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 Rostow Ravanan, Mike Roman, Rob Stringer, Tim Armstrong, and Brett Wood.

From Rostow Ravanan: Leadership Lessons From Mindtree CEO Rostow Ravanan

“Gandhi’s leadership style wouldn’t work for everyone. But that’s the whole point. The most successful leaders find a style that (1) naturally suits them best, and (2) which people respond to.”

From Jackie Crosby: Mike Roman ready to continue momentum at 3M as he takes over as CEO

“The lights were on in the corner office at 3M’s Maplewood headquarters Sunday, as incoming CEO Mike Roman and his three adult children moved the boxes and detritus of office life into his new command post.”

From Jim Armitage: Sony Music’s Rob Stringer brings the ch-ch-changes

“How many company bosses can claim to have worked with Beyoncé, the Manic Street Preachers and George Michael? How many have had a personal tribute at an industry awards bash written by David Bowie?”

Thanks to Smartbrief on Leadership for pointing me to this story

From Christopher Vollmer and Daniel Gross: Oath CEO Tim Armstrong Believes in the Promise of the Mobile Consumer

“Tim Armstrong works in an open-plan office that sits at an extremely busy and often cacophonous intersection near Union Square in Manhattan. As the CEO of Oath, the unit of telecommunications giant Verizon that houses AOL, Yahoo, and the Huffington Post, among other brands, Armstrong is a key player in — and theoretician of — the convergence of content, mobile communications, and advertising.”

From Dave Blanchard: Culture Is King at Toyota Forklifts

“Toyota Forklifts’ Brett Wood explains how a culture of safety and open, honest communication drives continuous improvement throughout the company.”

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