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Executive Times |
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2005 Book Reviews |
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Ready to
Lead? By Alan Price |
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Rating: •• (Mildly Recommended) |
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Click on
title or picture to buy from amazon.com |
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Dreamy In his new book, Ready to
Lead?, Alan Price uses the device of a story of a young manager, Mark
Gibson, who is trying to become a leader, and his mentor, Patricia, who tries
to select the right situations that will assist Mark in becoming the leader
he wants to be. Mark’s wife, Jean, is a model of support and understanding. Along
the way, Price offers some ideas and helpful advice. Here’s
an excerpt, all of Chapter 3, “What Is Leadership?” pp. 17-23: Jean awoke earlier
than usual and persuaded Mark to join her for a run. “Come on,” she said.
“It’ll help clear your head so you can create your definition of leadership.”
The sunrise was gorgeous over
Fresh Pond, with the leaves just starting to display their autumn colors.
Except for the exchanges of greetings to dog walkers and fellow joggers,
they ran in silence, both lost in their own worlds of professional
challenges. In their second lap around the pond, an
idea occurred to Mark. He wrote it down over breakfast, shared it with Jean,
and left for work earlier than usual. Waiting at the bus stop, he considered
his definition, “Leadership is taking people to a higher level of excellence
by setting a direction, establishing goals, organizing resources and people,
and motivating those people with the strengths of your personal character.”
It made him smile all the way to the office. He sat down at his computer and saw an
e-mail note from Patricia: Mark, congratulations
on your first draft. Is your
definition of leadership different from your definition of good management? Let’s talk about it
over lunch. Meet me at Henrietta’s
Table around twelve thirty. Get yourself out of the office until then. —Patricia Puzzled and bit irritated, Mark walked
out of the office and headed for a nearby park. He thought about what
constitutes good management. “How hard can it be to figure this out?” he
asked himself. “Jean and I spent two years of our lives getting our MBAs.
With all those case studies about managers and leaders, you’d think this
would be simple.” Many quotes in his book also sounded a lot like good
management. It seemed reasonable to him that all the attributes of leaders
were also attributes of good managers. Good managers have integrity,
communication skills, passion, and all the other personal characteristics
too. Mark sat down near some chess players.
He pulled out his own definition and started crossing out words that seemed
to overlap with management, “Leadership is He stood up and watched a couple of
chess games. The players were strong amateurs. They talked better than they
played. He walked back to the bookstore to look up management in a
dictionary. Management n. 1. The
act, manner, or practice of managing; handling, supervision, or control. 2. The
person or persons who control or direct a business or other enterprise. 3. Skill
in managing; executive ability. It wasn’t much more helpful, but it did
seem control oriented, which felt different from leadership. Arriving early at the “It’s good to meet you. Welcome to “I’m sorry to cut you off. Our guests
are scheduled to fly to Patricia was gone just long enough for
Mark to scan the menu. “How did you know I would come in this morning to read
your e-mail?” “Maybe I didn’t know. Maybe if you
didn’t show for lunch I was planning to have lunch here again tomorrow. But I
did have a hunch. Was the leadership-versus-management distinction helpful?” “It was both helpful and frustrating.
My definition is more focused now but it’s not quite right.” “That’s to be expected. Show me your
draft.” Patricia read it aloud. “Leadership is setting a direction and
motivating people with the strength of your personal character.” Patricia
looked it over for a bit before asking, “What’s not right about it for you?” “Something is missing. I can’t figure
out what it is.” “Would you like some advice?” “Sure. Do you have a better definition
of leadership I could borrow?” “Absolutely not. You see, Mark, the
point of this is not to regurgitate the right answer. You know that. This is
all about you creating your own personal definition of leadership. If it
isn’t in your own words then it won’t mean anything to you when you need it
most. That’s why there isn’t more leadership in the world. Lots of people do
their homework and read all about leadership. But very few take the time to
personalize and internalize it. If you don’t do that, you end up trying,
unsuccessfully, to be like somebody else.” “That makes sense to me.” Mark
scribbled an idea in his book. Then in a casual tone added, “I want you to
know that I appreciate your taking the time to talk this through with me.” Patricia smiled with delight. “It’s
absolutely my pleasure. However, you should know that I’m coaching you with a
specific opportunity in mind. You may recall that I mentioned a problem in “I believe you called it a mess.” “Yes. Soon, I want to tell you the
details about this “Is losing money the problem or a
symptom of the problem?” He’d learned that question from Patricia and knew it
would make her smile again. The answer was always the same. “Of course it’s a symptom, Mr. Smart
Guy. I don’t want to go into the details right now. You’re going to have an
opportunity to take a look at this mess and see for yourself what the problem
is. But first I’m going to ask you to switch gears for a bit. Let’s order
lunch and talk about you.” Ready to
Lead? epitomizes the problem I have with most
leadership fables: the stories can be about people who are too good to be
true, and the applications to one’s own situation can be remote. Readers who
enjoy the brevity and simplicity of this format will find much to enjoy on
the pages of Ready to
Lead. Steve Hopkins,
June 25, 2005 |
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Buy Ready to
Lead? @ amazon.com |
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ã 2005 Hopkins and Company, LLC The recommendation rating for
this book appeared in the July 2005
issue of Executive Times URL for this review: http://www.hopkinsandcompany.com/Books/Ready
to Lead.htm For Reprint Permission,
Contact: Hopkins & Company, LLC • E-mail: books@hopkinsandcompany.com |
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