A Modern Leadership Memoir
347903
This is Brad Lomenicks second book. The thoroughly enjoyed his first one, so I knew I needed to read the second one. It has been about two years since that last book and this one is another breath of fresh air. Rather than trying to be the same leadership expert, Lomenick stands out as his own type of leader.

H3 Leadership is not just a book full of great information, but it is strategically laid out in a way that helps it to sink in to your brain easier. Inside of the book you will find lists and quotes from other leaders around the country and world. Throughout the book you are taken on a journey with Brad. You get a greater glimpse of what has been going through Lomenicks brain over the past couple of years. In some ways it is a sad story as you get some details into departure from the Catalyst organization. At the same time, you feel happy for Brad as he appears to be in a greater place of joy since relinquishing control.

Lomenick has established himself not just as the face of Catalyst, but now he is working his way to becoming a great leadership coach. He has faced more pressure than most of us will ever know, but as long as he continues to write books, we will continue to have the ability to gain from his experience.

If you are a leader, you need to read this book. I received this book from the publisher in exchange for an unbiased review.
917575
This book provides excellent personal examples of leadership in tough circumstances. Mr. Johnson's personal experiences and practical application offer great lessons which we would all do well to emulate. He has walked the walk and in this leadership volume, talks the talk, offering great insights to anyone looking for a way to get an edge on others in the leadership environment. I highly recommend this book as a "hands on" approach to leadership, with relevant examples for the business world today.
554343
After recently retiring from 25 years of service as a military officer, I have read numerous leadership books.  Rarely will you find a book that brings a new perspective on the study of leadership.  Susan Scott's Fierce Leadership achieves that goal. Her book can best be described as a combination of John C. Maxwell's 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership, Jim Collin's Good to Great, and Daniel Goleman's Emotional Intelligence.  Fierce Leadership is a must read for leaders who want to win in an ever changing world.
256633
I found this book fascinating, as much a memoir as a business manual. But if you are not into reading about the effort to gain human space flight, this will not be the book for you. I have read another great leadership book, First In Last Out by John Salka of the New York Fire Department. Like that one, this book is filled with the teams, jargon and mission of the dedicated staff, upon whom many lives depended. Unlike it, the managers at NASA did not expect to go into space themselves.

From Salka's book the motto is "Follow the smoke." From this book, the motto is "Plan, train, fly." Hill, a senior manager working his way up through the levels of Mission Control, to become Director of Mission Operations, tells us his mottoes and principles in the early stage of the book. He explains what they mean and why NASA found them so relevant.  By the middle of the book, successes and disasters have occurred, with the "Plan, train, fly" the most relevant motto.

Later in the book we see how problems accumulated. Rocket scientists had been hired because they were the ones who could get rockets off the ground. Now they were management and had generally not had training in management, budgeting, business systems or development. As NASA mushroomed in size, departments grew so big that they stopped communicating other than essentials with other departments, and internal complaints were not welcomed, and boat-rockers were told sternly to be seated.  State funded, unlike a regular business they did not have to innovate, learn competitive principles and manage better. This resulted in failures, disasters and loss of contracts.

The final section explains how new leadership from outside got to turn the group around, cut staff levels and costs, innovate and communicate. The particular leadership books chosen for and read by the senior managers are named and discussed. These include The Speed Of Trust; What Got You Here Won't Get You There; and Good To Great.

I enjoyed the read and I'm pleased that it is largely gender neutral (apart from 'manned space flight') although this does produce oddities like 'had a conversation with my direct reports' which turns out to be the managers who reported to Hill. The author took personality tests and recommends them for self-understanding; by this time he had already led successful departments.

Hill is showing that change will come, and should not be feared, but can be made into good by open communication. No matter how big your organisation, somebody somewhere is doing some part of your work, maybe in a more innovative way. Management studies and leadership have evolved since the second half of the twentieth century when NASA was tasked with taking on the space challenge. This honest, forthright book explains how NASA had to evolve too. All of us can take lessons away from the read, and I recommend starting soon.

I was sent a copy for perusal by the publisher, The Cadence Group and agent Rebecca Brown. I am delighted to have had a chance to look inside the world this book reveals. The paperback is a good solid read, well presented with a number of graphs and black and white photos. Notes and references on P337 - 341. I did not see any names that I could be sure were female.
This is an unbiased review.
649028
Investing in learning requires boldness, persistence and vision.

