Showing posts with label leadership. Show all posts
Showing posts with label leadership. Show all posts

The Leaders We Need: And What Makes Us Follow Review

The Leaders We Need: And What Makes Us Follow
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The Leaders We Need: And What Makes Us Follow ReviewWe need Michael Maccoby's insights about leaders and our world today to follow or become The Leaders We Need. People don't want to be managed by autocratic father figures, though they will follow and better yet, collaborate with, the right kind of leader. This book is trenchant and practical.
Disclaimer: Michael Maccoby and I have worked together for 35 years. For some this might imply a lack of objectivity. For others, this qualifies a reviewer who knows his subject. You are free to make up your own mind.
Dr. Maccoby's insights are based on over 45 years of research (for example, with Erich Fromm in Mexico), teaching (Harvard, Chicago, Oxford, the Brookings Institution), consulting (IBM, AT&T, World Bank, ABB, etc.), and writing. He facilitated a national health care coalition, and directed a foundation-funded research project on exemplary health care systems. He advises diverse leaders and organizations, being trusted by both corporate and union leaders. He is a fellow of the American Psychological and Anthropological Associations, a psychologist, psychoanalyst, and anthropologist.
The Leaders We Need And What Makes Us Follow provides many examples of leaders and their organizations from this rich body of work. It is his most comprehensive book, giving readers the fruits of his productive lifetime in what might be called a grand integrated theory. His wisdom is useful for those who would lead in any way or at any level of an organization, or for understanding leaders we may choose to follow.
He raises the question why none of the existing authors on leadership give a convincing definition of leadership. Many describe leadership traits, others define their ideal leader. Maccoby's definition of a leader is deceptively simple: a leader is a person others follow.
Since both Hitler and Gandhi were people others followed, Maccoby asks: why and how do people follow a leader? Winston Churchill, a great wartime leader, was rejected by voters both before and after the war. Different contexts require different leaders.
Maccoby understands leaders in their historical context, relationship to followers, and results sought. Personality is also important. The most effective leaders will develop their Personality Intelligence, a combination of conceptual and emotional understanding, head and heart.
At the national level, we need leaders who can respond to a world aflame with fundamentalist ideologies, the global ecological crisis, and an increasing percentage of the world facing inadequate food, water, shelter, health. At the organizational level, we need leaders who can organize and inspire knowledge workers in healthcare organizations, schools, and innovative global companies. Traditional bureaucratic managers who built great corporations and government agencies of the industrial era lack the personality and understanding needed to engage a new social character, raised in dual career families rather than the paternalistic families of the past.
The new interactive social character is composed of free agents motivated by continual learning, teamwork, transparency, participation and above all, meaningful purpose. If led as collaborators they are a source of ideas, energy, and solutions. But they are turned off by rules and carrot and stick-based managers. Maccoby describes the changing attitudes of the interactives who don't idealize father figures; and the various kinds of intelligence needed to lead today.
Maccoby writes that leaders need foresight and systems thinking, and he models it. He describes leaders who are resolving today's challenges: transforming health care; creating schools that educate poor minority students who go on to college; an orphanage run on humanitarian principles where graduates lead the organization in eight countries. Maccoby shows that in the most effective knowledge creating organization, different leadership roles-- strategic, operational, and networking-- work together, and that these roles are best filled by different personality types. In "The President We Need" chapter we gain understanding to help us predict how candidates will act once elected. This book is a significant contribution, useful for would-be leaders and followers.The Leaders We Need: And What Makes Us Follow Overview

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The Monkey and the Fish: Liquid Leadership for a Third-Culture Church (Leadership Network Innovation Series) Review

