Eric Jacobson

Posts Tagged ‘Leadership Books’

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Book Review: Change-friendly Leadership

In Company Culture, Corporate Culture, Effective Communications, Employee Satisfaction, Engaging Employees, Eric Jacobson On Corporate Culture, Eric Jacobson On Leadership, General Leadership Skills, Leadership, Leadership Books, Leadership Education, Leadership Quotes, Leadership Skills, Leadership Training, Leading By Example, Management, Motivating Employees, Setting Goals, Team Building on November 18, 2012 at 10:27 am

Because Dr. Rodger Dean Duncan delivers so much timely, straight-forward and relevant wisdom in his new book, Change-friendly Leadership, reading it is like talking with your trusted best friend. Or, listening to your favorite teacher.  Or, soaking in the thoughts from your respected mentor.

That’s why you’ll want to spend plenty of time reading the book.  Reflecting on the messages.  Absorbing the discussion,  And, then likely re-reading it.  Or, at least certain sections.

Duncan demonstrates in the book how humanness, approachability, and friendliness are necessary but often overlooked elements of making change successful in an organization.

He teaches leaders the foundation for effectively engaging people’s heads, hearts and hopes — all necessary to enable effective and lasting (sustainable) change in today’s constantly changing world.  Duncan refers to this as leading the whole person.

According to Duncan:

  • 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.

Duncan’s change-friendly leadership approach includes knowing how to leverage the Champions, Agents, Sponsors and Targets within your organization.  And, how to combine tough love elements into the process while always operating from a platform of respect and caring, not intimidation and contention.

Readers will appreciate the “Bonus Points” offerings at the end of each major section of the book where they learn how to access free white papers, diagnostic tools, videos and other items by going to a URL or using a QR code via their Smart phone.

You’ll also likely enjoy as I did all the great leadership quotes sprinkled throughout the book, such as these:

  • Losing good people is costly.  But the number one most expensive thing that can happen to your organization is for your best and most capable people to quit and stay.
  • It’s often the stress that people resist, not the change itself.
  • A transactional leader focuses on routine and regimented activities.  A transformational leader focuses primarily on initiating and “managing” change.
  • It is not the strongest of the species that survive, not the most intelligent, but the one most responsive to change — Charles Darwin.
  • The key to change is to let go of fear — Roseanne Cash
  • Amateurs practice until they get it right.  Professionals practice until they can’t get it wrong.

Thanks to Cave Henricks for sending me an advance copy of the book.

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Book Review: Practice Perfect

In Eric Jacobson On Corporate Culture, Eric Jacobson On Leadership, General Leadership Skills, Leadership, Leadership Books, Leadership Education, Leadership Skills, Leadership Training, Management, Setting Goals, Team Building on October 23, 2012 at 9:06 pm

42 Rules For Getting Better At Getting Better is the sub-title of the new book, Practice Perfect.

This is an interesting book because it is co-authored by three teachers and clearly it’s a book for and about teachers.

But, as the authors remind us, as leaders, we are also teachers.  And, that’s why Practice Perfect is a valuable read for everyone who wants to help their employees grow and excel through practice.

And, although there’s a handy three-page summary of the 42 rules toward the end of the book, take the time to read about each rule covered in the chapters:

  • Rethinking Practice
  • How To Practice
  • Using Modeling
  • Feedback
  • Culture of Practice
  • Post-Practice: Making New Skills Stick

Key lessons and takeaways for me from the book include the following tips for providing effective feedback when working with someone who is practicing a skill:

  • Correct instead of critique.
  • Ask participants to redo an action differently or better rather than just telling them whether or how it could have been different.
  • Focus on the solution rather than the problem.
  • Give feedback right away, even if it’s imperfect.
  • Remember that a simple and small change, implemented the right away, can be more effective than a complex rewiring of a skill.

Additional advice from the authors is that:

  • The more consistently you give and get feedback, the more normal it is.
  • What people do right is as important in practice as what they do wrong.
  • Coaching during a game/exercise can be helpful, but teaching during a game/exercise is distracting and counterproductive.

Practice Perfect‘s authors are Doug Lemov, Katie Yezzi and Erica Woolway.  Lemov’s previous book is Teach Like a Champion.

Finally, the book is packed with stories of practice masters like Coach John Wooden, surgeon Atul Gawande, and basketball star Michael Jordan.

Thanks to the book publisher for sending me an advance copy of the book.

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Book Review: The Art Of Being Unresonable By Eli Broad

In Employee Engagement, Employee Satisfaction, General Leadership Skills, Guiding Business Principles, Leadership, Leadership Books, Leadership Education, Leadership Quotes, Leadership Skills, Leading By Example, Management, Motivating Employees on June 8, 2012 at 7:38 pm

Early on in Eli Broad’s new book, The Art of Being Unresaonable, he reminds us of the power of a child’s instinctive asking, “Why not?“  Unfortunately, most adults lose that habit and Broad goes on to explain that it was his continuing to ask “Why not?” throughout his career that brought him success.

