Friday, October 17, 2008

Book: "On Becoming a Leader" by Warren Bennis

Mr. Bennis first published the book in 1989 and then as a paperback, with a new intro, in 1994. One of his more recent books (2003) has a similiar title and I intend to read soon, in part, to see if his views have changed.

I find Mr. Bennis' ideology rather liberal in nature and a bit objective. He does have a tendancy to "write with lists" and I like that. While he talks about leaders and leadership as one would have arrived at a point, or level, and having been crowned with the title (like a doctor or lawyer), I don't believe it is that black and white. In life, we are all influencing and leading. I see bad influencers every day, and they are leading.

So, having said that, I did enjoy the book and took lots of notes.

New Introduction
  • A leader for the 21st century must 1. know that staying with the status quo is unacceptable, 2. create intellectual capital....you get the most out of people by empowering them, by supporting them, by getting out of their way, and 3. followers need from their leaders 3 basic qualities; 1. they want direction, 2. they want trust, and 3. they want hope.
  • the trust factor will reign as the most pivotal factor of a leader's success
  • using the metaphor of a tripod - leaders generate and sustain trust by 1. ambition, 2. competance, and 3. integrity - moral fabric
  • for leaders and organizations to succeed, there are three basic ingredients; Ideas, Relationships, and Adventure
  • Ideas are the basis change and intellectual capital
  • Relationships have to do with outstanding people working in harmony and openness, where everyone feels empowered, where all members feel included and at the center of things, where they feel competent and significant.
  • Adventure has to do with risk, with a bias toward action, with curiosity and courage.
  • and the challenge of leadership is to create the social architecture where ideas, relationships, and adventure can flourish.

Introduction

  • On Becoming a Leader is based on the assumption that leaders are people who are able to express themselves fully. By this I meand that they know who they are, what their strengths and weaknesses are, and how to fuly deploy their strengths and compensate for their weaknesses. They also know what they want, why they want it, andhow to communicate what they want to others, in order to gain their cooperation and support. Finally, they know how to achieve their goals.
  • Becoming a leader isn't easy....but learning to lead is a lot easier than most of us think it is, because each of us contains the capacity for leadership.
  • ...the process of becoming a leader is much the same as the process of becoming an integrated human geing.....life itself is the career.
  • those I choose for this book were not only accomplished, but multitalented.....these leaders are by no means ordinary people....as diverse as they are in terms of backgrounds, age....they are in accord on two basic points; first, they all agree that leaders are made, not born, and made more by themselves than by any external means; second, they agree that no leader sets out to be a leader per se, but rather to express himself freely and fully. That is, leaders have no interest in proving themselves, but an abiding interest in expressing themselves. The difference is crucial, for it's the difference between being driven, as too many people are today, and leading, as too few people do.
  • something else they have in common is that each of these individuals has continued to grow and develp throughout life.
  • Because we are still questioning the assumptions, there are no theories. But the best information we have suggests that adults learn best when they take charge of their own learning.....taking charge of your life.
  • We like to think that if someone has the right stuff, he or she will naturally rise to the top....but it isn't true.
  • At bottom, becoming a leader is synonymous with becoming yourself. It's precisely that simple, and it's also that difficult.

Tuesday, October 14, 2008

Book: "Breakthrough Companies" by Keith R. McFarland

10/14/2008 This review is done in an outline format and is intended to be a learning document. My intent is to add to this review over the next few weeks and share with bullet points and highlights with employees of Alethes. I'll begin with a brief outline and then come back and input the author's highlights, followed by any other points I find of specific interest.

Comments made by me outside the author's text will be in italics.

Also, this will not be done front-to-back; I'll skip around and first bring to light what I like the most (in case I don't finish the whole outline!).


Introduction

Throwing the Dyno

Crowning the Company

Upping the Ante

Building Company Character

Navigating the Business Bermuda Triangle

Erecting Scaffolding


Enlisting Insultants

Graduating from Tough Times U

Building Breakthrough Capabilities

Afterword: Post-Breakthrough - Avoiding Breakdown



Note: I've finished the book, but haven't typed out my notes.


Saturday, October 4, 2008

Book: Mr. China, by Tim Clissold

At the recommendation of Dave Moore, my coach, I ordered this book a while back. It's been in my stack of unreads for a few weeks and I picked it up while looking for something I could escape into for a few hours.

This was an almost bizarre adventure the author put himself through. An obviously well educated and intelligent man, Clissold had a passion that I'm sure he and those that knew him had to question from time-to-time.

While not exactly the type of book I 'escape into' it read incredibly well for a memoir. For a memoir, Clissold left some personal aspects out that would have made the book more meaningful....for me. Yet, the book was about China, and his infatuation for the country and the people, and his work there, not about his wife and family and how they played into the picture.

If it was there, I totally missed why the he went to China the first time, nor any reason other than desire the second, but then.....that's what "callings" are sometimes about and there's little argument that Clissold felt called to China.

There's one incident Clissold tells about that describes much of the book; Clissold was living in a boarding house and he let his visiting brother sleep on the floor. The next morning he was confronted by a very angry house manager who explained that letting the brother sleep on the floor was against the rules (unwritten). For years to come, Clissold continued to find many unwritten rules in China.

This was a decent read, though a bit more about his family and how they handled it would have made it more enjoyable. My take away thoughts, a week after reading Mr. China, are 1. Clissold following his passion, his call to China and 2. it would all work better if we knew the rule; what we were accountable to and for.

Dave has another client and a friend of mine Todd Barrett that does a great deal of business in China....I can't imagine. After reading Mr. China, I'll just say that I'm glad I'm in the mortgage business in the good old US or A; even with conditions and problems being what they are.