This book brings together the annual reflections of one who led from the front for over 10 years. In times of stress and retrenchment in a number of university systems this book deserves to be read by all who aim to make universities institutions that help build worthwhile human futures.
2675255
With their five editions of The Leadership Challenge, Kouzes and Posner have set the standard for much of leadership writing over the last 30 years. The database that informs their work, based on millions of responses to detailed assessments delivered in thousands of organizations in every sector in both developed and developing countries, offers an unmatched resource in documenting what constitutes effective leadership.

Their new book, Learning Leadership: The Five Fundamentals of Becoming an Exemplary Leader, is written with passion and insight derived from decades of practice as well as research: Kouzes is ranked as one of the top executive educators and is an executive fellow at the Leavey School of Business at Santa Clara University, where Posner holds an endowed professorship. A glance at the books table of contents might suggest a fairly generic offering  a framework with five fundamentals, all of which sound more aspirational than concrete. But the authors wisdom and humanity set their book apart. So, too, does their conviction that good leadership is a skill that can be learned by anyone who seeks it, and that such learning contributes substantively to the sum of human happiness and fulfillment.

In addressing the perennial question of whether leaders are born or made, the authors tartly observe that theyve never met a leader who wasn't born, which is to say that everyone has the ability to become a better leader. Leadership is not a trait, nor is it reserved for those with charisma those who, in the original meaning of the word, were kissed by the gods at birth. The born leader trope, in the authors view, is antithetical to the way real-life leaders operate. It functions as a fable or folk legend that discourages people at every level from working to become better leaders.

The authors unpack fi ve myths that support these legends. My favorite is the talent myth, known in training and development circles as just finding the right person. Bluntly stating that talent is overrated, Kouzes and Posner cite research indicating that getting better bests being good when it comes to leading (and pretty much everything else). Their own experience interviewing thousands of people who have led others to make extraordinary things happen demonstrates that a desire to achieve excellence, the grit to persevere, and a willingness to engage people broadly in ones effort are far more important than innate talent.

They also make quick work of the strengths myth, which holds that people increase their chances of success by playing to their strengths and outsourcing what they are weak at. This approach all too often results in people saying things like Im not a visionary, so Im going to avoid sharing my perspective or Im not a natural at giving praise, so why bother? In fact, Kouzes and Posners research demonstrates that successful leaders make a habit of challenging themselves on their weaknesses.

Leadership, they argue, is within everyones reach, and the five fundamentals offer a template for how to get better by thoroughly analyzing a situation and critiquing your own performance in a constructive way. Self-awareness and a willingness to keep learning from every experience are the basic requirements, and the authors provide self-coaching exercises and reviews throughout that are useful, commonsensical, and free from jargon.

Anyone with a desire to improve his or her own leadership skills can benefit from reading this deeply encouraging book. My only quibble is with the sometimes redundant recaps and action summaries that conclude every chapter, which seem to have become de rigueur in business books. Leaving it to people to imagine how they might apply what they have learned instead of providing templates for every step might enrich how readers interpret a books insights.
3372401
As I reflect on Storied Leadership, the word holistic keeps coming to my mind. Storied Leadership is a holistic look not only at leadership, but also at the Gospel, and living/leading accordingly. It is a book I wish I would've had years ago when I was working with (university) student leaders. I would recommend this for those in roles of leadership, whether formal or not (and whether you've been a leader for ten days, or ten years...though I'm sure you'll read it differently based on how much hindsight you have).
If you enjoyed books by Andy Crouch (Culture Making, Playing God), you'd probably like Storied Leadership.
On a practical note it was a relatively fast read, though there are questions at the end of each chapter to reflect on, either by yourself, or with a group.

