THE EFFECTIVE EXECUTIVE

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The Definitive Guide to Getting the Right Things Done

BY PETER F. DRUCKER

The book, Effective Executive, written by a renowned management specialist and a classic theorist is best pick for working professionals who want to elevate their effectiveness a million, and one notches higher. The author, Peter Drucker, began by explaining the importance of effectiveness to an executive. An executive in this context includes both manager and leaders who is expected to make a decision by virtue of their position, and have significant impact on the performance or result of the company. An executive is expected to be better equipped with the right knowledge and competence that can help make the right decision at the right time. Effectiveness is the primary function of the executive. It is a habit that can be learned, moreover; Peter Drucker points out seven  habits of the mind that must be learned and acquired to be an effective executive. These habits include:

1. KNOW THY TIME: Executives start their day off by planning their task, but effective executive starts their day off by recording actual time use and disposing of this little time in large chunks. Also, of high importance is the ability to fish out unproductive, time-wasting activities and possibly get rid of them knowing that time is a limiting factor; it has to be managed effectively. This can be done by asking oneself, “what do I do that wastes your time without contributing to your effectiveness.” If this question can be answered truthfully, a chunk of your time will be retrieved.

2. WHAT CAN I CONTRIBUTE?: This is a question that stresses on responsibility. Most executives focus on what the organization owes then or should do for them. Any professional that emphasizes his downward authority is a subordinate no matter how exalted his rank is. On the other hand, any professional who takes responsibility and focuses on contributions no matter how junior is an effective executive. To be an effective executive, you must always ask yourself what you can contribute to avoiding aiming at the wrong things. Every organization needs performance in three major areas: it needs direct results, the building of values and their reaffirmation, building, and developing people of tomorrow. All these three organization needs have to be built into the contribution of every executive.

3. MAKING STRENGTH PRODUCTIVE:  An effective executive maximizes all available strength: the strength of subordinates, strengths of associates, the strengths of a superior, and one’s own strength. They understand that where there is strength, there will always be weaknesses; therefore, focuses more on strength than weaknesses. They delegate the task to individuals base on what they can do best and taking into account their functional qualities. 

4. FIRST THING FIRST: Effective executives tend to focus on one thing at a time and understand the need to concentrate time, effort, and resources at greater and major opportunities. The author made his readers understand that the more you can concentrate resources, strength, and time on a singular point of application, the more you can achieve a number of important tasks at a much less time. The secret of focus is to establish posteriorities. Establishing posteriority means choosing tasks that should not be done and sticking to it. This can be done by choosing the future over the past, focusing on possibilities rather than problems, and aiming at something significant rather than a goal that is easy and safe to achieve.

5. THE ELEMENT OF DECISION: Effective executives think clearly and deeply before making a decision. They understand that problems are symptoms of underlying situations; therefore, one of the great strategy an effective executive implements is understanding the leading cause of a problem. Also, they understand that the thing one worries about never happens.

6. EFFECTIVE DECISIONS: Effective executives understand that to decide is based on choosing from opinions, then measuring the effectiveness of the action based on one or more predetermined criteria or feedback. 

7. UNDERSTAND MANAGEMENT VS. LEADERSHIP: Effective executives understand that management its a tool for accountability for the day to day operations, and leadership is the road to build a better future for the organization and the people trusted to them. An effective executives, build trust and guidance for the day to day management, but his attention should be fully focused on the future.

In conclusion, to be an effective executive, one must record where the time goes, focus your vision on contribution, focus on using your strength and making it productive, prioritize the most important task first and take rational action. 

 

THE BIG THREE – KEY POINTS

Key point #1: Effectiveness can be learned

Key point #2: Effective executive record, manage, and consolidate time.

Key point #3: The effective executive does not focus on minimizing weakness but maximizing strength.

One Last Thing

“Most effective executive is entrepreneurs, entrepreneur, and entrepreneurship – the entrepreneur always searches for change, responds to it, and exploits it as an opportunity.” -Peter Drucker

 

THE LEADERSHIP GAP: WHAT GETS BETWEEN YOU AND YOUR GREATNESS

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Lolly Daskal, executive coach for his work, has found that leaders can improve on themselves and their results from identifying their distinctive leadership archetype and recognizing its own shadow. People are inclined to cover their very own default option and address difficult situations in ways that worked for them in resolving the matter, the worst strategy. Humans are receptive to change adaptation is really important to achieve one’s peak point in today’s changing world. Among the many reasons why many leaders get stuck is because they rely on what’s worked for them in the past even when it is no longer working.

