Leaders at All Levels: Developing the Talent Pool to Solve the Succession Crisis by Ram Charan, Recorded Books, 2008. (CD Book)
In today’s corporate world when the top management steps down for any reason there is often a waiting period while the company searches for a replacement. Often people are temporarily put in place to see to the day to day duties, but the company fails to keep moving forward as this person is not seen as having the authority to really do much that is new. One way of getting around this problem for your company is to hire and develop your own future leaders. Although positions from managers to CEOs are covered the author shows how hiring young people with future potential and making sure that they get assignments and positions to develop the skills needed in the future can affect the success of the company and can help your company.
Sometimes you may identify 3 or 4 potential newcomers at entry-level positions and give them opportunities to learn and show what they can do for you. By exposing them to all aspects of the business from many angles you will develop a person who really understands your business, the competition and the potential market. By fast tracking these people to specific goals, assignments or positions you can make sure they develop all of the necessary skills and relationships to take the company to the next level.
Ram Charan shares stories of companies that excel at developing their future leaders and he tells stories that show the progression of some of these future leaders. By reading this book you can help develop a process to create and nurture future leaders within your own company.
by Ronald Shapiro, Crown Business, 2008.
One of the things that can make or break everything you do is preparation. The better prepared you are the better chance you will get the outcome you want most.
Ronald Shapiro covers nine preparation principles he teaches to clients to help them become better preparers. They are:
- Understand your objectives and define your endgame
- Plan with precedents
- Know your alternatives
- Define the interests of the other party
- Set your strategy
- Do a timeline
- Pick your team
- Write your script
- Adjust and learn from your mistakes
If you know what you really want from all encounters you will have a much better chance of communicating with others. You must discover what precedents have been set in the past and use these examples to reinforce your position. If you are able to articulate all of the potential alternatives that are available, you can help others work toward an outcome that is beneficial to all; this also ties into knowing the other side’s interests so that you can address how they can best benefit from your suggested outcomes. By setting a strategy and timeline you can learn to better focus on the outcomes you are trying to achieve and by stating these you can show your leadership in accomplishing these goals. Pick your team of people by who can best help you achieve your goals and write a script and practice it so that you can anticipate all potential obstacles. By using what didn’t work for you and others in the past you can constantly move forward and help to accomplish many things.
The three most common excuses as to why people fail to plan are: 1. I don’t have time, 2. I’ve done it before and 3. I know how to do this. These all assume that you know so much that you don’t need to plan to prepare because you already know how to win and get what you want. By making these assumptions you will often fail to get what you want and you will lose the respect of others because you will actually show how unprepared you really are.
Use the preparation checklist at the end of this book to make sure you know what you are after and how you will address the concerns and questions of others. The benefits you will gain by being prepared are self confidence, effectiveness and satisfaction.
by Stephen Young, McGraw-Hill, 2007.
We all know that communication with others involves more than just the words spoken. Sometimes the non-verbal communication is the overwhelming communication and is totally opposite to the words that we speak. The inflection, tone, facial features and body language can make or break what our words are saying. Micromessaging explores the microinequities and microadvantages we communicate in all situations. Microinequities are when we unconsciously or consciously communicate negative feedback to those around us. Microadvantages are when we give positive feedback to them. These messages may not be totally clear or understood but they do effect how we view ourselves and our capabilities.
If a leader or manager is using the wrong micromessages they can communicate to their employees that they are not capable of handling assignments given to them. If we expect people to excel they will, however if we expect them to fail they will live up to that expectation as well. “Micromessages are the keys that unlock-or shut down-potential.”
Micromessages happen between two people but they are often observed by others, sometimes in small groups and sometimes in larger groups. The receiver of the micromessages, whether positive or negative, can be forever impacted by the subtle communications.
Stephen Young shares 10 microadvantages we can cultivate to help those who work with us to develop to their highest potential. These microadvantages are how we choose to communicate and include:
1. actively solicit opinions
2. connect on a personal level
3. constantly ask questions
4. attribute/credit ideas
5. monitor your facial expressions
6. actively listen to all
7. draw in participation
8. monitor personal greetings
9. respond constructively to disagreements
10. limit interruptions.
