We read about the great people of our time to find their inspiration for a life of risk and uncertainty, how they overcame the challenges of their life, and why they never gave up - no matter the adversity or criticism encountered. We study great people because we want to learn from their stories, their hardships and their triumphs. We converse with great people because we want to be inspired to achieve greatness in our own lives, a fact that is certainly within our grasp.

Greatness, in contrast to what some believe, is not a circumstance a person is born into. Most are not born to be...

You can be the smartest person in the room and even the most experienced, but if you're not a good person, there's little chance you'll succeed as a manager.

That's one of the big takeaways from The Good Manager, which is based on Dean Gualco's decades of experience as a leader and manager. To be good person, he says, you must live a decent and honorable life, be kindhearted, control destructive human emotions, tell the truth, do what's right, and always look for the good.

In this guidebook to honing your leadership and management skills, you'll learn how to understand how...