Reality-Based Leadership: Ditch the Drama, Restore Sanity to the Workplace, and Turn Excuses into Results
Link to Downlload ⇒ Downlload Now!
Link to Read ⇒ Reaad Now!
Review : Leadership strategies grounded in reality and focused on results Recent polls show that 71% of workers think about quitting their jobs every day . That number would be shocking-if people actually were quitting. Worse, they go to work, punching time clocks and collecting pay checks, while completely checked out emotionally. In Reality-Based Leadership , expert Fast Company blogger Cy Wakeman reveals how to be the kind of leader who changes the way people think about and perceive their circumstances-one who deals with the facts, clarifies roles, gives clear and direct feedback, and insists that everyone do the same-without drama or defensiveness. Filled with dynamic examples, innovative tools, and diagnostic tests, this book shows you how to become a Reality-Based Leader, revealing how to: Uncover destructive thought patterns with yourself and others Diffuse drama and lead the person in front of you Stop managing and start leading, empowering others to focus on facts and think for themselves Equipped with a facts-based, confident approach, you will free yourself from the frustrations you face at work and transform yourself into a Reality-Based Leader, with the ability to liberate and inspire others. Read more
Review : Wakeman explains that frustration in the workplace is at an all-time high because of "circumstances" and "people." Frustrating circumstances being the recession, the rapid pace of change, budget cuts, increased regulation, and everyone being asked to do more with fewer resources. Frustrating "people" being "BMW" - bitching, moaning and whining employees with a sense of entitlement where the motivation and accountability ought to be - - BMW employees who prefer creating drama to getting the job done. She goes on to say that as leaders, we are not helping. We judge and when we judge we no longer serve, learn or lead. We expect others to add value when we don't. We spend too much time with our worst performers and we don't reward our best. We over-manage and under-lead fostering a state of learned helplessness. A few key principles of her "Reality-Based Leadership" model" include: * DO A REALITY CHECK. STOP BELIEVING YOUR 'STORIES.' A great deal of conflict is manufactured in our own minds. When faced with a conflict, we tend to create a mental story that paints ourselves as a victim and helpless while someone else is a villain. Get the facts - give others the benefit of the doubt when assigning motives - ask "what is the next right action I can take that would add the most value to the situation - direct your energy on that action - seek to be successful rather than right. Remember, always ask yourself 2 questions: (1) what are the facts? (2) How could I help? Make a list of what you can do right now to add value and get busy making that happen. * MODEL THE ROLE YOU WOULD LIKE TO SEE OTHERS PLAY. Be the change you wish to see in the world. When you begin judging others, you stop adding value. Seek instead to understand the views of others, practice those virtues, which you have determined to be lacking in others such as open-mindedness, patience, inclusiveness, tolerance and appreciation. Get rid of your double standards, and stop expecting others to excel where you have not yet mastered. * MOVE TO A CLEARER, HIGHER PERSPECTIVE. Learn to sense when the conflict is getting personalized and be prepared to move quickly to a professional perspective by asking the group to clarify the overarching goal of their work together. "Getting to the highest point will provide a whole new view, a perspective that should be committed to memory as a road map once we are back on the lower, more confusing ground." Given the goal identified, what is the best way to move forward? What it the best that each of you can contribute? * REVEAL A CLEAR WAY FORWARD. With the common goal now clear, go one level deeper and have those involved in the conflict identify their more personal goals of their divisions, or roles. Frame the situation as a box with the overarching goal at the top and the individual goals as sides of the box. Most conflicts involve disparate parties truly believing that their individual goals are mutually exclusive and are thinking in terms of achieving one OR the other - or achieving one at the cost of another. Replace the "OR" in this equation with "AND" and engage the conflicting parties in problem solving. * LEAD. DON'T OVER-MANAGE. Resist the urge to add more value when your team comes for help. Re-frame the situation from one which she is a victim to one which she is in control will lead her to her own best solution. And, shift from your comfort zone of "logistics" (being in the weeds in process and procedures) and focus on the hearts and minds. 80% of your time as a leader should be spent clarifying goals and roles - and if you are doing your job correctly, you should not have to get involved in procedures or process at all. Ambiguity is the source of team conflict (clarity on team's goals, roles and procedures). This book (< 150 pages) is a quick read. It is well-written (no-nonsense; straight talk) and supported with relevant examples. The appendixes offer up very good exercises and self-tests. If you loved John G. Miller's, QBQ (The Question Behind the Question), you'll find this book takes personal accountability to the next level. Wakeman states that "in times of conflict, what people need most is for you to get real, step up, redirect their energy, and help them see their circumstances differently so that they can create better professional relationships and greater results in their team." Who is this book written for? Managers who "are feeling deflated at the end of the day - or even sometimes at the beginning - the stories that you are telling yourself are like little holes in your tires letting all the air out. You will be happy and will have peace of mind to the exact degree that you accept responsibility for your results...those who have learned this and other tools of Reality-Based Leadership leave the office energized because they have had an impact and they have dealt with reality the entire day, to the best of their abilities." I think she nails it with her book.
0 comments:
Post a Comment