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.

This week we’re concentrating on one subject: Amazon’s purchase of Whole Foods. When news of the buy hit screens everywhere, reporters and pundits alike fired up their word processors to produce a gaggle of articles. Below are points to what I believe are the best of the lot. Read them. Think about them. Draw your own lessons and conclusions from them. Then try to apply those lessons in your own real life.

From Derek Thompson: Why Amazon Bought Whole Foods

“Amazon announced on Friday morning that it’s buying Whole Foods for just under $14 billion, the retailer’s largest acquisition ever. The purchase holds implications for the future of groceries, the entire food industry, and—as hyperbolic as this might sound—the future of shopping for just about anything.”

From Progressive Grocer: Amazon, Whole Foods and the ‘New World of Supermarketing

“Industry experts discuss how acquisition will transform grocery”

From John Kell: What Amazon’s Whole Foods Deal Means For The Future of Grocery

“The grocery industry is notoriously difficult to tackle. Profit margins are razor thin when compared to almost any other retail category, as there is a ton of competition in local neighborhoods that results in a lot of price transparency.”

From HBS Working Knowledge: Amazon, Whole Foods Deal a Big Win for Consumers

“What does Amazon’s $13 billion deal for Whole Foods say about the future of retail? Harvard Business School professors Jose Alvarez and Len Schlesinger see good times ahead for consumers as well as both companies.”

From Paresh Dave: Silicon Valley’s acquisition targets aren’t just in tech anymore

“Few foresaw Amazon.com reaching an agreement Friday to buy grocery store Whole Foods for $13.7 billion. But the pending deal — a record purchase for Amazon — has opened the possibility of the nation’s biggest tech companies acquiring businesses known for bricks-and-mortar stores rather than software.”

From Ben Thompson: Amazon’s New Customer

“I was reminded of this quote after Amazon announced an agreement to buy Whole Foods for $13.7 billion; after all, it was only two years ago that Whole Foods founder and CEO John Mackey predicted that groceries would be Amazon’s Waterloo. And while Colligan’s prediction was far worse — Apple simply left Palm in the dust, unable to compete — it is Mackey who has to call Amazon founder and CEO Jeff Bezos, the Napoleon of this little morality play, boss.”