On the flip side, fantastic leaders look for opportunities to learn and develop to serve the people they lead a lot better. Daskal, in her book, explores the seven archetypes of professionals by diving into why each exhibit abilities and corresponding expansion blocking gaps. She further provides the readers with guidance as they voluntarily seek to spot the negative and positive traits that are important within themselves. From this section, readers earn clarity into the potency and the fighting part of their leadership style and how to better adapt and pursue success as a leader. The writer focuses on seven leadership archetypes that are:

  1. The Rebel: somebody who’s driven by confidence backed up by proficiency.
  2. The Explorer: somebody who’s fueled by intuition. The Truth Teller: somebody who embraces candor.
  3. The Hero: somebody who’s courageous.
  4. The Inventor: Someone teeming with ethics.
  5. The Navigator: somebody who trusts and is trusted.
  6. The Knight: Someone whose loyalty is everything.

Everybody fits to the leadership gap. These gaps, when entirely concentrated on, leads us into the shadow side and tends to manifest itself by overuse of your strength. This evolves from the thought where leaders and workers are urged to concentrate only on their strength. Ones we have the ability to accept your power with the darkest part without bias, we may start to make a path ahead.

The author sees the leadership gap as the most successful victim of their very own success and struggles except they identify and comprehend what they really need to know. No person is perfect, but we may be the best version of ourselves. And being the best version of yourself comes along with us, recognizing our leadership gaps, use our knowledge in a new way and also stay in our bliss. A leader can be both even a collapse and an unbelievable victory. By understanding this, you are able to take charge of your very own fate and that of your staff or organization by merely identifying your gaps and finding the solutions to overcome them.

To conclude, being a leader is difficult, as well as a leader, you’ll find yourself in dark and difficult times. In these conditions, you now have what you want to choose the light over the darkness by making use of the leadership archetype the situation needs.  The rebel, explorer, truth teller, hero, inventor, navigator, and knight; we have them all in us.

THE BIG THREE – KEYPOINTS

Key point #1: To get to our greatness, we have to leverage our gaps

Key point #2: Who we are is affected by the choices we make.

Key point #3: Greatness is available to all of us.  We just have to choose it.

One Last Thing

“Within each of us are two competing sides, a polarity of character. Only one leads to greatness.”

― Lolly Daskal, The Leadership Gap: What Gets Between You and Your Greatness

THE GIG ECONOMY: THE COMPLETE GUIDE TO GETTING BETTER WORK, TAKING MORE TIME OFF AND FINANCING THE LIFE YOU WANT.

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The Gig Economy is a unique guide for livelihood examination professionals and anyone who’s ready to utilize their professional background and experiences to construct a brand new career path that achieves satisfaction both personally and professionally by integrating more work lifetime stability, improved suppleness, more safety, and greater potential.

From Uber into the presidential debates, the gig economics has been ruling the top billing.  Today, more than a 3rd of People in America are working at the gig economics, integrating together short term jobs, contract work, and independent assignments. For all those who have figured out the principle, life has not been better.

The Gig Economy provides suggestions about the way to earn a living beyond the corporate boundaries through contracting and freelancing to achieve personal and professional satisfaction and safety. Conventional full-time jobs are insecure, increasingly restricted, and full of workers who wish they were doing anything else with their lives. Learn how working at the Gig Economy as consultant, contractor or freelancer may offer an attractive, intriguing, flexible, and rewarding solution to the corporate community. The Gig Economy is the channel for this only you control your future world that is tentative, but rewarding. Succeeding in it begins with changing gears to realize to the larks of an employer.

Is minding your abilities, knowledge, and network to create your very own career path, the one which is resistant to the larks of an employer. According to your priorities and vision of success, Cultivate relations without networking, assist you! Construct a lifetime based on your priorities and vision of success, develop links without networking, produce your own safety, risk, prepare for your future confront your fears by lessening layoffs and outsourcing, conventional full time.

Layoffs, recession, company jobs aren’t only unstable, but they’re increasingly scarce.  In an economy marked by layoffs and outsourcing, a conventional full time much this alternative path: developing skills and attitudes to get out by themselves and tap into the many opportunities of the entertainment economy job is disappearing.

Millions of individuals are keenly picking in its own way than a traditional full-time job very producing a supply schedule and provides. Throughout action, they are in its own way, than a conventional full-time job supervisors and unforeseen fortunes of organizations, when creating a delivery program and income protection, work world and describes to you might offer. The economy gig takes you within this challenging yet reassuring fields can flourish best, yet it the way to deal with. The book highlights professionals in risks and develops a plan to shows powerful, economics work for you.

 

THE BIG THREE – KEYPOINTS

Keypoint #1: Produce your own safety by cultivating sources of earnings, new abilities, and your very own security net.

Keypoint #2: Carefully evaluate risks and develop a plan to lower your fears.

Keypoint #3:  Increase financial flexibility by reducing fixed costs and boosting income and savings.

