Читать книгу Seven Disciplines of A Leader - Wolf Jeff - Страница 18

When the board of directors of a failing company appointed Helen as CEO she brought with her all the requisite skills from her previous position with a competitor. She practiced the four techniques just described: communication, praise, empowerment, and coaching. Those skills enabled her to turn around the company.

Hands-On Advice: Bear this in mind – you can succeed where others have failed if you do the right things, have faith in yourself, and have the courage to persevere.

Helen did it as thousands of others have before her, and at all levels of the organization. It's not easy, but it can be done, and it is those character traits that separate thriving leaders from mediocre performers.

Takeaway from Chapter 1

Define the traits, duties, and competencies of highly effective leaders you have known. Compare them to highly ineffective leaders you may have had the good fortune to work with. I say good fortune because watching leaders fail enables you to evaluate why they failed. Now contrast them with leaders who have had great success and determine why they succeeded.

I suggest you write this information, listing the traits, duties, and competencies in the left-hand column, and the names of the contrasting managers in the next two columns, then evaluate them one attribute at a time. In the third column, write your name, and have a coach or mentor evaluate you compared with the other two leaders, attribute by attribute.

Why write it? Because the act of writing assures that you won't skim over the information but instead give each of the traits, duties, and competencies the thought they deserve. This method will also help guide your thinking, organizing how you analyze an issue (whatever that issue might be), then let you come to rational conclusions in a systematic way.

There is no better school than this. Use the takeaway from this chapter, and each succeeding chapter, to improve your leadership qualities.