Synopses & Reviews
"...a bright gem of a book."
—
Jim Kouzes & Barry Posner, authors of the best-selling
The Leadership Challenge"The Work of Leaders is a bright gem of a book. In a crystal clear and to-the-point style, the authors make leadership instantly accessible with a memorable model, rock solid fundamentals, original research, compelling stories, and highly practical tips for putting the principles to immediate use. There are invaluable lessons on every page, and you'll enjoy discovering each one. We highly recommend The Work of Leaders to anyone who aspires to make extraordinary things happen in organizations."
—Jim Kouzes & Barry Posner, authors of the bestselling The Leadership Challenge
"Clear, distinctive, intuitive, and deeply researched, The Work of Leaders gives every reader not only several 'a-ha!' moments, but smart, meaningful suggestions for changing the way we all lead."
—Elaine Biech, author of The Business of Consulting
"The authors have indeed done their homework! Their combined expertise and engaging writing gives their readers a one-stop shop for understanding and improving the way we lead. Bravo!"
—Beverly Kaye, coauthor of Love 'Em or Lose 'Em
"The Work of Leaders shows you how to create a thriving organization by setting a vision and then collaborating with your people to guide your company to success. It is the strategic tool you need to move your business forward, with imaginative writing and a practical approach you can use right away."
—Tom mckee, CEO, The Ken Blanchard Companies
"Anyone who is in a leadership position or is responsible for evaluating leaders should make this book a must-read. Collectively, the book's authors are unique in their knowledge, background and ability, which is what distinguishes this great piece of work from others of its kind."
—Sidney Feltenstein, former CEO, Yorkshire Global Restaurants
"If you are a leader of a company or aspire to be one, I highly recommend reading this book. Using an easy to understand framework, the authors clearly lay out a blueprint for a company's success. This book is well researched, but also practical and fun to read. Pick it up, you won't be disappointed."
—Paul F. Murphy, partner, Sentinel Capital Partners
Synopsis
Comprehensively researched, thought-provoking, and eminently practical VAE: The Work of Leaders stimulates fresh conversations and new perspectives regardless of the leader’s knowledge or experience. It’s an opportunity for leaders at all levels of learning to reflect on how they approach each step of their work along a “leadership continua” and helps leaders take action with personalized tips and strategies that give clear direction and are easy to apply.
Introductory chapters introduce the steps of the VAE process, defines, demystifies, and contextualizes each, and sets up the three key “drivers” for each step. Subsequent chapters address each driver in detail.
Driver chapters introduce keys and behaviors that leaders use to further each step of the model and provides specific strategies for those who are looking to increase their ability to explore during the vision process. It also makes these ideas concrete by relating illustrative examples or anecdotes about people and organizations who have used these drivers to improve their effectiveness to realize each step in meaningful ways. Throughout each chapter, proprietary research and quotes from key thinkers help to add interest and depth to the discussion.
Concluding chapters aim to “bring to life” each step with real-world stories that illustrate key lessons about each step on the leadership continua. These examples show the simplicity, intuitiveness, and usefulness of each step as a part of the work of leaders. It also includes suggested reading for further exploration of this aspect of the work of leaders.
Synopsis
-...a bright gem of a book.-
--JIM KOUZES & BARRY POSNER, authors of the best-selling The Leadership Challenge(R)
Praise for The Work of Leaders
-The Work of Leaders is a bright gem of a book. In a crystal clear and to-the-point style, the authors make leadership instantly accessible with a memorable model, rock solid fundamentals, original research, compelling stories, and highly practical tips for putting the principles to immediate use. There are invaluable lessons on every page, and you'll enjoy discovering each one. We highly recommend The Work of Leaders to anyone who aspires to make extraordinary things happen in organizations.-
--JIM KOUZES & BARRY POSNER, authors of the bestselling The Leadership Challenge(R)
-Clear, distinctive, intuitive, and deeply researched, The Work of Leaders gives every reader not only several 'a-ha ' moments, but smart, meaningful suggestions for changing the way we all lead.-
--ELAINE BIECH, author of The Business of Consulting
-The authors have indeed done their homework Their combined expertise and engaging writing gives their readers a one-stop shop for understanding and improving the way we lead. Bravo -
--BEVERLY KAYE, coauthor of Love 'Em or Lose 'Em
-The Work of Leaders shows you how to create a thriving organization by setting a vision and then collaborating with your people to guide your company to success. It is the strategic tool you need to move your business forward, with imaginative writing and a practical approach you can use right away.-
--TOM MCKEE, CEO, The Ken Blanchard Companies
-Anyone who is in a leadership position or is responsible for evaluating leaders should make this book a must-read. Collectively, the book's authors are unique in their knowledge, background and ability, which is what distinguishes this great piece of work from others of its kind.-
--SIDNEY FELTENSTEIN, former CEO, Yorkshire Global Restaurants
Synopsis
The culmination of six years of research and development,
The Work of Leaders presents a simple structure that neatly captures the complexity of contemporary leadership. The goal of this book is to make this wealth of leadership insight accessible to anyone who wants better results as a leader.
The work that leaders do—the work that really matters—is boiled down to three areas: crafting a vision, building alignment, and championing execution. Vision, Alignment, and Execution are "magic words." They strike a chord that turns the goal of leadership into tangible steps.
With passion and insight, the authors draw from the best-known leadership authorities, while leveraging their unparalleled access to data from thousands of leaders and followers and their connections to hundreds of organizational development consultants. Interwoven with humor and drawing from real-world scenarios, The Work of Leaders distills leadership best practices into a simple, compelling process that helps leaders at all levels get immediate results.
About the Author
Julie Straw oversees Inscape's network of more than 1,800 trainers, coaches, and consultants and has guided development of this book from the reader's perspective.
Mark Scullard, PhD, leads all aspects of research for Inscape and personally combed through all of the data—hundreds of thousands of item responses—that made this book possible.
Susie Kukkonen leads all product development efforts at Inscape and juggled the writing of this book with a full-tilt product development schedule.
Barry Davis oversees both marketing and product development for Inscape, and his passion for innovation means that he doesn't understand the phrase, "But that's how we've always done it."
Table of Contents
Acknowledgments ix
Foreword by Dr. Bernard W. Franklin xiii
Introduction xvii
1 Welcome to the Work of Leaders 1
VISION 11
2 Introduction to Crafting a Vision 13
3 Crafting a Vision Through Exploration 23
4 Crafting a Vision Through Boldness 33
5 Crafting a Vision Through Testing Assumptions 43
6 Summary of Crafting a Vision 53
ALIGNMENT 59
7 Introduction to Building Alignment 61
8 Building Alignment Through Clarity 69
9 Building Alignment Through Dialogue 79
10 Building Alignment Through Inspiration 89
11 Summary of Building Alignment 99
EXECUTION 105
12 Introduction to Championing Execution 107
13 Championing Execution Through Momentum 113
14 Championing Execution Through Structure 125
15 Championing Execution Through Feedback 135
16 Summary of Championing Execution 147
Afterword: Using VAE in Your Organization 153
Appendix A: The Development of the Work of Leaders VAE Model 161
Appendix B: Feedback Outtakes 189
References 193
Resources 197
About Inscape Publishing 201
About the Authors 203
Index 207