This book is about how we can break from this low-energy paradigm, that the authors term Power Over, to a new more invigorating one of Leading Through. This is a refrain frequently preached – but that requires ever more repetition – that, to quote the Clarks “when we loosen our grip on consolidated power and […]
Book Review Subject: Organizational Effectiveness
Power to the Middle
Right from the start the authors’ recognize these attributes stating ‘that the smartest executives will do everything in their power to keep their best middle managers where they and reward them’ and then explaining that in many instances this is infact the correct approach, but it needs to be carefully managed. Too often people are […]
Bend the Knee or Seize the Throne
The book explores the various characters and their leadership styles from the TV series Game of Thrones itself adapted from the fantasy novel series of George R R Martin’s book series ‘A Song of Ice and Fire’. The reader will benefit from a knowledge of the characters and plot-lines of the eight series of GoT, […]
The Power of Clarity
The initial problem Latham shines a light on is ‘clarity blindness’ – our inability to see where we are being unclear. From her coaching she brings a multitude of examples of how lack of clarity manifests itself. It is usually from something seemingly inocuous and very familiar. Vague requests lie at the root of many […]
Align
In a leadership world that is increasingly focused on the idea that leaders need to be focused on the people (a view Ideas for Leaders is generally in strong support of), Trevor throws a rock in the pond, and causes some necessary ripples (dissenting voices is something leaders need to listen out for). He posits that Enterprise […]
Host
We have all been to parties or attended events where the success or otherwise of what the host has been like has shaped the success of the occasion. Hosts can make or break the events they are running – their behaviours and approaches can be charming, enlivening, calming, maddening, irritating or foolish – just like […]
Shut Down the Business School
Parker's background as an anthropologist and sociologist has led him to a heightened awareness that other types of organizational structure exist – and his objective in this polemic is to encourage students to study a broader horizon of alternatives so that they can assess, evaluate and innovate what other structures for running businesses might work […]
The Mind of the Leader
Taking the familiar three concentric circle model of leadership: self>team>organization as their foundation the authors offer a framework they call MSC Leadership, which pulls together what they identify from their research as the three critical mental qualities leaders need to master. M is for Mindfulness. "When you learn to manage your attention, you learn to […]
Conquering Digital Overload
The opening chapter illustrates the Digital Overload issue with a fictional case study, of a middle aged couple constantly reacting to their emails, and smartphones from the moment they awake until they return to sleep; it concludes "We feel overwhelmed, constantly stressed and upset, because we never seem to get the things done we intended […]
Digital Transformation
As with most technology issues that organizations grapple with today, the 'technology' is the least of the problem – it is how we, as humans, relate to it and collaborate, or not, with using it that causes the problems. Herbert's contention is that 'digital transformation' is essentially a mindset change. Do people in your organization […]