The Monkey and the Fish: Liquid Leadership for a Third-Culture Church (Leadership Network Innovation Series)
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The Monkey and the Fish: Liquid Leadership for a Third-Culture Church (Leadership Network Innovation Series) ReviewDave Gibbons begins the Monkey and the Fish: Liquid Leadership for a Third-Culture Church with an eastern parable. A well-meaning monkey sees a fish struggling in the water after a typhoon. Having a kind heart, the monkey with considerable risk to himself reaches down precariously from a limb of a tree to save the fish snatching him up from the water. The monkey lies the fish on dry land. For a few minutes the fish showed excitement but soon it settled into a peaceful sleep.
Translation: it died. Relevance to the 21st Century church: everything.
Gibbons is the founding pastor of Newsong, a multi-site international third-culture church. Years ago, Gibbons was building his megachurch and was struck with the thought of building a big box that would not be used most of the week to entertain people who for the most part would not change the world. He was a well-meaning monkey thinking he was saving a fish.
God took Dave Gibbons down a journey that has huge implications for us today. What he came to embrace is that the world is changing to a third-culture were we need to be willing to cross lines to reach people where they are.
Love your neighbor
If we take the parable of the Good Samaritan to heart, we see that our neighbor is someone not like us. It is someone of a different race. Someone who with different beliefs. We are called to love, to act, to serve. To be Christ rather than just talk about Him.
Be Liquid
When you pour water into a glass, it takes the shape of the glass. Pour it into a teapot and it takes the shape of the teapot. Water can flow. Be water. Be Liquid.
Our message remains the same but our forms must change. And our conflicts should not be about forms. it's a waste of energy. Third-culture is about being water to a thirsty world. It's being adaptive. It's being willing to change. It's reading the culture. It's being a Jew to reach Jews. It's being poor to reach the poor. It's being liquid
Three questions
1. Where is Nazareth? Who are the people on the margins of life? Who are the outsiders? Who are suffering the most? Instead of looking for the leaders who can offer the most to our churches/movements/organizations/own kingdoms, Gibbons teaches us to look for who are the most in need. It is the model of Christ. It is how God operates. God's power is most perfected in weakness.
2. What is my pain? Instead of always looking for our own spiritual gifts/talents/resources, Gibbons encourages us to identify with our greatest pain. It is through our pain that the world can relate to. It is our pain that shows the power of Christ.
3. What is in my hand? What has God given me? Use that. Stop focusing on what we do not have or comparing ourselves to some myth. Stop trying to become something we are not.
I highly recommend this book! it spoke to my soul. It gave me hope and that we can adapt to help change the world.The Monkey and the Fish: Liquid Leadership for a Third-Culture Church (Leadership Network Innovation Series) Overview

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Crisis Management: Planning for the Inevitable Review

Crisis Management: Planning for the Inevitable
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Crisis Management: Planning for the Inevitable ReviewI read this book when it was first published more than 15 years ago and decided to re-read it recently as various corporate crises occur or continue. (Who knows what the latest Enron and Arthur Andersen developments will be by the time this review appears?) What sets this book apart from almost all others which discuss the same general subject is the fact that Fink's observations, insights, and recommendations are (if anything) more relevant in 2001 than ever before. How can this be true? My answer is that he correctly emphasizes the importance of a comprehensive and cohesive process which consists of four separate but related components: anticipation and preparation, rapid response, follow-through, and post-event evaluation. For obvious reasons, each is critically important but post-event evaluation has even greater importance (and value) if it guides and informs subsequent anticipation and preparation. In an ideal world, seamless anticipation and preparation will eliminate all crises. In reality, "the best laid plans" can almost instantaneously become irrelevant, if not counter-productive. Presumably, major airlines such as American and United as well as the City of New York (not to mention federal agencies) involved some exceptionally talented people to formulate a number of "What if?" scenaria. And then the events of September 11th occurred. The efforts to formulate such scenaria were not invalidated by those events; nonetheless, as in Hawaii almost 60 years ago, the challenge was for various corporate and governmental entities to respond immediately and effectively, as indeed they did. In time, as with the events which occurred on December 7th, the events which occurred last September will be evaluated even as preventive measures are taken and new scenaria are formulated, as indeed they should be.
Fink organizes his excellent material within 18 chapters which are arranged in a sequence appropriate to the aforementioned components. With meticulous care, he defines various terms (thus providing a nomenclature for crisis management which most readers probably did not have before) while establishing a context within which to illustrate and apply those terms. Of greater value, I think, is the matrix of different perspectives which Fink provides. This strategy reminds me of the way Henry James develops his major characters in various novels. That is, look at a given situation from every possible angle. This Fink does brilliantly as he explains how to measure the nature and extent of a given crisis, decide who must do what immediately, how to manage information (he devotes Chapters 13 and 14 to crisis communications), and how to make the most effective decisions under what are inevitably severe pressures ranging from shock and fear to grief and anger within compressed timeframes. He also includes what he calls "A Catastrophic Quartet" in Chapter 17: case studies of crises involving Ohio Savings and Loan, Union Carbide, Procter & Gamble (Rely Tampon), and Johnson & Johnson (Tylenol). Having reached this point in the book, Fink's reader is already well-prepared to recognize various dos and don'ts within the four case studies.
Who will derive the greatest value from this book? My response is decision-makers in organizations (regardless of size or nature) who realize or at least suspect the importance of having a crisis management program already in place, especially now. Noteworthy is the fact that the same observations, insights, and recommendations which Fink shares in this book are as relevant to "catastrophes" involving loss of intellectual property as they are to situations in which there is loss of human life and/or destruction of physical property. Those who share my high regard for this book are urged to check out Ian Mitroff's Managing Crises Before They Occur and The Essential Guide to Managing Corporate Crises (in that order) as well as Peter Schwartz's The Art of the Long View. The subtitle of this book stresses the importance of "planning for the inevitable." I could not agree more.Crisis Management: Planning for the Inevitable Overview