A very thoughtfully written book.
2699676
Longtime Starbucks executive Howard Behar offers leadership advice in Its Not About the Coffee and it comes down to treating people well and putting them first. As Behar consistently notes, Starbucks is not in the coffee business serving people, its in the people business serving coffee. In this charming and immensely readable book, Behar offers his ten principles on leadership and relates how they helped him build a unique culture at Starbucks. Its a fascinating read though readers looking for a detailed account of Starbucks growth need to look elsewhere. Behar does off some interesting stories of course--how Starbucks handled layoffs, failed products--but this is a book more focused on servant leadership than how a Fortune 500 business was created. But for those readers looking for an excellent account of servant leadership, this book is highly recommended.
3575284
Insights on Leadership taps current and respected authors and scholars for their thoughts and strategies on shared responsibility, leading by example, and establishing a sense of community - all hallmarks of Robert Greenleaf's servant leadership legacy. The text comprises 33 essays organized around  four themes: service, stewardship, spirit, and servant-leadership.  The  essays are refreshing because they are rooted not only in a spiritual  domain but also in exemplary and successful practice.  Even with a recent  proliferation of mass-market business writing that includes an element of  the spiritual, this text offers a variety of approaches with fresh and  singular perspectives.  This is due partly to the different disciplines the  authors represent as well as the creative approaches these authors take to  applying the servant-leadership philosophy and model to specific work  problems. This book is quite readable and inspiring.  Each essay is  carefully reasoned, clearly expressed, and devoid of management jargon.  It  should be on the reading list of those who wish to transform themselves and  their organizations by embracing the fact that they are servants and  stewards of those with whom they work.
2828247
New theories about effective leadership are still evolving. The authors Ron Meyer and Ronald Meijers of the book Leadership Agility argue that successful leaders must be "agile. Entrepreneurship, smart and flexible organisation and inspiring employees are of great importance in the ever changing market.  Innovative and responsive organisations need  leadership agility. The authors have studied of the phenomenon of "leadership" extensively and tested their findings in their professional work. Leaders need to have a broad repertoire of behaviors and problem-solving techniques. Good leaders have a sense of timing, they recognize opportunities and have the ability to inspire others. Leadership is all about influencing others. The vision of Ron Meyer and Ronald Meijers is based on a leadership relationship that is adaptive, flexible and responsive. Leaders need to be able to move between different leadership styles and need to be able to respond quickly to the specific needs of people and situations they want to influence. Above all they need leadership style that fits the requirements of the present time.  The book "Leadership Agility" maps out ten sets of opposite leadership styles. The reader is gets the opportunity to understand the strengths and weaknesses of each style. The leadership styles cover the full range of leadership roles, from the leader as a coach (interpersonal leadership), to the leader as organizer (organisation leadership), as a strategist (strategic leadership), as a sense-maker (leadership and mission) and as a role model (leadership and self). However, most leaders have their own preferred style, which is sometimes effective but in other situations hampers employee change and development. The question is whether it is possible for leaders to master all styles good enough. Most managers already find it difficult to master the four styles of situational leadership.  A point of concern remains the narcistic leader who feels to be smarter than all the employees and is keen to remain in control under all circumstances. The book contains a clear framework for assessing the effectiveness of the style and is a beautiful study.  It contains many tools for leadership development. A high degree of "learning agility" is needed to develop a flexible style. It is a process of learning, analysis and improvement.
169893
Gen McChrystal is probably best remembered as the dangerous looking Special Forces commander who led the US forces in Iraq then Afghanistan. After leaving the armed forces, he started a new career as a thinker in the field of leadership. His new book on leadership, "Team of Teams" was released a few weeks ago.

The book is part memoir, part lessons learnt from McChrystal's experience in the Middle-Eastern conflicts and part intellectual discourse. It is a truly enjoyable read, both easy to read, yet intellectually challenging and stimulating.

The gist of the book is the need to adapt quickly and move fast in a highly complex world. It highlights the inadequacies of Taylorism-inspired planning which can break down complicated problems into manageable parts but cannot easily adapt to rapidly evolving situations.

The book goes back and forth between examples from the everyday world and military operations in Iraq. This is an effective an particularly vivid way of conveying and illustrating ideas.

The US army fought an utterly unconventional war in Iraq. Insurgents were using tactics that were completely different from anything present in a conventional theatre. And although they were outgunned, they were still at one point winning the war. To counter them, McChrystal moved away from conventional methods of warfare derived from Taylorist principles of breaking down complicated problems, into what he calls "Teams of teams".

Along the way the book covers related topics such as complicated vs complex, trust and relationships (oh so important), information sharing and secrecy (need to know vs sharing), systems thinking, the importance of physical space (the hated corner office, which protects the haves from the have nots), weekly update meetings on a grand scale (7000 people attending from around the world), Wikileaks and Snowden, game theory (overcoming the prisoners dilemma between teams in an organisation), the critical importance of transparency and communication in fostering trust, and more.

