Successful leaders don't rest on the laurels. Leadership must be a living process, and life means growth. "Great Leaders Grow" shows leaders and aspiring leaders precisely which areas to focus on so they can remain effective throughout their lives.
Great things come in little packages: 50 commonsense (but rarely common) ideas for building the leadership potential of others.How many managers have time to plow through big books of leadership development? None! And they'll never need to with this slender book of 50 simple yet powerful ideas. The Little Book of Leadership Development goes straight to the heart of great leadership. Free of complicated theories, it focuses on what really works to get people motivated, working effectively, and acting as leaders themselves. The book delivers streamlined instructions on modeling behaviors, sharing information, building accountability, stretching teams, providing feedback, and 45 other practical strategies. Readers will be able to design a system of development tailored to their team and organization. Managers with the ability to self-reflect and a willingness to implement these positive, powerful ideas will see quick improvementsùin communication, efficiency, morale, and every other measure that points to a committed team of emerging leaders.
How ordinary managers in any economy can do extraordinary things to build sustainable growth engine The Catalyst speaks to all managers who have ever been handed ambitious growth targets but little guidance on how to hit them. Managers like you who, year in and year out, face “the terror of the plug.” The boss expects you to deliver a daunting revenue target but offers little advice on how to get there. Even worse is “growth gridlock,” when your company won’t support your great ideas until you prove they’re good–which is impossible since you can’t get the proof until you’ve tried them out first. Stuck between a rock and a hard place, you spend your time persuading with PowerPoint presentations instead of pursuing opportunities. What does it take to overcome such seemingly insurmountable roadblocks? How can you crack the code to discover and pursue new opportunities? How can smart organizations recruit growth leaders, train them, and learn from them instead of getting in their way? These are the questions explored in The Catalyst. Based on years of research, this inspiring book reveals that the most potent drivers of growth are unsung heroes who often go unnoticed: ordinary middle managers who do extraordinary things. Intrigued by how some people were able to consistently deliver the numbers–despite both internal obstacles and highly challenging conditions in the marketplace–the authors discovered not only how they did it, but also the personal and psychological characteristics of those who succeeded. They distilled the lessons into practical tools, including: • Turn lemons into lemonade: How what may appear to be flat or dead-end businesses can be turned into growth-oriented enterprises that create cool new products and tap new audiences. • Get a bigger box: How not to just “think outside the box,” but create a bigger box by being wired for opportunity. • Get rid of the monkey: Why the real monkey isn’t Corporate on your back, but Corporate in your head. • It could be staring you right in the face: The hidden secret of growth is not relying only on development of dramatic new products or technological breakthroughs, but finding opportunities already there that are overlooked by the competition. • Do It. Now!: Breaking through growth gridlock comes from “learning by doing,” not through detailed analysis and planning. The Catalyst is for people in the middle looking to free themselves from the shackles of business as usual–and deliver the organic growth that’s demanded of them. But it’s also for CEOs and CFOs who want to release the creativity lying dormant within their businesses. From the Hardcover edition.
A straight-shooting Silicon Valley executive reveals insider career strategies to becoming a great leader, developing your network, succeeding without wasting time, and managing trade-offs between your work and life so your life works. Patty Azzarello became the youngest general manager at Hewlett-Packard at age thirty-three, ran a $1 billion software business at thirty-five, and became a CEO at thirty-eight-all without turning into a self-centered, miserable jerk. In Rise, Azzarello shares the insider secrets to advancing your career (while having a life) in three practical steps: Do Better: Set ruthless priorities, and work and lead more strategically to deal with frustrating obstacles. Look Better: Build your credibility with the people who can help (or blacklist) you. Connect Better: Develop your network without being political. Get on "the List" of people who get the best opportunities. Whether you are just starting up the corporate ladder, stuck midcareer, transitioning, or eyeing the corner office, Rise shows you the difference between getting ahead and just working hard.
This book helps managers recognize hidden gems in the workplace and learn how to utilize them for their greatest impact. Think you can spot the leaders in your company? Don’t assume that you can identify them by their positions. What about those employees who consistently step up: the field agent who solves a previously intractable problem; the service rep who thinks outside the box and creates unshakeable customer loyalty. These are more than “good employees”, these are “hidden leaders” and they are critical to an organization’s long-term success. Managers today need to make the most of all their resources—and The Hidden Leader shows them how to identify and cultivate these talented but under utilized employees, who: Demonstrate integrity Lead through authentic relationships Focus on results Work from clear customer purpose Fulfill the value promise of the company Don’t settle for the traditional feedback that tells you these are “good employees” who deserve a pat on the back and a 3 percent increase at the end of the year. These hidden leaders will soon be pulled out by another organization giving them the opportunity they deserve. Supported by real-world examples of hidden leaders in action--and QR codes readers can scan for instant access to online assessments--The Hidden Leader helps managers discover these secret saviors and enable them to deliver even greater value to customers.