Young tells of his experiences in helping many different companies develop microadvantages as a way of business and the positive outcomes of these practices. Young places the main points in gray boxes which can be used to refresh or reinforce the concepts learned.
There are many ways to achieve communication and commitments to new procedures and processes in the corporate world. Sometimes the only way is to have someone at the top of the organization send down the new way and have those below implement it.
However, if your organization wants to obtain better buy-in by the people implementing and using the new procedures and processes one way to go is consensus through conversation. Using this way allows all those affected by the outcome to have a say about the necessary changes, but because they have agreed to the desired outcome or have said they can live with it the changes can be accomplished with less angst on the people making the changes.
Larry Dressler walks us through the steps to obtain consensus and how to make sure we have involved all of the right people. He details what needs to be done at each step to make sure you get consensus and what to do if you do not obtain it. He covers preparation, basic steps, and dealing with disagreement. He also presents the six traps that undermine consensus and ten tips for better consensus meetings.
A list of resources is provided for those that want to delve into building consensus decisions and learn how to better apply them to their businesses.
This book will help you identify the 8 skills that help determine who will succeed as a leader in business and those who won’t. There are many skills that leaders can possess and Ram Charan has identified these 8 as the determining factors for those who will reach the top of their field and potentially become CEOs, Presidents and entrepreneurs.
The 8 skills are:
1. Positioning and re-positioning the business
2. Pinpointing and taking action on external change
3. Leading the social system of the company
4. Judging, selecting and developing people
5. Molding a team
6. Determining and setting goals
7. Setting laser-sharp dominant priorities
8. Dealing with forces beyond the market and outside of your control
The successful businessperson will be able to see those people around them who have complementary skills and help them to obtain the highest level they can. Surrounding yourself with those who have skills you don’t have and mentoring them can help you get the needed help and knowledge when you need it.
Ram Charan uses examples from many companies both successes and failures and shows how and why the companies flourished and failed. The successful leader needs to be able to see opportunities beyond today and build a team and the needed resources to be able to respond to these opportunities. Criticisms can be hard to take, but the successful person learns to set a course and stick to it even when those around him are criticizing the course of action. Being decisive is an attribute that must be acquired by those who want to excel in the business world.
Monday Morning Mentoring reminded me of Tuesdays with Morrie. Both are books, which tell stories of how one person can be a mentor and a guide to someone else’s growth. In Monday Morning Mentoring Jeff has reached a crisis point in his life. He asks an old family friend if he can help guide him. Jeff has lost enthusiasm for his job and where he is at and has become a negative role model for those around him.
Tony agrees to meet with him once a week to help him work through his issues. “Trusted counselors, mentors and guides make an indelible mark on the lives they touch, and they can provide the two ingredients to success in life–caring and sharing–that cannot be learned or purchased” is one of Tony’s insights and it is what this book accomplishes. By listening in on the sessions between Jeff and Tony we learn how to give back to those around us and how to be a positive role model for everyone in our lives. They meet for ten weeks and share ten key points with us.
Mentoring works because “we all need people who will help us look at situations from a different perspective.” Tony shares his wisdom with Jeff and helps teach Jeff how to look at each situation he encounters from two or more perspectives. How will others be affected by our actions and what will the outcome be on them. If we can’t positively affect them in the long run maybe we are not looking at the situation from the right perspective.
One of my favorite quotes from the book is “ There is a direct correlation between the books you read and the success you achieve.” Use this book and many others to help you get where you want to be in life.
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The Box You Got: Transforming the World You Live In by Steve Bigari, Elevation Press, 2006.
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Local businessman Steve Bigari shares leadership insights with us through stories from his life. Steve is the former owner of twelve Colorado Springs’ McDonald’s. While there he instituted a number of innovations that helped take McDonald’s forward. He is now involved with Mr. Biggs and the nonprofit America’s Family.
