marnie Oursler was 24 years old, she bought her first house.”