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Pharmaceutical Care Practice: The Clinician's Guide Review

Pharmaceutical Care Practice: The Clinician's Guide
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Pharmaceutical Care Practice: The Clinician's Guide ReviewThis book covers the history, evolution, and definition of the future practice of pharmacy. It describes a rational, realistic, and exceptionally well defined view of the future practice of community pharmacy. The definition is backed up by a large scale analysis of data collected using the model demonstrating its effectivness and positive effects on patient clinical outcomes. Topics include reimbusement, documentation and data models associated with the practice. This is an exceptional and cutting edge landmark text that if adopted will change the level of care provided by medicine whereever it is used. HMO's and managed care and pharmacy benefit organizations supporting this model would actually be involved in managing care rather than managing contracts.Pharmaceutical Care Practice: The Clinician's Guide Overview

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Crucibles of Leadership: How to Learn from Experience to Become a Great Leader Review

Crucibles of Leadership: How to Learn from Experience to Become a Great Leader
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Crucibles of Leadership: How to Learn from Experience to Become a Great Leader ReviewRobert Thomas' new book The Crucibles of Leadership is probably one of the most important books on leadership development written in the past several years. We have known for decades that a huge percentage of leadership learning comes from challenging and varied experiences (see The Lessons of Experience, by Lombardo et al). However, there has been virtually no work done on HOW people learn from those experiences. That is a key issue, as some people learn a great deal from those varied and challenging experiences, while others do not.
Robert Thomas has addressed this key gap in the literature on leadership by shining a light into the black box of what he calls "crucible" experiences. After interviewing close to 200 highly effective leaders, Thomas found several key patterns to how they had learned to lead from challenging experiences that had made them stretch. The common denominator he found is that they all had a personal learning strategy that enabled them to systematically learn from challenging experiences. He then walks the reader through a reflective process the leads to the development of a personal learning strategy. Extremely useful and actionable.Crucibles of Leadership: How to Learn from Experience to Become a Great Leader Overview

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The Shibumi Strategy: A Powerful Way to Create Meaningful Change Review

The Shibumi Strategy: A Powerful Way to Create Meaningful Change
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The Shibumi Strategy: A Powerful Way to Create Meaningful Change ReviewI am one not a Zen or touchy-feely guy, so I began reading this book with considerable skepticism. But once I got past the first page or two, I was hooked, the story is great, it feels authentic and emotionally compelling, and as it unfolds it teaches you how to apply the Zen mindset and concepts to be more effective at what you do, more patient, to avoid pushing too hard, to keep pressing forward during tough times, and always, to chip away at small wins. It is nothing like a typical business book, and as a result, far more fun, satisfying, and useful then most other business books. It is a bit like Randy Komisar's The Monk and the Riddle, which is a great book that sold a lot, but it is even better and I think even more useful for most of us.
Bob Sutton
Stanford Professor and author of Good Boss, Bad BossThe Shibumi Strategy: A Powerful Way to Create Meaningful Change Overview

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Empowerment Takes More Than a Minute Review