Steve is big on using the “Box you got” and not following today’s mantra of “thinking outside the box.” Looking around you and getting creative about the way you use the tools you already have to take your business and your life forward is the main message here. Enthusiasm and creativity can take us to many new highs.
Steve tells of successes; credit card implementation and centralized ordering through the drive up window and failures; automatic ball washing and donuts at high altitude, to illustrate how using the ideas and tools around you can help to achieve higher results. Some results take longer than others and sprinkled among the successes are failures. You must take a chance to fail in order to succeed. Our failures teach us as much as our successes do.
He uses a number of Bigg ideas including: “It’s what you do with the box you got “and “If you’re afraid of failure, get over it-everybody fails”.
The business analogies of McDonald’s and Mr. Biggs are great examples for you to apply to your business. America’s Family helps Steve and others implement giving back to the community and helping those who need a hand up by providing access to things many of us take for granted. The business world is built on the lower level jobs such as fast food and the hotel and motel industry. Helping people achieve their dreams helps you to achieve yours. Transform the community and your business by applying Bigg ideas.
This book is for people in transition positions. It is the first to cover the topic of how to be a leader while in transition, and shows how to reach the breakeven point for your company quicker than before. Breakeven can often take 6 to 9 months to happen. Unfortunately many of us do not have that kind of time to start showing that we are the right person for the job.
Watkins talks about the Stars model and this addresses the four types of transitions companies go through. They are start up, turnaround, realignment and sustaining success. The methods you will use for each type vary somewhat, but a lot of the process is the same or similar. In start up or sustaining success you may have longer to respond to needs and develop a road map, turnaround and realignment can require you to make decisions and start making changes before you have really developed a handle on all business aspects. These early decisions can make it difficult for you to get everyone on board with the needed changes.
Since it is vitally important that you develop relationships and credibility as you go the longer you have for research the better, but in order to succeed in a new role you often must be seen as someone who can make good decisions immediately. Watkins addresses all levels of leaders from team leaders to CEOs. All people, regardless of their position in the company, can use many of the techniques taught here. Watkins uses a lot of examples of people at all levels who both succeed in what they were hired to do as well as those who fail and lets us in on the consequences of these successes and failures.
Leadership transition can be taught but most companies spend little to no time on developing employees in new roles. Many are also expected to maintain their original duties along with the new responsibilities as they look for their replacement. This can set
the new person up to fail as the skills and relationships needed for each position can be in direct conflict with each other.
Watkins sets up a transitional standard framework to use with all new hires as well as discussing the five fundamental propositions, the ten key challenges and the four-fold typology of situations that most new managers find themselves in.
He uses charts to show his research and expected outcomes and each chapter has pertinent questions the new leader can use to bring them to the breakeven point much quicker while developing the necessary skills and credibility along the way. The questions are pointed and make the reader access realistically where they are in the transition and what the necessary steps are to get to the next win or development. He stresses making sure you have wins along the way whether they are large or small so that you can quickly show your knowledge, understanding and needed skills to accomplish the new job.
Leaders come in all shapes, sizes and titles. Many of us see leaders or leadership in those who are our bosses and CEOs; however, we can all be leaders in today’s world. How you handle yourself in situations, both business and personal, can show that you are a leader. A leader is someone who makes things better around themselves or who sets an example for others to follow to get a group of people to make things better. A true leader does not think of how this will impact him, but in how it will effect others. Many people who do not hold titles in their jobs, or those who hold titles we do not usually associate with leadership, accomplish much for others by leading all into accomplishing the things that need to happen. A leader can be a teacher, a janitor or a line operator. They may not have as much influence to get things done, but they usually lead by example.Mark Sanborn talks about the six principles of leadership and gives stories, examples and action points for all of us to use to develop leadership skills in ourselves. Examples and stories have much more meaning and staying power than do facts and figures. These six principles are Power of Self-Mastery, Power of Focus, Power with People, Power of Persuasive Communication, Power of Execution and Power of Giving. Leadership is all around us, but most of us do not focus on who is actually leading the way, we just follow the example shown to us.