Set your sights on High-Potential leadership and help your organization thrive In today’s tumultuous and rapidly evolving business environment, High-Potential leaders are in high demand. Do you possess the relationship skills, strategic vision, innovation, and determination needed to thrive as a high-potential leader in your organization? New York Times bestselling author Ram Charan answers that question and helps you hop on the fast-track to leadership success in this insightful guide. Traditionally, leaders have risen up through the ranks based on their cognitive abilities, analytical skills, thoroughness, and even perfectionist tendencies, but as modern businesses have moved to a more digitally-driven model, the criteria for leaders has markedly changed. The High-Potential Leader explains the modern business climate while highlighting the critical role relationship building, communication style, engagement, and ability to motivate and bring out the best performance in others play in becoming an impactful leader. Whether you’re just embarking on your leadership journey or are ready to make the leap to the next leadership level, Charan’s real-world lessons and practical advice will help you discover who you are as a leader, chart your path, accelerate your growth, and ultimately, become the high-potential leader your organization needs to succeed.
After examining the lives of hundreds of historical, biblical, and contemporary leaders, Dr. J. Robert Clinton gained perspective on how leaders develop over a lifetime. By studying the six distinct stages he identifies, you will learn to: Recognize and respond to God’s providential shaping in your life Determine where you are in the leadership development process Identify others with leadership characteristics Direct the development of future leaders This revised and updated edition includes several new appendixes and expanded endnotes, as well as an application section at the end of each chapter.
From executives complaining that their teams don’t contribute ideas to employees giving up because their input isn’t valued--company culture is the culprit. Courageous Cultures provides a road map to build a high-performance, high-engagement culture around sharing ideas, solving problems, and rewarding contributions from all levels. Many leaders are convinced they have an open environment that encourages employees to speak up and are shocked when they learn that employees are holding back. Employees have ideas and want to be heard. Leadership wants to hear them. Too often, however, employees and leaders both feel that no one cares about making things better. The disconnect typically only widens over time, with both sides becoming more firmly entrenched in their viewpoints. Becoming a courageous culture means building teams of microinnovators, problem solvers, and customer advocates working together. In our world of rapid change, a courageous culture is your competitive advantage. It ensures that your company is “sticky” for both customers and employees. In Courageous Cultures, you’ll learn practical tools that help you: Learn the difference between microinnovators, problem solvers, and customer advocates and how they work together. See how the latest research conducted by the authors confirms why organizations struggle when it comes to creating strong cultures where employees are encouraged to contribute their best thinking. Learn proven models and tools that leaders can apply throughout all levels of the organization, to reengage and motivate employees. Understand best practices from companies around the world and learn how to apply these strategies and techniques in your own organization. This book provides you with the practical tools to uncover, leverage, and scale the best ideas from every level of your organization.
This book examines numerous topic areas that are considered to be especially relevant for making a strategic leader development investment. The topics covered are areas that have theoretical and empirical connections to important aspects of growth, change, adult development, and underlying abilities, skills, and competencies needed to lead effectively in times of great complexity. In addition, these are investment areas identified by the U.S. Army--a world-class organization faced with the need for radical transformation--as particularly relevant for success and survival. This book identifies key concerns in developing leaders and leadership, and in transforming organizations to better meet the challenges of a complex world. There are two aspects of this book that distinguish it from the numerous existing volumes on leadership in the scholarly and popular-press literatures. Most important, the overarching focus of the present book is on development. There are many offerings on the topic of leadership, but relatively few that focus on leader development--especially from a scholarly, academic perspective. Also, this volume offers a unique perspective in examining those underlying psychological competencies and processes that are viewed as especially relevant for leader development. The chapters that are collected in this edited volume were originally commissioned by the U.S. Army Research Institute as "white papers" to better help Army officers and researchers understand important issues in leader development. The present organization of the papers is around four central themes: a) Accelerating Leader Development, b) Cognitive Skills Development, c) Developing Practical and Emotional Intelligence, and d) Enhancing Team Skills.