Empowerment Takes More Than a Minute
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Empowerment Takes More Than a Minute ReviewIf you are a new manager or a manager with outdated skills, this novel little book will have an absolutely positive impact if you follow the simple three keys to success. The book is based on a story of a real or contrived (who knows) manager and his adventure in discovering the importance of empowerment and why his technics have failed with his employees. Within the first week of reading this book, I used one of the exercises that was recommended. This simple exercise showed me that my employees are infact on track to becoming empowered. If your employees are struggling to complete everyday work because of a motivational problem instead of an ability problem, this book will show you how to get your team to respond. After you read this book, you may discover that the problem is supervisory and not employee related. However, this read gave me ideas of how to correct both!Empowerment Takes More Than a Minute Overview

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Change Management Review

Change Management
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Change Management ReviewA lot of people think they "get" change management, but not many truly do. Jeff Hiatt and Tim Creasey get it, and have written a great book for the rest of us. "Change Management: The People Side of Change" helps the reader understand what change management is and how to execute it effectively for an individual or an organization. It provides very practical, actionable ways to tackle what is really a critical success factor when implementing big changes - managing the change effectively. Buy it for everyone from the CEO to the front-line staff. And as a bonus, it will help you understand and manage changes for yourself and those close to you!Change Management Overview

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The Accountable Leader: Developing Effective Leadership Through Managerial Accountability Review

The Accountable Leader: Developing Effective Leadership Through Managerial Accountability
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The Accountable Leader: Developing Effective Leadership Through Managerial Accountability ReviewPresident Harry Truman used to have on his desk a sign that read "The Buck Stops Here," meaning he was ultimately accountable for the decisions of his administration. Such transparency seems to be the exception rather than the rule among today's top executives, as such Soundview recommends the book The Accountable Leader by Brian Dive. Not only does the author provide a useful and relevant definition of accountability, but he also asserts that the majority of problems facing leaders comes from the ineffective malaise built into organizations that's directly proportional to the jobs that lack accountability. Dive believes the current absence of accountability among many top execs needs to change, and this charge is based on his argument that the very heart of a sound organization pulses to the beat of effective leadership. Dive further notes that there's a triumvirate of interacting factors that drive organizational success, namely: structure, accountability and leadership. Beyond diagnosing the structural problems of poor organizational design, The Accountable Leader conveys the impact of those designs on retention, happiness and well being of high-potential employees. If you care about keeping your top performers, you need to spend time with this book.The Accountable Leader: Developing Effective Leadership Through Managerial Accountability Overview

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The Leader of the Future: New Visions, Strategies and Practices for the Next Era Review

The Leader of the Future: New Visions, Strategies and Practices for the Next Era
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The Leader of the Future: New Visions, Strategies and Practices for the Next Era Review'The Leader of the Future' adresses a significant and timely topic. It should be on every manager's must-read list.
Peter F.Drucker writes in his foreword, "Leadership must be learned and can be learned-and this, of course, is what this book was written and should be used for." And hence, he defines simple but basic characteristics of effective leaders:
1. The only definition of a 'leader' is someone who has 'followers.' Some people are thinkers. Some are prophets. Both roles are important and badly needed. But without followers, there can be no leaders.
2. An effective leader is not someone who is loved or admired. He or she is someone whose followers do the right things. Popularity is not leadership. 'Results' are.
3. Leaders are highly visible. They therefore set 'examples.'
4. Leadership is not rank, privileges, titles, or money. It is 'responsibility.'
After this excellent foreword, Frances Hesselbein, Marshall Goldsmith and Richard Beckhard divide this seminal book into four parts. Here, they note that "These parts have been chosen in a somewhat arbitrary manner. We deliberately gave the authors a free hand, and our revisions have been only mirror. The authors are all experts in their own right, and we wanted you to hear their views in an unfiltered form."
It is a great chance to read never before published essays of 37 distinguished authors under one roof.
Highly recommended.The Leader of the Future: New Visions, Strategies and Practices for the Next Era Overview

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The Tao of Leadership: Lao Tzu's Tao Te Ching Adapted for a New Age Review

The Tao of Leadership: Lao Tzu's Tao Te Ching Adapted for a New Age
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The Tao of Leadership: Lao Tzu's Tao Te Ching Adapted for a New Age ReviewI've used this book for over 10 years as my leadership support tool. As General Manager of a $200MM business, I need perspective and support on a daily basis - and Heider's book provides it. I love that the persective is NOT a management flavor of the week, but a view on leadership that stands the test of time.
I've given this book as a gift to peers, friends, and family for years - just purchased copies last week for my new staff. It provides us with a common framework and a vision of where we're taking our organization.
Thanks, Heider, for great thoughts, great lessons, and great leadership!The Tao of Leadership: Lao Tzu's Tao Te Ching Adapted for a New Age Overview

