Managers love the business-fable genre because it's the most nonthreatening way to impart information and reinforce learning. Farber, the former "official mouthpiece" of the Tom Peters Co., mouths off plenty in this business fable/coaching manual designed to inspire a softer, more heartfelt approach to leadership (but with racy epithets to balance the touchy-feely stuff). Steve, the main character, is a road-weary leadership consultant who meets the enigmatic Edg, an aging surfer and corporate renegade. Edg challenges Steve with his view of how to make headway in cubicle-land today, and Steve uses Edg's principles of "extreme leadership" to help a friend overcome a conflict with her new boss.

Backstory Farber built his book around the now-obligatory Peters acronym LEAP (cultivate Love, generate Energy, inspire Audacity, and provide Proof). "Leaders must go beyond the established norms to change the world," Farber says. "I want this book to energize both them and the people they lead."

Takeaway Farber challenges managers to reveal themselves genuinely to their employees, saying, "This is who I am, this is what I believe, this is what I think we can do together if we put our hearts into it." Basically, it's a primer on how to turn yourself as a manager into a walking vision statement. There's also practical coaching for wannabe leaders at any level, including advice for falling back in love with your job if you've just run out of steam.

What we liked The Radical Leap does respect the intelligence and experience of its readers while also being entertaining and enlightening. An assortment of well-known players, from Hewlett-Packard's Carly Fiorina to Mr. Ed (yes, that fountain of horse sense), make cameos to put the principles in a real-world perspective, and there's a lot of authenticity, warmth, and genuine caring in the relationship between Edg and Steve that many will relate to.

What we didn't The dialogue in The Radical Leap may be a little too full of Valley Girl, gen-X overtones, particularly in the fable. Think Sean Penn in Fast Times at Ridgemont High. And the Monday morning wrap-up session at the end of the book that's just shy of a group hug may make some readers' teeth ache.

What to say to sound like you've read it This book has attitude in spades, and Farber can take touchy-feely to new, um, heights, but he refreshingly mocks himself for it. The book may be only as deep as a puddle, but it's not all wet.