The book summarises the two core requirements for successful teams of teams: shared consciousness which is achieved by extreme participatory transparency, and strong internal connectivity between teams. The main role of the leader in such a system is to dynamically shape the ecosystem (network of networks) so that teams can perform.

The experienced business leader will ask: how do lessons learnt from fighting an insurgency in Iraq apply to the business world? And is there any particular relevance to readers in Asia? We in Asia typically have to contend with a very broad diversity in cultures, distances and economic development. This in turn creates a lot of complexity for leading our businesses. Teams of Teams are practically a necessity for us to blend together all our resources for optimal performance. We too have to contend with unpredictability and rapid change on a daily basis.

Note: a version of this review is available on my website www.ciblantadvisory.com
940572
This author, Les T. Csorba, is a Christian, served in the first Bush Administration, and knows what he's talking about. He says that true leaders are driven by a vision larger than themselves and the applause they might receive. As the book's title implies, Csorba thinks untrustworthy leadership is or should be an oxymoron.

My favorite quote from this book is: "The `best and the brightest' only become the best when they are the modest and the moral as well." Csorba includes plenty of contemporary examples of leaders who failed the public trust, not only in politics, but in religion and business as well.

This book is well documented and worthy of anyone's time who cares to learn more about leadership. I enjoyed and recommend it.
4362467
<a data-hook="product-link-linked" class="a-link-normal" href="/Profiles-in-Leadership-From-Caesar-to-Modern-Times/dp/0985394986/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_rvw_txt?ie=UTF8">Profiles in Leadership: From Caesar to Modern Times</a>

Oprah loves quotes and has her own collection.  Each of us should have our own to help ground us.  This book is useful and worth having as a compass to help us lead ourselves before we lead others.

I referenced this work for my latest book, Profiles in Leadership from Caesar to Modern Times. It explores historic leadership qualities and challenges. It delves into the lives of Julius Caesar, Augustus, Napoleon, Lincoln, Martin Luther King, Eleanor Roosevelt, Margaret Thatcher and Oprah Winfrey to reveal their Leadership Secrets, Leadership Traits, Achievements, and Words of Wisdom to create a modern day compass for leaders of all ages, all industries and fields and all forms of leadership.

In Profiles in Leadership from Caesar to Modern Times we see the marvelous mosaic of Oprah Winfrey as a business person, an activist, a performer, a friend and a leader filled with compassion and courage. Her words and quotes are timeless and useful for leaders of all ages.

Profiles in Leadership from Caesar to Modern Times, like Words that Matter: A Little Book of Life Lessons, is packed with reflections, ideas and quotes from people of all times and ages to give us a road map toward leadership for now and always.
1426604
Mark F. LaMoure,  Boise, ID

 "LEADERSHIP EXCELLENCE," By Pat Williams is a great, well-written book filled with a big load of practical leadership advice. Whether you are a seasoned or aspiring leader, this book's wisdom will help take your leadership to the next higher level.  The book contains a bank of valuable ideas to use to develop excellence.  An inspiring book,  I rate it 5 Gold Stars.
3749055
In Leading Quietly, Joseph L. Badaracco observes that society tends to think about leadership primarily in terms of heroic figures. His readers have been taught from their childhood to show respect for the efforts and sacrifices of great men and women. Often, his readers are not properly informed about the fact that most sung heroes like Winston Churchill or Mother Teresa worked, quietly and patiently, for years or decades, before their key contribution to society was widely acknowledged.
To his credit, Badaracco celebrates modest, unassuming men and women with their mixed and complicated motives. Like most of his audience, those men and women will probably never be in the limelight but make the world a better place through countless, small, often unseen efforts. Badaracco convincingly demonstrates that it is given to almost all his audience to learn and practice the simple virtues of quiet leadership, e.g.: Restraint, modesty, and tenacity.
Contrary to some wisdom, quiet leaders
1)  Buy time.
2)  Drill down into the political and technical elements of the problems they face.
3)  Invest their political capital wisely.
4)  Nudge, test, and escalate gradually.
5)  Find ways, when necessary, to bend the rules.
6)  View compromise as a high form of leadership and creativity.
In his recently published Good To Great, Jim Collins interestingly comes to the conclusion that the CEOs of great companies turning around good companies successfully are usually humble, modest, and tenacious. Is quiet leadership from top to bottom within any organization the future?
In a second edition of Leading Quietly, Badaracco could perhaps use both success stories and failures to illustrate each guideline for practicing quiet leadership. Often, failures are more valuable learning experiences than successes. Furthermore, Badaracco could perhaps further elaborate on white-collar criminality that can have an impact on quiet leaders as well. Quiet leaders at companies like Enron and Andersen could have been pressurized to violate the law and could eventually not simply walk away from their organizations because of their sense of duty and/or their responsibilities towards their family, especially in a downturn economy.
3868776
H.E. Ellen Johnson Sirleaf's rise to power in Liberia as the first democratically elected woman president in Africa stands as one of the most definitive events of 21st century politics.  Not only does her presidency firmly establish the integral importance of women leaders on the world stage, but her unique positioning as a woman with both African and Western roots -- genealogically, geographically, and intellectually -- signals a new kind of 21st century leadership consciousness of which we can suddenly see reflections everywhere.  This new memoir traces her rise to power and the development of her distinctive leadership style, reveals her innovative philosophies of governance, and offers her timely reflections on current world affairs and pressing global concerns.

