The leadership superpowers in this book go far beyond theory—they’re the foundation for building and sustaining a thriving organization. Essential reading for anyone who wants to lead well.

Fascinating read — the entire text is a suggestion of way of looking at leadership that almost feels like a video game; but none of it is a magic trick without trying it out. It provides a very detailed ontology for self (or peer) assessment that can be used to make sense of the chaos we often find ourselves in. I found the framework to be useful for figuring out current role issues, as well as identify growth areas to pursue for future career decisions, but also in volunteer work. Compelling.

Leadership development can be overwhelming, and courses are not always applicable for team leads and individual contributors. Gregor breaks it down into manageable building blocks for the reader to easily comprehend and apply to daily scenarios at work. I truly enjoyed how Gregor incorporated many of his professional experiences to clearly illustrate his main points. More importantly, he captured the importance of leading yourself to effectively lead others. This book will truly inspire current and aspiring leaders from all levels!

“Leadership Superpowers” by Gregor N. Purdy is one of the most practical and eye-opening leadership books I’ve read. Purdy gets straight to the point with clear, actionable tools you can use immediately, no fluff, just real guidance that actually works.

If you want to communicate better, lead with confidence, and make a real impact, this book delivers. Powerful lessons, easy to apply, and genuinely motivating. Highly recommended.

This book provides a well organized, clear, and concise framework of the key components of making a strong leader. It then provides a systematic process for self-evaluation and development. This distinguishes this book from many leadership treatises I’ve read, which tend to focus heavily on the philosophical aspects of good leadership and are lacking in the ‘how’ of building those skills in yourself. The ‘what to develop’, ‘why to develop’, and ‘how to develop’ aspects are balanced perfectly.
In particular, the process of identifying the skills that are most important to develop based on the specific leadership role and business situation is critical. Situations and roles will change throughout each individual’s career. Revisiting this book as a resource for continuous development and growth will help the reader navigate through those changing roles and situations.

Most leadership books suffer from two problems: they are either too academic, or they are filled with consultant jargon. Leadership Superpowers avoids both traps. It uses straightforward language to deliver a practical 90-day roadmap for improvement.

What I liked:

No Buzzwords: The author speaks plainly. The advice is accessible and immediately understandable.

Structured Ontology: The book breaks down core leadership competencies into a logical hierarchy. It helps you see leadership not as a vague art, but as a set of defined skills.

Focus on Self-Awareness: Rather than trying to make you a “perfect” all-rounder, the system helps you identify your existing strengths to leverage and specific weaknesses to address.

The Verdict: Don’t expect a reinvention of leadership theory. The concepts here are familiar because they work. The genius of the book lies in how it organizes those concepts. It takes the “ideal leader” archetype and breaks it down into actionable parts. If you want a guide that helps you audit your own skills and build a focused improvement plan, this is a worthy read.

I’ve known Gregor since our years working together at Apple, where he was one of those rare senior engineers who could see both the technical landscape and the people side of things with equal clarity. I just got a copy of his new book... It captures that same clarity.

Leadership Superpowers isn’t trying to turn everyone into the same kind of leader. Gregor has always been good at identifying what really matters in a given situation, and the framework he lays out here helps you do exactly that for yourself. It’s about focus. He has built a system that anyone can follow. It’s a set of practical steps that will get you onto a new, productive path.

Also great is the 90-day approach. It’s simple enough to start immediately and actually use. Often people and/or teams need to level up quickly, but everyone is so busy that it doesn't feel like there’s a lot of time to read and adopt a new practice. Gregor gets it, and this book is something you can actually pick up and use.

If you’re tired of vague leadership advice and want something grounded... actually useful and actionable... This book is written by someone who’s actually led teams at the highest level. I’ve had the pleasure of seeing him do it. And now he’s distilled that wisdom in a way that anyone can pick up and benefit from. Five stars without hesitation.

This leadership book stands out for its practical and easy to follow 90-day plan, instead of vague generalities found on other leadership books. The author breaks leadership into 13 concrete “superpowers” that span both character traits and essential execution skills. The guidance feels lived-in, shaped by real experience in top-tier technology companies rather than abstract theory.

One of the book’s biggest strengths is its structure. It is organized as a true working handbook, easy to follow and simple to apply day-to-day. Because it defines a clear development path and shared vocabulary, it is also a strong resource for teams to work through together. If you want to elevate your own leadership or help your team grow without wading through academic jargon, this is a solid choice.

It’s rare to find leadership advice from someone who’s actually done it at scale in tech. Gregor shares practical frameworks and resources you can put to work immediately.