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Hard Goals : The Secret to Getting from Where You Are to Where You Want to Be Review

Hard Goals : The Secret to Getting from Where You Are to Where You Want to Be
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Hard Goals : The Secret to Getting from Where You Are to Where You Want to Be ReviewMurphy first introduced the idea of HARD Goals in his last book, Hundred Percenters. I was sold when the material was covered there---in just a single chapter, and as one way to inspire better employee performance. But for the past year, I've wanted more... a deeper focus on the thinking behind HARD Goals. Greater exploration into how to better put HARD Goals into effect. With this new book, I got exactly what I wanted.
The thing I like most about Murphy (I'm on his organization's email list, so I follow him pretty closely), is that I never feel like he is trying to bluff me into buying his stuff. He either has hard facts to back up his ideas and methodologies, or you don't hear about it. And I consider myself a pretty savvy skeptic, so believe me; I'm always on the lookout for the smoke and mirrors. There're none here.
HARD Goals firmly supports itself with the backing of brain science. Murphy grabbed onto some of these key scientific findings, and used this new knowledge to come up with ways to what he calls "outflank" the brain. Outflank... kind of an unusual word, so I looked it up to make sure I knew what it really meant. `To gain a tactical advantage over (a competitor, for example)' is the definition I think best applies.
When it comes to goals, my competitor is procrastination. I don't even want to think about how often I have failed to even start my most heartfelt goals; even though I constantly dream about how great life would be if only I achieved them. I want it, but it's like there's a brick wall between me and making it happen. I finally know how to bust through that wall.
I've had really good success this past year applying what I learned about HARD Goals from the first book. I lost 20 lbs, and I no longer buy into the myth that it's `impossible' to lose weight as you get older (I'm 46). I also started a real exercise program 9 months ago, and I've stuck to it--- like glue. I don't have luxuries like fancy gyms or private chefs and trainers. I just switched the way my brain was approaching these goals, and suddenly I was able to do what for so long I could not. I've also been able to better get what I want professionally by applying HARD Goals. I can't wait to see what I can create with the wealth of information this new book dispenses.
SMART Goals are done. As Murphy says, think back to a time when you were so fired up to achieve success that nothing got in your way. Then ask yourself if that goal fit the SMART criteria, especially regarding realistic and achievable. If I had stopped to consider factors like those in the face of my great achievements, I would have quit before I got started. Because as far as I knew, at that moment, what I wanted to do was impossible, at least for me.
That's what HARD Goals are, the tough challenges that make us learn and stretch and grow to become what we didn't know we could be. The kinds of goals that make us say "I'm better than before." And you don't get that by sticking to the realistic and the achievable, you absolutely have to push for more. Again, as Murphy says, we've all done the impossible before, and we can do it again.
HARD Goals shows you how to generate that same kind of energy around all your goals. You don't just have to wait around until a goal finally sweeps you off your feet. You can outflank your brain and gain a tactical advantage over whatever it is that might hold you back from success. It's kind of fun to mess with the brain on this level...some days I swear I can hear the snap, crackle pop of my neurons firing off as I put my HARD Goals into action.
My vote is: buy the book. It's a great and informative read, and if you, or someone you know, is about to embark on a tough New Year's resolution, you can't afford to pass it by. Interestingly, this is Murphy's first book (that I've read) that boldly steps outside the workplace. There's still a ton of information and examples about HARD Goals at work, but just as many appear on a personal level--- like dieting, time management, health, exercise and finances. Oh, and wait til you see how Murphy turns a well-known standard of economic theory into a clever way to make your brain believe any goal, financial or otherwise, is so required that your world will end if you don't achieve it. That's when the motivational juices really get flowing.
It's really good stuff, and it's really different from anything you've read before about goal setting. If you've got goals you want to achieve, you want this book.
Hard Goals : The Secret to Getting from Where You Are to Where You Want to Be Overview

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Harvard Business Review on Effective Communication (Harvard Business Review Paperback Series) Review

