Eric Jacobson On Management And Leadership

Flashback to 2016... After reading nearly 30 new books about leadership this past year, my pick for  2016's best new leadership book  is,  Mastering the Challenges of Leading Change , by  H. James Dallas . Technically, the book came out in the fall of 2015, but gained its popularity and momentum in 2016, hence my selection as my 2016 pick. Virtually every business is undergoing change. And, one of the most difficult things for a leader to do is to successfully lead a change initiative. And, change is what most employees fear most. That's why, says Brown that on average nearly 75 percent of change initiatives fail. What's more... When the rate of external change exceeds the rate of internal change, the end is in sight. Fortunately, Brown has written what I consider to be one of the most straight-forward, practical and timely books on how to lead a transition through change effectively. H. James Dallas More specifically, Brown covers much more than tasks, timing and te...

Change is inevitable. Change is good.  Help your employees and team learn to embrace change. Here are some solid insights from  Dr. Rodger Dean Duncan 's (Liberty, Missouri) book,  Change-friendly Leadership -- How to Transform Good Intentions into  Great Performance : The kind of behavior change that results in lasting (sustainable) change must accommodate people's feelings--feelings that involve trust, confidence, passion, and all those other intangible but very real things that make us human. It's often the stress that people resist, not the change itself. Continuity gives us roots; change gives us branches, letting us stretch and grow and reach new heights ( Pauline R. Kezer ). A transformational leader focuses primarily on initiating and "managing" change.  He/she influences people to improve, to stretch, and to redefine what's possible. It is not the strongest of the species that survive, nor the most intelligent, but the one most responsi...

Anticipate: The Art of Leading by Looking Ahead , gives readers practical guidance and concrete techniques to help leaders become more visionary. In his book,  Rob-Jan de Jong  provides the developmental framework for visionary capacity, focusing on two key skills: The ability to see change early The ability to connect the dots Rob-Jan de Jong De Jong makes a clear distinction between the company vision and your personal vision. And, in this book, he helps you increase your  personal visionary capacity  for your personal leadership whether or not you are hierarchically in a senior position. The book includes many exercises and examples, along with QR codes to access videos with additional content that can be viewed on your Smartphone. Some of de Jong's tips for  how to think like a visionary and be a source of inspiration  to your organization and teams include: Deliberately break your normal, everyday patterns. Develop a set of apprec...

From the book,  Mastering the Challenges of Leading Change , comes this useful checklist from author H. James Dallas for how to  identify and develop emerging talent  in your company/organization. Dallas recommends that each question should be graded on a scale of 1 to 3, with 3 being the best. Use the questions and the scoring for you and your employee to work together toward the highest ratings across the board. Has the person demonstrated a "getting lost with confidence" mind-set? Does the person communicate with authenticity? Has the person created a strong personal brand that is recognized by colleagues of all levels? Does the person know his or her blind spots and have people watching to prevent him or her from crashing? Is the person getting exposure to executive management? Does the person seek out and seriously consider advice? Is the person building an inclusive team and sponsoring others? Is the person proactive in finding opportunities to initiate...