Book Review & Highlights: Leadership Conversations

When I read business books, I turn the corner of every page that has something I really like, want to remember and easily reference in the future.

Halfway into the 300-page book, Leadership Conversations, I had turned the corners of nearly every fifth pages. So, you can see why I believe this is such a good book. There is so much to learn from Leadership Conversations. It's a must read for today's business leaders. Leaders who are leading multi-generational workforces. And, leaders who want the skills to get promoted and move up the corporate ladder.

Authors Alan S. Berson and Richard G. Stieglitz wrote the book because they believe that a leader's most powerful skill is the ability to hold effective conversations.

So, in their book, they detail the four types of conversations every leader must effectively master. Conversations that:

Build relationships
Develop others
Make decisions
Take action

And, they provide real-world examples and tactical guidance for each of those conversation types.

Here are some of the book's gems:

The breadth and depth of how leaders connect with people determine a leader's ability to influence, and the greater the influence, the greater the alignment and results. Leaders who effectively make those people connections:

Have a style and a voice that fit their organization and enable them to form bonds with their followers and ignite their passion.
Beget great followers. Leaders learn their people's objectives and guide them toward achieving their full potential.
Address small conflicts to avoid larger ones later. They know intuitively when things do not seem right, and promptly hold the conversations required to fix them.
Know that creativity cannot be forced. They enable creativity in the natural flow of business by providing the time, the space, and the conditions for people to be creative -- then they cultivate the fledgling sprouts of innovation.
Celebrate their people. They are liberal with praise and realize that their personal success is rooted in their people's successes.

Comments

Leading With GRIT

Feelings of being stuck, overwhelmed and frustrated plague too many of our workplaces says Laurie Sudbrink , author of the new book, Leading With GRIT . So, drawing on her over 20 years of coaching a wide range of organizations, colleges and Fortune 500 companies, Sudbrink provides in her book a road map to improve individual and organizational health . That road map includes teaching readers the principles of GRIT : Generosity Respect Integrity Truth Laurie Sudbrink "It is not only the concepts of GRIT, but how they are combined, that make them so effective," shares Sudbrink. Divided into three parts, Part I of the book is geared toward the individual, and is foundational to your success as a leader. Part II focuses on communicating with GRIT -- making communication easier, more enjoyable and more productive. Part III is how, in our role as leaders, we apply and sustain GRIT in the workplace, creating systems that help keep everyone on track....

Nelson Mandela Leadership Quotes

Here are my favorite Nelson Mandela leadership quotes: "Lead from the back--and let others believe they are in front." "The greatest glory in living lies not in never failing, but in rising every time we fall." "It always seems impossible until it's done." "I like friends who have independent minds because they tend to make you see problems from all angles." "I've learned that courage was not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it. The brave man is not he who does not feel afraid, but he who conquers that fear." "Do not judge me by my successes, judge me by how many times I fell down and got back up again."

Use TIPS When Providing Feedback

Eric Harvey and Al Lucia wrote a booklet called, 144 Ways To Walk The Talk . They provide the following great advice about giving feedback: 1. Make it timely -- give your feedback as soon as possible to the performance. 2. Make it individualized -- tailor your feedback to the feedback receiver. 3. Make it productive -- focus your feedback on the performance and not the performer . 4. Make is specific -- pinpoint for the receiver observable actions and behaviors.

The 6 Questions Marshall Goldsmith Recommends You Ask Your Emplolyees

As explained in John Baldoni's, book, Lead With Purpose , Marshall Goldsmith suggests all leaders make it a habit to regularly ask their employees these six questions : Where do you think we should be going? Where do you think you and your part of the business should be going? What do you think you're doing well? If you were the leader, what ideas would you have for you? How can I help? What suggestions or ideas do you have for me?