Harvard Business Review on Effective Communication (Harvard Business Review Paperback Series)
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Harvard Business Review on Effective Communication (Harvard Business Review Paperback Series) ReviewThough the collection of articles may at first seem sort of old (the oldest is from 1957), the content is very apropos for today. While building a Training Roadmap for our company, I found articles that I think will be extremely useful for a wide range of positions.
What first attracted me was the article on "Listening to People", where I found the clearest presentation on why our listening fails. Even better, it tells how we can improve our listening as a skill that has to be learned.
The next article on "How to Run a Meeting" was enlightening, almost literally! I rushed into my boss' office with new insights on why certain meetings had to be held and how they should run.
I haven't read word-for-word the whole book, rather I've read some others and skimmed some others. That sampling seems to indicate they're all of the same quality.Harvard Business Review on Effective Communication (Harvard Business Review Paperback Series) Overview

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Money and the Meaning of Life Review

Money and the Meaning of Life
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Money and the Meaning of Life ReviewThere are good ideas, interesting asides, and new philosophical propositions to spare in Money and the Secret of Life. The basic premise--that money is a technology invented, not to accumulate wealth, but to realize human potential--is certainly worth our attention. Needleman is best describing money as the great tool of capitalism and capitalism as a great metaphysical system. The problem with Money and the Meaning of Life is that Jacob Needleman set out to write an inquiry into the spiritual potential of money, then sketched out a history of Western religious thought, and ended up writing a first person narrative full of punch lines thinly disguised as surprise philosophical discoveries. Mixing Max Weber, Guradjieff, Maimonodes, King Solomon, and an anonymous businessman (who really DOES know the meaning of life) could have been a rollercoaster ride full of unexpected connections and insights; what it actually ends up being is long-winded, self-conscious, and pretentious. In terms of the capitalist object, a good product, but, word for word, not exactly a terrific value.Money and the Meaning of Life Overview

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Hypercompetition Review

Hypercompetition
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Hypercompetition ReviewD'Aveni's view of competition in our global era is right on. Few competitive advantages are truly sustainable, and long-term strategic planning is ineffective. The only long-term sustainable competitive advantage comes from a firm's ability to create short-term advantages that span across numerous competitive arenas - from cost/quality, to know-how, to various types of stronghold positions, to financial muscle. How is that accomplished? By continually disrupting the status quo, changing the rules of the game, by taking an industry in new directions in which competitors' strengths become irrelevant.Strong recommend: lengthy book but "executive summary" is in the 35 page Introduction. Short form paperback version coming out?Hypercompetition Overview

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The Leadership Challenge, 3rd Edition Review

The Leadership Challenge, 3rd Edition
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The Leadership Challenge, 3rd Edition Review
This book has been around in various editions for almost twenty years now. One reason for that is that it is an excellent overview of leadership in organizations and how you can do it yourself.
The book's structure follows its basic recommendations. The authors recommend five fundamental practices, each of which has two commandments, for a total of ten. In general, these are both straightforward and insightful. "Challenge the Process" talks about searching for opportunities, experimenting, and taking risks. "Modeling the Way" talks about setting the example and planning small wins. There is also material on "Enabling Others to Act."
Then there are a couple of weaker sections. Sections on inspiring and encouraging simply are too fluffy and lack the support that is given to other points.
Even having said that, this is a book that's worth reading if you are responsible for leadership in an organization of any size. The reason is the way the book came together.
The authors used two different kinds of research to develop their recommendations. They looked at over five hundred leaders, but they looked at them in a particular way.
In each case, they had asked the leader to talk about his or her actions as a leader when they were doing excellent work. In other words, they looked for excellent examples of leadership and tried to draw lessons from them.
They also went to the other side and talked to followers about what they wanted in leaders. When they put those two kinds of research together, you get recommendations that are both practical and, for the most part, behavioral.
Warren Bennis' recent book, Geeks and Geezers, is an excellent companion for this book. In that book, Bennis talks about crucibles of leadership or experiences, which provide intense stress and learning of leadership that form leadership values.
On the plus side this is good, practical, behavioral and helpful if you're responsible for a group of any kind or size. On the downside, some of the language can be fuzzy and simplistic, and some of the concepts, like "Encourage the Heart" sounds just a tad too New Age for my taste.
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Values-Driven Leadership: Discovering and Developing Your Core Values for Ministry Review

