Leadership And The Quest For Integrity

Leadership and the Quest for Integrity (1993) by Joseph L. Badaracco Jr. and Richard R. Ellsworth (Harvard Business School Press), ISBN: 9780875844084 — Condition: Good — as sold by Crappy Old Books

Forget buzzword bingo and shiny TED Talk slides—this is leadership with its boots on the ground. In Leadership and the Quest for Integrity, Harvard Business School professors Joseph L. Badaracco Jr. and Richard R. Ellsworth dig into the big, awkward question: how do leaders actually balance profit, people, and principles without either losing their shirt or their soul?

Published in 1993, this book feels oddly prophetic, peering into the gap between what leaders say and what they do, and asking whether “integrity” is just a plaque on the office wall or something you can build an organization around. Expect case studies, frameworks, and the occasional jolt of uncomfortable self-recognition. (If you’ve ever had a boss who talked about “values” while cutting the coffee budget, you’ll know what they mean.)

This copy is in Good condition—meaning it has clearly seen some boardroom battlefields of its own. The cover shows light wear, the spine has been opened (probably during a late-night cram before a management retreat), and there might be a few pencil marks or underlines from an ambitious MBA. But the pages are all there, the binding is sound, and it’s still perfectly capable of guiding you through the thickets of leadership ethics.

And yes, it comes to you courtesy of Crappy Old Books, where the inventory may be pre-loved but the wisdom inside is evergreen. “Good” here doesn’t mean limp—it means a solid, honest copy that’s done its duty and is ready for round two (or three). Think of it as a leadership manual with some character: not pristine, but then again, neither is real leadership.

If you’re tired of management fads that age like milk, this is a book that asks tougher questions—and still has answers worth chewing on three decades later. Integrity may be elusive, but this book? It’s right here, waiting for you.

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