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 Daryn Nakhuda, Sheila Jordan, Apple, Miles White, and Jenny Dearborn.

From Kevin Ryan: My Co-Founder Died and I Became CEO. Here’s How My Company Survived–and What We All Learned

“MightyAI CEO Matt Bencke’s diagnosis shocked everyone. But the hardest part was still to come”

Thanks to Art Petty for pointing me to this post.

From Amity Millhiser and Art Kleiner: Inside Symantec’s Tech Transformation

“Symantec chief information officer Sheila Jordan has spent four years leading IT during one of Silicon Valley’s most noteworthy corporate change efforts.”

From Jeffrey Phillips: Innovate on Purpose: Why Apple can’t innovate anymore

“Yes, it is a provocative title. And no, I don’t quite know if it is true. But it does make one stop and think, doesn’t it? What if the avatar for innovation over the last decade is exhausted? What if Apple has done all the innovation it can do? An interesting thought, wouldn’t you say?”

From Bruce Rogers: Leadership In An Age Of Disruption: Q&A With Abbott Chairman And CEO Miles White

“During his 20-year tenure, White has anticipated the future of healthcare and reshaped the company to keep it relevant to changes in science, medicine, business, patient needs and a diverse work force. He is the 6th longest tenured CEO among the S&P 100. Under his leadership, he has created approximately $200 billion in shareholder value.”

From Kelli Lawrence: Jenny Dearborn: Strategy of Development

“It’s an understatement to say she speaks from experience. Years before Dearborn took her first job as chief learning officer (CLO)—a role she’s held at five companies, and at SAP since 2014—she found herself teaching high school English. She also found she wasn’t very good at it.”

For some ideas about how to get more from this series of posts, check out “Studying Leaders in the Wild.“