“The questions you’re willing to ask when others think they have all the answers are doors to discovery,” says Broad.

Other words of wisdom from the book, and my favorite takeaways, include:

  • Most successful businesses have to begin by bucking conventional wisdom.  Invention and innovation don’t happen without it.
  • Do your homework no matter how much time it takes.
  • Big ideas don’t happen in a moment.
  • You can’t do it all yourself, so ask questions and delegate.
  • The trick to delegating is to make sure your employees share your priorities.
  • Find the best people to whom you can delegate, and know their strengths and weaknesses.
  • Younger employees simply have fewer preconceived ideas of what they can and can’t do.  Try to widen their perspective, deepen their sense of accomplishment, and build their capacity.
  • No matter how much money your customers have, they still want value.
  • The best way to mentor is to challenge people and then to set an example by letting them see you in action.
  • When you challenge people to dig deep and do more and better than even they imagined they could, it creates a particular bond.
  • Show me a person with an unblemished track record, and I’ll show you a person who has dramatically underachieved.

Broad’s book, subtitled, Lessons in Unconventional Thinking, is well worth the read.

Broad is an entrepreneur, philanthropist, and the founder of two Fortune 500 companies — KB Home and SunAmerica.

Thanks to the book’s publisher for sending me an advance copy of the book.

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Top 20 Leadership Books: What To Give First To A New Manager

In Effective Communications, Employee Engagement, General Leadership Skills, Hiring Great People, Leadership, Leadership Books, Leadership Education, Leadership Quotes, Leadership Skills, Leadership Training, Leading By Example, Listening Skills, Management, Mentoring, Motivating Employees, Sales Management, Setting Goals, Strategic Planning, Team Building on December 10, 2011 at 6:53 am

Eighteen months ago, I posted the question “What’s The First Leadership Book You Would Give To a New Manager?” within the discussion forum for the LinkedIn group Linked 2 Leadership.

That question generated 603 comments and 690 recommendations.  Some people suggested more than one book.  Some during the course of the 18 months made the same book recommendations a couple times.  And, the group discussion continues to be one of the most active still today.

In early November 2011, group member Len White graciously culled through the comments using his company’s Symphony Content Analysis Software that assists with the organization, analysis, and reporting of themes contained in text data.

And here are the results:

·    412 different/unique books were recommended

·    The Top 20 recommended books, collectively, received 250 of the total recommendations

·    Two authors – Stephen R. Covey and John C. Maxwell each have two books in the Top 20

·    Group members recommended other things instead of giving a book about leadership to a new manager, such as:

o   Interviewing everyone in the company with whom they will directly work 

o   Giving a book about management first

o   Mentoring the person for a period of time before recommending a leadership book

And, unlike a question about “What is Your Favorite Leadership Book,” the question this time asked what is the first book you would give to a new manager.

The Top 20 Books are:

  1. The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People – Stephen R. Covey
  2. Leadership and Self-Deception– Arbinger Institute
  3. The One Minute Manager– Kenneth H. Blanchard
  4. The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership– John C. Maxwell
  5. The Five Dysfunctions of a Team– Patrick Lencioni
  6. First Break All the Rules– Marcus Buckingham
  7. The Leadership Challenge– Jim Kouzes
  8. The First 90 Days– Michael Watkins
  9. How to Win Friends and Influence People– Dale Carnegie
  10. Good to Great– Jim Collins
  11. It’s Your Ship– Michael Abrashoff
  12. The Speed of Trust– Stephen R. Covey
  13. Developing the Leader Within You– John C. Maxwell
  14. Who Moved My Cheese– Spencer Johnson
  15. Don’t Bring it to Work– Sylvia Lafair
  16. Leaders Without Borders– Doug Dickerson
  17. Leadership and the One Minute Manager– Kenneth H. Blanchard
  18. On Becoming a Leader– Warren Bennis
  19. The Anatomy of Peace– Arbinger Institute
  20. The Art of Possibility– Benjamin Zander and Rosamund Stone Zander

Within the Top 35 list of the book recommendations, you’ll find four more John C. Maxwell books, including:

·        The 360 Degree Leader

·        Developing the Leaders Around  You

·        Failing Forward

·        Leadership 101

The authors and leadership book publishers most discussed within the group forum have been:

·        Dale Carnegie

·        Jim Collins

·        Jim Kouzes

·        John C. Maxwell

·        Kenneth H. Blanchard

·        Marcus Buckingham

·        Michael Watkins

·        Patrick Lencioni

·        Stephen R. Covey

·        Arbinger Institute

Group discussion participants are clearly inspired by a wide variety of books – biographies, autobiographies, books backed by research and academia, books made famous by the popular press, books by motivation speakers, and books by professionals eager to share their personal and professional leadership success stories, tips and suggestions.

