Synopses & Reviews
The more you manage your employees, the more dependent they become-and the tougher your life becomes. It's the key paradox of management-and Powerful Leadership helps you cut right through it. This book distills seven powerful leadership principles into a natural, efficient, complete approach to unleashing your employees' potential - and your own. These principles simplify your life, reduce your stress, and transform management into an opportunity for unprecedented personal growth.
Synopsis
Transform your leadership style--and your results!
You're a manager. You're working harder, longer, to achieve the same results. You're trying to help your people do their best work, but it's just not happening. The harder you manage, the more frustrated you become-and your people feel the same way. You're tired of bureaucracy, deeply skeptical of today's management mantras. But deep down inside, you know there must be a better way.
"Powerful Leadership" is for you. In this book, two of the world's leading experts on organizational leadership identify seven key principles that will allow you to manage more effectively and productively--and simplify your life. Drawing on over 40 years of research, they introduce easy-to-use techniques for freeing people from organizational constraints, redirecting employees who aren't performing, promoting innovation--and getting results.
Is it possible to meet your management goals and make the workplace a personally rewarding place to be? Yes. Absolutely. And "Powerful Leadership" will show you how. * No more "overmanaging": Lighter management techniques that simply work betterHow to liberate yourself by liberating your employees* Practical techniques for supporting creative thinking and innovationEveryone wants innovation: here's how to get it* Helper, Partner, Confidant: From "boss" to" cohort" Creating a new order of unity for profound change* Beyond "delegation" and "motivation"The new "4 E's" of involvement: envisioning, enabling, energizing, and ensuring results* From criticism to redirectionGetting the changes you want-without the alienation you can't afford* Restoring trust and good will throughout the organization"Taking the highroad" in your workplace and personal decisions * "The peaceful path": Finding the calm center that will help you handle anythingA plan for strengthening your mental and physical well-being
The more you manage your employees, the more dependent on you they become--and the tougher your life becomes. It's the key paradox of management--and "Powerful Leadership" helps you cut right through it. Eric Stephan and R. Wayne Pace distill seven powerful leadership principles, presenting a natural, powerful, and complete approach to management that will unleash your employees' potential--and yours!
- Today's seven core principles of management success
- Improving your effectiveness while you simplify your life
- Eliminating the killer stress that accompanies traditional approaches to management
- "Lighter" management techniques that deliver breakthrough results
"People are becoming increasingly convinced that 'command and control' management is obsolete. The almost universal problem is what should take its place and how to do it. To answer this, Stephan and Pace have beautifully integrated seven specific practices, each illustrated with numerous real-life examples-all of which represent a powerful new paradigm which respects and unleashes the enormous potential of people."--Dr. Stephen R. Covey,
author, "The 7 Habits of Highly Successful People""Stephan and Pace have provided new insights into the ever-evolving principles of leadership. By using compelling examples that all managers can relate to, they bring the seven principles to life. It is a must read for leaders in today's economy."--Cory B. Lindley,
Executive Vice President and Chief FinancialOfficer,
Nu Skin Enterprises"I read the book cover to cover in one sitting. It went right to the heart of the big issues facing leaders in today's business environment. This book is in your face from page one and holds your attention until the last page. It offers a very fresh perspective on a well-worn topic."-Mike Haefner,
Senior Vice President, Human Resources,
Sabre, Inc."Being a leader in business for many years, I quickly realized the importanceand necessity of incorporating these seven essential changes in our everydaylives. It is a resource you could turn to often for troubleshooting, or for dailyreminders of how important people are in our lives. I would recommend thebook to all business leaders."-Jackie Trujillo,
Chairman of the Board,
Harman Management Corporation"This book provides one of the most comprehensive managerial aids to come along in a decade. Managers will be reaching for this book as a reference tool for decades to come on ideas to motivate performance and efficiency in organizations. I wish I had been given a book like this when I began my management career."--John M. Knab,
CEO,
Phonex Broadband Corporation"Well, here's a book about leadership in the trenches that grabs and shakesus--with spunky and fresh language, lots of useful tips, a good groundingleadership theory and practice, and an acute sense of the chaotic, stressfulreality we all face everyday. This book is both simple and uplifting, wise andpractical, East and West. Plus, it's just plain interesting to read. I've been astudent, practitioner, and teacher of leadership for years, and I took away pagesI'll put on my mirror."--Pat McLagan,
President, the RITEstuff, Inc.;
author, "Change Is EVERYBODY'SBusiness"
About the Author
ERIC STEPHAN is Professor of Organizational Leadership and Strategy in the Marriott School of Management, Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah. He has researched, taught, and consulted on effective leadership techniques for over 20 years. His books include
The Complete Speaker and
The Perfect Leader. Dr. Stephan holds a Ph.D. from the University of Utah.
