by Gary DePaul
Stop waiting for permission to lead!
Most of us have suffered under badly behaved managers, enduring micromanagement, navigating toxic “mindfields,” and watching great ideas die at the bottlenecks of the traditional chain of command.
We’ve been sold a lie: that leadership is a title, a rank, or a corner office. Clinging to this outdated assumption limits your potential and leaves your team trapped in a cycle of cynicism and burnout. What if leadership isn’t a position you attain but a set of practices you choose?
In the fully revised second edition of What the Heck Is Leadership?, Gary A. DePaul, PhD, dismantles the top-down myths that hold organizations back. He clarifies the crucial distinction between management (a neutral tool for coordinating tasks) and leadership (the intentional practice of helping others mature mentally and morally).
You don’t need formal authority to transform your workplace. You just need the right principles and a new way of being.
This isn’t a book of abstract theories; it’s a practical, creative guide for the 21st-century workplace. Inside, you’ll discover how to:
- Break the Traps of Traditional Leadership: Stop equating power with leadership and learn why giving up control actually strengthens your team.
- Neutralize Workplace Toxicity: Identify and navigate adult bullying, pervasive cynicism, and high-conflict behaviors that quietly erode psychological safety.
- Harness the Compound Effect: Use small, incremental daily actions to build the invisible momentum that sustainably transforms your culture over time.
- Build True Community: Shift from isolated groups to collaborative networks united by a shared purpose.
Leadership isn’t something you are; it’s something you do. It’s about being a lighthouse anchored in principles, guiding others through the storm and empowering others to perform at their best.
Gary DePaul
Gary A. DePaul has spent much of his career asking a deceptively simple question: What helps people to do their best work? That question has led him through corporate training departments, consulting engagements, university classrooms, professional communities, research projects, conference stages, and more than a few workplace situations that taught him what not to do.
Gary writes about leadership because he believes the subject has been needlessly complicated and too often reserved for people with impressive titles. His work offers a different perspective. Leadership is not a position someone holds. It is a set of intentional practices that anyone can use to help others grow, strengthen relationships, and transform a workplace. He teaches university courses, advises professionals, delivers keynote presentations, and designs learning experiences that help people turn ideas into everyday practices.
Gary wrote What the Heck Is Leadership? for readers seeking something more practical than another collection of inspirational slogans. He wants you to recognize the influence you already have and use it intentionally. His hope is that this book helps you transform your team, department, workplace, and community, enabling more people to thrive and perform at their best. He lives in the Charlotte, North Carolina, area with his wife and a household of rescued cats who remain unimpressed by his credentials.