How To Lead With Deep Purpose

Having conducted extensive field research, Ranjay Gulati , author of the book, Deep Purpose , The Heart and Soul of High-Performance Companies , reveals the fatal mistakes leaders unwittingly make when attempting to implement a reason for being. “My interviews with well over 200 executives across 18 firms revealed the secrets of these companies—not the usual facile frameworks, but new ways of thinking about business that allow leaders and companies to operate with heightened passion, urgency, and clarity,” shares Gulati. “I call this, deep purpose .” Furthermore, Gulati explains that most leaders think of purpose functionally or instrumentally, regarding it as a tool they can wield. On the other hand, deep purpose leaders think of it as something more fundamental; an existential statement that expresses the firm’s very reason for being. These leaders project it faithfully out onto the world. “Rethinking the nature of purpose should prompt you in turn to re-imagine ...

The Ordinary Skills Of Exceptional Leaders

New York Times - bestselling author, chartered psychologist and Professor of Leadership at the University of Exeter Business School, John Amaechi , has released It’s Not Magic: The Ordinary Skills Of Exceptional Leaders . It’s an important read for particularly managers, executives, board members, and other business leaders, and anyone else expected to motivate and inspire others to achieve great things. The book walks you through the seemingly obvious but difficult-to-nail mindsets and intentions you’ll need to adopt to influence and motivate others. You’ll learn strategies and techniques you can apply immediately, including: Easy-to-follow explanations of the straightforward behaviors you can model to improve your ability to lead others. Habits you can adopt immediately to motivate others in any setting, from the boardroom to the classroom or the battlefield. Data-driven insights into the tiny, little things that great leaders do every day and how to incorporate t...

How To Enable Your Employees

" Frustration in the workplace is a silent killer," claim authors Mark Royal and Tom Agnew in their terrific book, The Enemy of Engagement . Further, "in an organizational context, frustration is not as simple as failing to get something you want. Rather, it involves the inability to succeed in your role due to organizational barriers or the inability to bring the bulk of your individual talents, skills, and abilities to your job." Royal and Agnew further explain that a staggering number of highly motivated, engaged, and loyal employees quit trying--or quit, period---because they feel frustrated . And what's causing all that frustration? It's lack of enablement . According to Royal and Agnew, as employees grow in experience in their roles, they begin to focus less on learning the ropes and more on achieving desired results. In the process, they are increasingly confronted with enablement constraints that...

How To Delight Customers

My two favorite learnings from Stephen Denning ’s book, The Age of Agile: How Smart Companies Are Transforming theWay Work Gets Done , are the following: First, where Denning explains the 10 elements of an organization/company that is passionate about, and driven by, the goal of delighting customers . Those elements are: There is a shared goal of delighting the customer. Top management takes responsibility for ensuring enthusiasm for delighting the customer throughout the organization. The firm aspires to be the best at what it does. Everyone in the organization has a clear line to the customer. The firm ensures it has accurate and thorough knowledge of the customer. Staff members are empowered to make decisions. The firm’s structure changes with the marketplace. Relationships are interactive, vertically, horizontally, internally, and externally. Back-office functions are aligned to serve the customer. Value for customers must be monetizable ...

How To Talk About Poor Performance With An Employee

As a leader, the time will come when you will have to speak with an employee about his or her poor performance. Perhaps that time is now as you conduct year-end performance reviews. So, here are six steps that will guide you through that process : 1. Tell him what performance is in need of change and be specific. 2. Tell him how his actions negatively affect the team. 3. Let the discussion sink in. 4. Set expectations of performance improvement and timeframe, and get his agreement on the desired outcome. 5. Remind him that he is a valuable part of the team and that you have confidence his performance will improve. 6. Don't rehash the discussion later. You made your point. Give him time to make his improvement.

How To Demonstrate Your Leadership Credibility

Demonstrate your leadership credibility by: Practicing what you preach. Walking the talk. Ensuring your actions are consistent with your words. Putting money where your mouth is. Following through on your promises. Doing what you say you will do. Good, quick tips from the book. The Leadership Challenge . Thank you to the book’s publisher for sending me a copy of the book.

Eric Jacobson On Management And Leadership

Search This Blog