Finally, the book I recommended, The Leadership Test, by Timothy R. Clark made it within the Top 35.

Thanks to all the group members who made recommendations and to Tom Schulte, Executive Director of Linked 2 Leadership, and the owner and moderator for the LinkedIn group, Linked 2 Leadership, which has 19,678 members.

Note:  Symphony Content Analysis Software is designed and published by Active Java.


Thompson’s And Tracy’s Latest Book Provides Blueprint For Business Success

In Company Culture, General Leadership Skills, Hiring Great People, Leadership, Leadership Books, Leadership Education, Leadership Skills, Leadership Training, Making Decisions, Management, Mission Statement, Motivating Employees, Strategic Planning, Team Building on February 1, 2011 at 4:28 pm

When you start reading Mark Thompson’s and Brian Tracy’s latest book called, Now…Build a Great Business!, you may feel like you are reading 200 pages of Blog posts, but the bite-sized approach to providing tools, practical steps and ideas, rather than theory, is precisely the authors’ intended approach.

The book thoroughly explains the seven keys for how to achieve business success:

  1. Become a great leader
  2. Develop a great business plan
  3. Surround yourself with great people
  4. Offer a great product or service
  5. Design a great marketing plan
  6. Perfect a great sales process
  7. Create a great customer experience

You’ll find a checklist at the end of each step (each chapter) where you can write down your action plan for applying what you’ve learned.

Particularly interesting is the chapter on strategic planning, where the authors recommend you should ask yourself these important questions before you act to create or reinvent the direction of your organization:

  • Where are you now? What is your current situation?
  • How did you get to where you are today?
  • Where do you want to go from here?
  • How do you get from where you are today to where you want to be in the future?
  • What obstacles will you have to overcome?  What problems will you have to solve?
  • What additional knowledge, skills, or resources will you require to achieve your strategic objectives?

When it comes time to surround yourself with great people, Thompson and Tracy remind us that great people are:

  • Good team players.
  • More concerned with what’s right rather than who’s right.
  • Intensely results oriented.

And, great people accept high levels of responsibility for the outcomes required of them, and consider their company a great place to work.

Mark Thompson is an entrepreneur who sold his last company for $100 million and today coaches executives on how to lead growth companies.  Brian Tracy speaks throughout the country about the development of human potential and personal effectiveness. I thank them for sending me a copy of their book.  It’s a worthwhile read.


What We Can Learn About Leadership From Dogs

In General Leadership Skills, Leadership, Leadership Books, Leadership Education, Leadership Skills, Leadership Training, Leading By Example, Management, Motivating Employees, Team Building on January 30, 2011 at 7:36 pm

I never really thought much about the parallels between canine and human leadership needs, but Lesley Hunter, the author of, Who Put You in Charge?, has convinced me the parallels are compellingly strong.

In her book, Hunter explains:

  • Like dogs, humans need training, leadership, respect and reward. And most importantly, a sense of belonging.
  • In every pack a dog has its role.  The pack leader is there to provide direction and maintain order.  Harmony happens when pack leaders and followers fulfill their respective roles.

As a longtime dog lover and owner, Hunter reflects in her book about her own leadership successes in business, “Bringing together and leading a group of dogs was no different to leading a group of people — by recognizing the strengths and characteristics of each individual, and by consciously choosing to adapt my own behavior and response, I became an effective leader and got the best out of each of them.”

You can make your way through the 100-page book in a couple hours.  And, I won’t in the posting reveal all of Hunter’s parallels between humans and dogs, but my favorite observations that Hunter makes are:

  • Effective leaders understand and listen to their natural instincts, and use persuasion rather than dominance and authority to achieve their outcomes. 
  • Successful leaders know themselves well enough, and are therefore able to adapt and modify their learned habits, behaviors and responses to get the best out of each person and situation.
  • Being a firm leader is not about power. 
  • The most effective leaders are those who are seen as being fair, approachable and adaptable.
  • Being fair is more about being able to weigh all the options and coming to reasoned decisions and arguments, rather than showing excessive empathy to the views and needs of others, which itself can cause further problems in the long run.
  • Healthy conflict in a non-threatening, constructive and supportive environment is essential for decision making and problem solving.


Tips For Conducting More Effective Performance Appraisals

In General Leadership Skills, Leadership, Leadership Books, Leadership Education, Leadership Skills, Leadership Training, Management, Motivating Employees, Performance Appraisals on June 25, 2010 at 6:13 pm

I’m a big fan of Sharon Armstrong’s, The Essential HR Handbook, and now she’s released her newest book, The Essential Performance Review Handbook.

