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 Justin Bell, Bob Eulau, General Electric, Barry Diller, and the grocery business.

From Justin Bell: Listening Is An Underrated Leadership Tool

“The more I endeavor to make listening a priority in my own leadership style, the more aware I become of the tremendous discipline required to create time and space for it. In today’s fast-paced work environment, leaders must be hypervigilant to connect one-on-one with team members. Yet, with the talent war raging, employers cannot afford to neglect to build real interpersonal connections with their team.”

From Bob Eulau: Going From Good To Great In Manufacturing Through Data

“As the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) has evolved, manufacturing organizations have gained access to more information than ever before. At the same time, global supply chains and production processes have become more complex, and support increasingly sophisticated products.”

From Wharton: Can General Electric Reclaim Its Legacy?

“Old-school brands like GE and Sears have struggled in a changed economy where too much focus on the short term can be a liability. Building a modern legacy company requires a different approach to management and customer relations. ‘As counter-intuitive as it may seem, we’ve found that brands guided by long-term ambitions make faster, better short-term decisions than their nearsighted competitors,’ write Mark Miller and Lucas Conley in this opinion piece.”

From Stephanie Mehta: Why Barry Diller believes in cultivating creative conflict

“The legendary entertainment and media executive talks to Fast Company’s editor-in-chief about his instinct for spotting talent and why he likes to promote from within.”

Thanks to Smartbrief on Leadership for pointing me to this story

From Erin Griffith: Amazon’s Ripple Effect on Grocery Industry: Rivals Stock Up on Start-Ups

“That changed a year ago when Amazon bought Whole Foods Market. The $13.4 billion deal shook the grocery world, setting off a frenzy of deals and partnerships that continues to intensify. Traditional retailers pursued digital technology, and online companies reconsidered their relationship with brick-and-mortar retail.”

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