Predicted to earn more than $100 million in 2011, Lady Gaga is the latest darling of the leadership industry. Why? Because she has built a powerful brand and legions of followers by exuding charisma. A case study points out that Lady Gaga projects leadership by telling “three universal stories.”

At the center of all the advice to stop talking and start listening stands a premier example: Barbara Walters. The interviewer’s list of “gets” is a mile long and her genius has been to show her subjects she cares about them. She never engages in a battle of wits, never tries to win an argument and does not interrupt. The result is information no one has.

Cartoon creator and producer Chuck Jones credits his success to a lack of constant supervision early on and his father’s string of business failures. Every time his father launched a business, he’d print new stationery and pencils. Using his cast-offs, Jones drew and drew. Here are his six success tips.

Bluegrass music icon Ralph Stanley is quick to share both what he’s done right and what he’s done wrong. One thing he did wrong was trade away his favorite banjo, a 1923 Gibson Mastertone archtop. A great decision Stanley made was hiring two teenagers, Ricky Skaggs and Keith Whitley, even though he already had a full band ...

From his early days as a reporter covering wars in Somalia and Burma and genocide in Rwanda, CNN newsman Anderson Cooper often traveled solo, learning to handle perilous situations—and fear. With experience came wisdom and a greater measure of security, but in the beginning, Cooper overcame fear by plunging in. He simply made a fake press pass, borrowed a camera and went to war.