Values-Driven Leadership: Discovering and Developing Your Core Values for Ministry
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Values-Driven Leadership: Discovering and Developing Your Core Values for Ministry ReviewAs a single adult pastor, I have been looking for a book that would be a guide in casting a vision for our ministry for the next 1, 3, and 5 years. Values Driven ministry does an excellent job of taking the reader back to see what drives a God-given vision--it is our biblically based values. (I strongly suggest you also read Malphurs' book: Developing a Vision for Ministry in the 21st Century--it is an incredible companion to this one).Since each of has been uniquely made in God's image we will "see" things differently and, yet, our biblically based values shape and are our basis for ministry. This is where in our uniqueness we are actually drawn together for the glory of God. The book does an excellent job of discussing in chronological order the following leadership and vision matters. CH.1: The Importance of Core Values; Ch. 2: The Definition of Core Values; Ch. 3: The Discovery of Core Values; Ch. 4: The Development of Core Values; Ch. 5: The Communication of Core Values; Ch. 6: The Implementation of Core Values; Ch. 7: The Preservation of Core Values. What is especially helpful is that both personal and corporate core values are blended together in discussion format. Two levels are being addressed at the same time; one, is to help leaders define their own personal vision for ministry; two, leaders are being guided to define their ministry's core values as well. This book has been an oasis for this thirsty pastor! I would have liked to have been able to study it in a seminary leadership class.Values-Driven Leadership: Discovering and Developing Your Core Values for Ministry Overview

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The Moral Imperative of School Leadership Review

The Moral Imperative of School Leadership
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The Moral Imperative of School Leadership ReviewFullan does an excellent job of organizing school leadership into achievable levels of success. He starts with making a difference within individuals, then the school/district, followed by making a difference regionally and finally the greatest impact on school leadership and the society as a whole. Fullan discusses barriers to these accomplishments and challenges, and portrays the principalship as the key to this moral imperative.
This book serves as an outstanding resource to any leader that is trying to bring about large-scale improvement in their organization. It is the school leaders role to change the context within schools and Fullan outlines a process to do just that.The Moral Imperative of School Leadership Overview

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The Bass Handbook of Leadership: Theory, Research, and Managerial Applications Review