“Appraisals are meant to clarify and reward, and to be interactive and fair.  They take real time, real dialog, and a real focus on the future, rather than just the previous few months,” says Armstrong.

The 224-page book, at a nice price of $14.99 (now for about $10 on Amazon), provides lots of tips and examples, and even includes the actual appraisal forms used by 10 organizations and associations that are both interesting to review and handy to use as “best practice” documents.

Armstrong admits that performance appraisals can be one of the most anxiety-provoking aspects of one’s work life for both supervisors and employees. That’s what inspired her to write this book.  In it, she provides leaders and managers of all levels advice on how to make the performance appraisal process more productive, less painful and more effective.

Armstrong told me that one of her favorite books is Leigh Branham’s, The 7 Hidden Reasons Employees Leave.  Branham leads the Overland Park, KS company Keeping The People.


What Is The First Leadership Book You Would Give To A New Manager?

In General Leadership Skills, Leadership, Leadership Books, Leadership Education, Leadership Training, Management on June 23, 2010 at 8:07 pm

Earlier this year, various discussion groups on the social media site LinkedIn helped me build a list of favorite leadership books. 

Now, I’ve been wondering, what is the best first book about leadership that one should give to a new manager who wants to become a strong leader.

For me, that book would be Timothy R. Clark’s compact, 100-page, The Leadership Test. This book has become one of my favorite and one that should be read before all other leadership books in my opinion. Clark, in a story-telling approach, takes the reader through a five-question test that is incredibly powerful.

 The book professes that above all else, leadership requires steely character and an unflinching desire to do the right thing.

 What is the first leadership book you would give to a new manager desiring to be a great leader?


5 Questions You Must Ask About Your Business

In Company Culture, Customer Service, General Leadership Skills, Leadership, Leadership Books, Management, Setting Goals on May 9, 2010 at 7:13 pm

If you are leading a business or a nonprofit organization, take the hour or two to read Peter F. Drucker’s book, The Five Most Important Questions You Will Ever Ask About Your Organization.  The 100-plus page book, co-written with Jim Collins, Philip Kotler, James Kouzes, Judith Rodin, V. Kasturi Rangan and Frances Hesselbein, encourages readers to ask these five critical questions about their business or organization:

  1. What is our Mission?
  2. Who is our Customer?
  3. What does the Customer Value?
  4. What are our Results?
  5. What is our Plan?

These questions seem basic, but it is surprising how some companies don’t dedicate the time and effort to formally ask these questions on a routine basis.

Often, an organization may have a clearly defined mission, but that mission may not sync up with what their customer truly values.  Other times, an organization’s results don’t fully meet what the customer values most.  And, if #4 and #3 above don’t match up correctly, then the business or organization must take action to set a plan to correct the disconnect.

Each of the five questions leads to sub-questions that are outlined in Drucker’s book.  When you ask the five questions listed above, include members of your management team, sales team, marketing team and research team.  You may find that each of these teams may give you different answers for #1 and #2, and that may present more challenges for you that will need to be addressed.


Pass “The Leadership Test”

In Company Culture, General Leadership Skills, Leadership Books, Leadership Education, Leadership Skills, Leadership Training, Leading By Example on December 15, 2009 at 5:44 am

There’s a new book that asks its readers five powerful questions, putting aspiring leaders to the ultimate test of what it takes to be a true leader.  The best thing about this book is that if you pass the test you can skip reading many of the mountains of other leadership books on the market today.

Timothy R. Clark’s new book, called “The Leadership Test” forces you to do some valuable soul searching. And don’t be fooled by the book’s conversational writing style and story-telling approach.  Or, by its compact 100-page size that you’ll read through in less than an hour. Because, the message is powerful and test is revealing. 

That test, which comes at the end of the book, consists of five questions, each important – and successfully passing each becomes a collective must to ensure leadership success.  Once taken, the test is your personalized assessment that you can use to chart your course for becoming a better leader.  In an interview, Clark told me that overwhelmingly, most people struggle with question four in the test, “Take The Oath.”

In the book’s introduction Clark states, “all too often we see leaders intoxicated with power, thirsting for adulation, vaunting themselves as if we were lucky to have them.”  He says, “that this type of leader leaves remains of indulgence, greed and corruption.”  A true leader leaves a legacy.

For less than $10 and an hour of your time, read “The Leadership Test.”  Make it the next leadership book you read.  And, pass the test!

Timothy R. Clark, Ph.D., earned a doctorate from Oxford University, was a Fulbright and British Research Scholar, a former first-team Academic All-American football player at Brigham Young University, and is the CEO of TRCLARK LLC.

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