R. WAYNE PACE is Professor Emeritus of Organizational Leadership in the Marriott School of Management, Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah, and adjunct scholar in the Workplace Research, Learning, and Development (WoRLD) Institute of the School of Social and Workplace Development, Southern Cross University, Lismore, NSW, Australia. A specialist in human resource development, organizational communication, and individual and organizational change, his Prentice Hall books include Organizational Communication, Third Edition and Human Resource Development: The Field. He serves as corporate advisor to QuicKnowledge.com and Anchor Point Institute, leading firms in the training and development industry. Dr. Pace holds a Ph.D. from Purdue University and an MS from Brigham Young University.
Table of Contents
Preface.
Acknowledgments.
Proclamation on Leadership.
1. Houston, We Have a Problem!
Out-of-Sync Systems. Living in a Quandary. Managers Have Huge Blind Spots. An Old View Restated. Teams: the Panacea? A New View Restated. Yes, Houston, We Do Have a Problem. Houston, We Have a Solution.
2. THE FIRST ESSENTIAL CHANGE: FREE PEOPLE TO TAKE THE LEAD.
Let Them Take the Lead. Avoid Sheep Dog Management. Freedom First. I Hate This Place. I Love Working Here. What Comes Next?
3. THE SECOND ESSENTIAL CHANGE: PROMOTE CREATIVITY, INNOVATION, AND FUN AT WORK.
What Is Creativity? Does Creativity Lead to More Fun at Work? Helping Others Find Joy in Their Work. It's Okay to Laugh at Work! Jump Out of the Box; Pop a Cork. How Does a Leader Support Creativity, Innovation, and Fun? Everyone Has a Million-Dollar Idea. Three Alternatives for Identifying Innovations. Stimulating Creativity in the Workplace. Buying a Hotel in 15 Minutes! Rules 23 and 24. Toyota's Approach to Creativity. Two Magical Questions. Left Brain, Right Brain, Broccoli Brain. Test Your Creativity. Improving Overall Organizational Creativity. Fostering a Creative Climate. Using Creativity in Business Processes. Five Great Creativity Suggestions. Unlocking Your Own Creativity. One Final Word about Creative Thinking. A Look Ahead.
4. THE THIRD ESSENTIAL CHANGE: SWITCH FROM BOSS TO COHORT.
A Cohort. User-Friendly Managers. Treating Others as Cohorts Is Natural. The Customer Is Cohort. How to Manage Your Boss. I Don't Want to Be Your Parent Anymore. If You Push Hard, They Will Push Back. A Cohort Walks Around and Inquires. A Less Complex Form of Leading People. Cohort Leadership. How to Build Cohorts in Organizations. Cohort Relationships Are Adult to Adult. From Boss to Cohort. A Look Ahead.
5. HE FOURTH ESSENTIAL CHANGE: MASTER THE 4E'S OF INVOLVEMENT.
Why Master the 4E's of Involvement? The Meaning of Performance. E 1 = Envisioning. E 2 = Enabling. E 3 = Energizing. E 4 = Ensuring Results. Integrating the Four E's of Involvement. Why Inviting People to Be Involved Is Important. A Look Ahead.
6. THE FIFTH ESSENTIAL CHANGE: STOP CRITICIZING AND START APPLAUDING.
The Process of Redirection. From Redirecting to Applause in Four Easy Steps. Reality Therapy. Avoid Undermining Employees and Cohorts. Confrontational Anticipation Scares the Heck Out of People. Praising Is Good, but Applauding Is Better. What Is the Most Powerful Workplace Motivator? End the Everyday Put-down. A Look Ahead.
7. THE SIXTH ESSENTIAL CHANGE: TAKE THE HIGH ROAD.
What Are Best Policies? Where Do Ethical Standards and Guidelines Come From? Require Everyone to Violate the Principle. Why Have Explicit Ethical Principles? Manipulation Is Unethical. What Ethical Principles Should be Included in Your Code? Testing Your Decisions. Ethics and the Peaceful Mind. Does Ethical Behavior Pay? Take the Highest Road. An Ethical Bill of Rights. A Look Ahead.
8. THE SEVENTH ESSENTIAL CHANGE: STAY ON THE PEACEFUL PATH.
Getting Hit at Work. Can You Survive? Six Strategies for Staying on the Peaceful Path. Are You on the Peaceful Path? A Look Ahead.
9. WHERE ARE YOU AS A POWERFUL LEADER?
How Are You Doing as a Powerful Leader? How to Change. A Short Planning Exercise. What Do You Really Need to Change? Using Mental Practice and Idealization. Encouraging Change in Others. Fast Forward to the Basics.
A. POWERFUL LEADERS ON POWERFUL LEADERSHIP.
B. ESSENTIAL INSIGHTS AND SELECTED REFERENCES.
INDEX.