The book is great. The skills in the book are applicable and ready to try them out from Day 1.

I have never read a more practical book on Leadership. The format is clean, logical, and is easily applied to any background or discipline. This book is a literal “how to” manual for leaders. Highly recommended!!

This is more than just a leadership book — it helped me transform, think, act and inspire people around me. It is very insightful and empowering! I say that if someone wants to be a better leader — this is like a roadmap!

Good leadership skills are an essential foundation of any successful team. Exceptional book!

This is a great book. I used to read other books about leadership, but this book is more practical and can be followed more easily based on your role. Some diagrams used make the book easier to read.

Leadership Superpowers is practical, relatable, and easy to understand. It helped me identify my strengths and lead with purpose in my life and work. I highly recommend it.

This isn’t a big tome filled with management platitudes, this is a concise book that gives practical and achievable guidance and ideas. I like the concrete examples and clear explanations. The whole concept is easily understood and the process scales from something you could do for yourself to something you might want to implement for a team or even a whole company. You don’t need to convince everybody to change how they do things, measure things, or talk about things. It also isn’t a one-size-fits-all where you do this “one thing” and everything improves: this book is about tailoring the solution to YOUR situation.

The idea is that you would identify a few areas to improve and focus on those. The first part of the book describes the Leadership Superpowers, which is a fun way to describe the various skills and techniques you might employ. These are grouped logically and have clear descriptions about what they mean and how they help. Many of them have real life explanations showing where they could be (or should have been) used.

The second part of the book is about picking the few areas that YOU need to focus on and how to go about doing that. Everything is presented in an approachable fashion and looks like something a normal person could actually do — nothing heroic, just mindful progress and reflection on results. There are two cases studies applying these techniques in very different scenarios that are very helpful in illustrating the technique in action.

This is sort of like engineering for leadership: a structured method with defined results that you can apply to a wide variety of problems. Give it a read, it is easy to get through but I suspect much harder to turn into practice. Real change isn’t easy, but this book gives good advice on how to do it!

Gregor is a great leader and this book helped me to recognize and leverage my strengths! Highly recommend

Interesting read. Brings together many resonant themes that can be executed in 90 days. A pragmatic guide to taking your leadership to the next level — quickly!

This book was well written and very easy to understand. Loved how everything flowed together and the tables in the book really helped present the superpowers!

An excellent approach to leadership development that you can personalize while still working within a broader framework. Great asset for those stepping into leadership roles as well as for those that want to hone in on some practical steps in specific contexts.

This book could become a reference manual that I use daily. It’s a relatively simple yet powerful ‘mindset’ and can become part of one’s daily routine, without regard to profession or level. A “Standard Model of Leadership” akin to the “Standard Model of Particle Physics”?!! Brilliant, Gregor!

The book describes a systematic approach to leadership skills development, moving past informal efforts to introduce a structured framework that works at scale. Nice focus on prioritizing development needs and funneling development actions accordingly.

Loving this book! The stories and examples Gregor provides throughout Leadership Superpowers show that he’s actually practiced what he’s preaching.

I highly recommend this book for any business leader who is curious about their own Leadership Superpower, or for leaders who want to enhance and draw out the superpowers of their team.

I really liked the content and writing, and the structure was really helpful. Having the leadership Superpowers broken out into digestible chunks, with each then expanded upon, encouraged me to not try to do everything at once, but start by focusing on one or two concepts that would bring the most value to my personal leadership growth. I also liked how Gregor emphasized the importance of wit and being yourself, qualities which are not typically emphasized.

This book will become a cult classic for technology organizations. The author disassembles the elemental components of the abstract concept of leadership and then reassembles them into an algorithm that, once executed, becomes a leadership machine. Great read!

Gregor provides actionable tips for any leader. I really enjoyed this quick read and it’s on my go-to list of resources.

Is effective leadership an art or a science? That was the question that came to mind when I read Gregor Purdy’s new book. It’s a wonderful compilation of both common sense and nuanced advice for leaders at all levels. The answer to the question is: it’s both!

The author presents a very logical and well thought out framework that can help leaders at all levels. I really enjoyed his use of personal experiences and real world examples to illustrate and drive home his concepts. This is a book that you can revisit over and over throughout your professional career!

It’s brilliant! I have never come across anything like this book. It’s a kind that truly stays with you long after the last page. It’s a combination of inspiration, insight, and practical empowerment that every aspiring and seasoned leader should experience.

If you lead at any level, and we all do, this book is gold! I highly recommend it!