In our most recent leadership discussion, we continue the conversation around the difference between perfectionist leaders and imperfectly excellent leaders through the lens of how they lead their teams. An aspect of leading with imperfect excellence is focusing on both the outcomes and the process by which the outcomes are achieved. A book that we frequently refer to is, What the CEO wants you to know: How your company really works by Ram Charan. All businesses fundamentally work the same, so it is important that leaders truly understand some of the common business principles Ram Charan lays out in this book. Our favorite parts of the book are chapters 4 and 5. Chapter 4 speaks to understanding the whole business and how all the moving parts work together. By including some basic questions to guide the business leader through, the chapter helps the leader understand how well the business is really working. Chapter 5 is a favorite because it addresses that in this new reality, it is about priorities necessary to cut through the complexity to focus on the things that really matter. It means, by definition, that the business leader must say “no” to something in order to say “yes” to the priorities that matter most. Click here to read more. Enjoy the book!
A little over four years ago, we wrote a short piece about citizenship and made our recommended reading at that time to be the U. S. Constitution. It gets thrown around in conversations rather loosely and it is apparent that many have not read it either at all or in the last ten years. As we approach another highly contested political climate, the term “rights” is getting thrown around quite liberally by all sides of the political discourse. With that in mind, we are recommending this month’s reading of the Bill of Rights, also known as the first ten amendments to the constitution. We said it then and we’ll repeat it here, leaders read ! Regardless of where you land in the debate, be there because you read the source material and are informed rather than merely repeating what someone else said or wrote! Click here to be informed. Lead Well!!
This month, we highlight the value of tactical communications in the planning process around goals, metrics and desired results. With the focus on knowledge-based decision-making, we also highlight a book that has helped us become more comfortable with communicating numbers as leaders. In, “ Making Numbers Count ”, Chip Heath and Karla Starr outline a process that helps leaders not only understand the numbers, but more importantly communicate the numbers in a way that resonates with the audience both logically and emotionally! Our favorite section of the book is titled “Use Emotional Numbers ~ Surprising and Meaningful ~ To Move People to Think and Act Differently”. It is a powerful set of ideas in short and easy-to- understand chapters that help the reader quickly understand the authors’ idea. The authors use plenty of examples that also aid in the reader grasping the main idea in a way that also makes it easy to apply to their business. For instance, in the chapter on comparatives, the authors suggest instead of saying “Their center is 7’8” tall”, use the phase, “Their center is 2 inches taller than Yao Ming”. These types of examples are peppered throughout the book to make it easy to understand and apply! Enjoy the Book!