Those who found the Liberian civil conflict from 1989-2003 confusing and confounding will also find that this book provides illuminating insights about what happened and why.  More importantly, President Sirleaf offers guidance through example and commentary about how to move beyond political and social conflict to peace, reconciliation, development, and, ultimately, prosperity.  President Sirleaf's gift is the ability to look at the big picture and hone in on how people with fundamental disagreements and historical animosities can be harmonized and coordinated into a thriving open society that cultivates dissent under the banner of democratic process. The words "visionary pragmatism" (see Stanlie M. James and Abena P.A. Busia's academic book, Theorizing Black Feminisms: The Visionary Pragmatism of Black Women) come to mind.

Despite the challenges that President Sirleaf, and indeed Liberia, still face, we observe in this book a vision, a plan, sound strategy, and dogged determination in action.  What President Sirleaf evidences in her story is how realpolitik and peacemaking can and, arguably, must be reconciled and integrated for effective 21st century leadership.  While certain aspects of this book are clearly addressed to other world leaders, whether political or economic, and other aspects are clearly addressed to the Liberian citizenry, the generality of this text is addressed to everyday people worldwide who are genuinely concerned about social change and peace and are looking for both inspiration and real world example.  Additionally, in my view, this book is well situated to help rehabilitate the relationship between the US and Liberia in ways that will ultimately set a new model for altering North/South and donor nation/developing nation relations more generally.

My only criticism of this book - which is really just a jumping off point for discussion - is President Sirleaf's treatment of the ongoing debate about African values (collectivism) vs. Western values (individualism).  While her discussion is illuminating and nuanced, my sense is that this is no longer an either/or question but rather one which must be approached with an eye towards unapologetic integration of these two value sets.  However, she more than makes up for this limitation in her cogent advocacy of gender development and gender mainstreaming as a feature of the way forward, not just in Liberia but worldwide.

No leader is perfect, but some leaders really change the quality of life on Earth.  President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf of Liberia is one such individual and we have the good fortune to read all about it in This Child Will Be Great: Memoir of a Remarkable Life by Africa's First Woman President.  I recommend this book highly, and, if you are similarly concerned with women, politics, and peace, offer the following suggestions for further reading: Unbowed: A Memoir by Wangari Maathai, Love and Courage: A Story of Insubordination by Pregs Govender, Left to Tell: Discovering God Amidst the Rwandan Holocaust by Immaculee Ilibagiza, Learning True Love: Practicing Buddhism in a Time of War by Sister Chan Khong, and It's Always Possible: One Woman's Transformation of India's Prison System by Kiran Bedi.
1783229
In sharing his personal and professional journey, Dr. Prosise reminds us that our own sense of purpose and what we hold dear is often defined by strong family values and relationships. Rogers memoir provides an inside look into how families face challenges and turn them into opportunities rather than accepting them as obstacles. The Prosise familys first-hand experiences with the World War II Manazar Japanese-American interment camp and residency in Chicagos Cabrini-Green housing projects provide dramatic tests of familial strength and resilience.  This memoir tells us how a kid from the projects became a respected leader of teachers and an astute advocate for the needs of students. As we follow Dr. Prosise along his pathway to leadership and service as an educator, we are urged to reflect on the values, friendships and mentors who helped make us who we are. The pages of Dr. Prosises story, remind us that hope is the essential quality that allows us to achieve our own goals and the gift we can give to others.