The Bass Handbook of Leadership: Theory, Research, and Managerial Applications
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The Bass Handbook of Leadership: Theory, Research, and Managerial Applications ReviewBernard Bass is considered to be one of the foremost "giants" in the field of leadership. Not only was he seminal in the development of the theory of transformational leadership, but he is also founding editor of the Leadership Quarterly and is widely cited in a multitude of journals, books, presentations, and courses. Any student, professor, or practitioner interested in the field of leadership should acquire this text as it continues to be one of the most comprehensive books on leadership today. His introduction extends far beyond the average textbook by exploring the historical roots and universality of the leadership concept - everything from Plato to Primates. He then provides what is, perhaps, one of the most detailed examinations of the leadership definition that I have ever seen. While most authors simple lament that there are as many definitions of leadership as there are researchers, Bernard Bass actually considers and explains several of these concepts for the reader. These includes everything from leadership as a differentiated role, an exercise of influence, a personality, and even a symbol.
For the remainder of the book, Bass provides nearly 1,000 pages rich in content coverage and citation counts. For anyone desiring to augment their research paper with critical or important citations, Bass provides a rich array of research accumulated into one convenient text. Oftentimes I find that my general readings are greatly enhanced by additional research or insights provided by Bass. For instance, one of our readings on Fiedler's contingency theory provided a generally positive review of the theory's validity. However, upon consulting Bass, I found a more skeptical review regarding the theory published one year following our reading for class. Bass also offers two separate chapters for the widely known behavioral factors of the 50's and 60's: initiating structure and consideration from Ohio and task versus relations orientated behaviors from Michigan. Often considered together because of their similarity, Bass actually devotes two entire chapters to their development, instrumentation, and theoretical support. It was very helpful to learn how these concepts are actually distinct in subtle ways instead of considering them as completely identical. Another nice feature was the inclusion of several chapters which are rarely found in other textbooks. These included the leadership and handling the resolution of conflict, the role of values in leadership, and stress effects on leaders functioning.
The book is not perfect, however, for several of the following reasons:
1) I often find that the book, on account of the large integration of information, is sometimes poorly organized. Instead of grouping all information pertinent to one theory within that specific chapter, the information can easily be scattered anywhere throughout the book. For instance, there are nearly 400 pages in the beginning devoted solely to the trait based perspective of leadership. However, a lot of this trait research is not solely from a "great man" perspective but is couched within another theory (e.g., transformational, situational, behavioral). Instead of grouping this research with its respective theory it is testing, he has just amassed all research that seemingly relates to individual differences all into one section.
2) While comprehensive, it seems that many other important ideas or concepts of leadership are briefly touched upon or completely ignored all together. One example is the skills approach to leadership which conceives of leadership as being the capability to perform based upon refined and advanced expertise. This conceives of leadership as something that can be learned, is malleable, and develops over ones lifetime. Another theory which is almost entirely missed is implicit leadership theory. This perspective holds that individuals carry with them a mental prototype of what a leader looks like (e.g., charismatic, calm, sociable, confident, powerful) and these guide how we rate and choose our leaders. Another emerging approach is the role of leadership in affective and emotional experiences, something which is grossly underrepresented in this book.
3) Finally, and perhaps my greatest disappointment, is that this book does not seem to have changed much from the third edition. Despite nearly 20 years passing, many of the citations are from the 50s, 60s, 70s, and 80s. While many contemporary citations are included, I almost feel as if the book is beginning to feel a little dated and archaic. Arguably this may just reflect the nature of the field, but then it would appear that his chapters are not doing an adequate job of keeping up with current trends. While I am not fully certain about this, I don't believe there are any citations from 2005 or beyond and only a relatively few coming from 2004 and 2003. While the older research is not inherently bad, I sometimes feels like I might be missing current developments if I rely solely upon this text.
So, all in all, this continues to be an outstanding text and should adorn your shelf. However, you may find better organization, parsimony, and newer theories within other popular texts, such as Northouse or Yukl. These books are also slightly more accessible and provide more recent perspectives on the major leadership approaches (however, keep in mind that these texts also cite Bass, 1990).The Bass Handbook of Leadership: Theory, Research, and Managerial Applications Overview

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Coaching for Performance (People Skills for Professionals) Review

Coaching for Performance (People Skills for Professionals)
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Coaching for Performance (People Skills for Professionals) ReviewThis book, now in its third edition, is the grandfather of coaching books and approaches. Much of what has come to be known as professional business coaching came from Timothy Gallway and Whitmore's sports training techniques. As such, the book provides a simple foundation for coaching based on the context of awareness and responsibility through asking questions and listening. He presents the G R O W model of coaching - Goal, Reality, Option, Will - as a format for coaching sessions.
The book begins with a few foundational beliefs of coaches. Unlike old models of management that work from the "carrot and stick" approach, a coach believes in the potential of the client. Whitmore believes that people are only able to change only that which they are aware. Responsibility must stay with the client if they are to perform. Questions raise awareness and yet maintain the client's responsibility. If the coach tells the coachee something, awareness may increase slightly, but responsibility in now in the hands of the coach, the source of the information. Questions cause the client to pay attention to their actions, think at higher levels, and provide feedback for the coach to work from.
The G R O W model provides a sequence of questioning and for the coaching session. A coach starts with the client's goal. Either an end goal, like "retire at age 45," or a performance goal, such as "write a new training manual by December." After further clarifying the goal the coach can move on to the current reality of the situation. Asking such questions as: What have you done on the manual up to now? What are the needs that you think a manual might help? What has kept you from finishing the manual these past two years? Options are then generated from the client as to how they can achieve their goal. Finally, What will you do? Whitmore builds several checks and balances into this last step to ensure performance.
The final section of the book is new territory in this 3rd edition. Coaching used to be about performance - doing, acheivement. In the past few years coaching has moved to underlaying motivations of personal fulfillment: the "why" underneath the desire to achieve performance goals. Whitmore includes new chapters on coaching for purpose, getting to life's meaning.

Of the dozen books on coaching that I own, this one has consistently been the book I refer back to as I try to explain to someone what is coaching: Believe in the potential of people; raise awareness and maintain responsibility through questions and listening; and follow the GROW model. All are the essence of good coaching.Coaching for Performance (People Skills for Professionals) Overview

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