One Last Thing

The gig economy is empowerment. This new business paradigm empowers individuals to better shape their own destiny and leverage their existing assets to their benefit. ~John McAfee

Finish: Give Yourself the Gift of Done

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Finish: Give Yourself the Gift of Done. It’s a breaking through book that’s so keen on harnessing better productivity is target setting, focusing on set aims, been powerful and more. Jeff said as a way to finish we need to get rid of perfection first’. This usually means the less we think about how perfect things ought to be the more productive we become. The battle is with perfection. It can occasionally be the reason why we do not start things from the first case, but as Jon describes a gorgeous beginning isn’t the most significant barrier. The start does issue.

The beginning is important. The first few steps are crucial, but they aren’t the most important. Do you know precisely what things more and makes the beginning look almost silly and simple and almost insignificant? The finish. By not targeting perfection, the result might seem to be better. You get a surprise, something you did not see coming as there’s no room for surprises with regards to perfectionism.

Then Jon Acuff informs us about the different type of motives we could be very sensitive to: self-doubt or achievement. Self-doubt is that internal voice which thinks precision is crucial.

To prevent failure, we need perfectionism. How exposed will we believe whenever we finish something, and it isn’t as perfect as we once anticipated it to be. Therefore, we get frustrated before we finish. To get the most gratifying result, add a few fun, and divide your aims into half and select the best alternative forgone. Lofty targets that make us get to the stars are fantastic, but they could have us distribute to perfectionism, and for that reason, we can never finish what we started. Nobody wishes to be known as the man that achieves only half the target that he planned.

In order words, we are not the superheroes we’d love to be. We simply cannot do whatever the world wants us to do, and the earlier we realize and learn to say no, the more likely we are to succeed in what we mean yes, to. Acuff’s solution would be to cut the target in half, down to a thing which might not look entirely as praiseworthy, but it’s manageable. After we may attain the seemingly small objectives, we are much more prone to continue going, that makes us more prone to succeed. He also points to the 2 distractions which perfectionism will bring to our manner: obstacles and hiding areas.

The book shows clearly that beginning without being dramatic doesn’t justify a successful ending of a job. Everything cannot be perfect. There’s no such thing as ideal, is there? What ideal looks like for you to be completely different from what perfect looks like to someone else. Jeff helps his reader to understand that to get it all done, you have to take it bit by bit and not focus on the ‘all.’  Doing it in bits makes us achieve more in less time because as humans, we are more efficient when we focus on one thing that different things clamoring for our attention.

THE BIG THREE – KEYPOINT

Keypoint #1: There’s joy in imperfection

Keypoint #2: Splitting goals brings about better results.

Keypoint #3: To achieve a successful goal, going to your hiding place or using a great obstacle is never an option.

One Last Thing

Progress is quiet. It whispers. Perfectionism yells hides and failure progress.

The Fifth Discipline

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Peter Senge, an expert in leadership and sustainability, discovered that a gap existed between an organization and how it learns new things. This discovery brought about the evolution of The Fifth Discipline. The Fifth Discipline explains that the concept of a learning organization is to seek to facilitate and encourage learning at all levels. In this manner, the organization has the ability to adjust continually and transform itself in a highly dynamic and competitive world. In this summary, we will give a rundown of the five basic learning disciplines and the seven learning constraints.

THE FIVE BASIC DISCIPLINES
Peter Senge shares five basic principles that set a learning organization apart from a traditional organization; A shared Vision, Mental Models, Team Learning, Personal Mastery, and System Thinking.

A Shared Vision
All employees in a company are committed to a shared long-term inspiration. They share the same vision of where the organization needs to go. When the vision is unique and shared, staff members will automatically participate in improving processes to get the organization closer to accomplishing its vision. In Peter’s words, a vision is being shared when “people are not playing according to the rules of the game, but feel responsible for the game.”

Mental Models
Mental models are all the limiting beliefs and flaws a person has which influences their actions. The official hierarchy of an organization is the first mental model. In itself, it is the ecosystem where departmental and individuals’ Mental Models begin to bloom. When individuals begin using phrases such as “that’s not the way we do things” and reject new ideas or when leaders passively attempt to give you the history of how things came to be, these are the symptoms of resistance to growth. The first step in having people change their Mental Models is to have people reflect on their own behavior and beliefs. Personal values can overcome all the shortcomings of hierarchical power, but to do so what is needed is transparency and openness.  One part of openness is to quit playing “power games” and be open and honest about the real needs of the individual, department, and organization and then streamline them.

Personal Mastery
Shenge describes Personal Mastery as the strength of ability of people to proactively learn to achieve results continuously, achieve clarity and depth of vision, see reality objectively and close the reality-vision gap. Team influence and environment play a part in Personal Mastery. Effective teamwork leads to outcomes in which individuals could not have accomplished on their own. Members within a team learn faster and more than they would have alone. They align and develop their capacities as a team and build on individual talents and vision.

System Thinking
System thinking is described by Peter Senge and the golden discipline. This is the fifth discipline and unifies all of the five principles. It is the cornerstone of a learning organization. An organization is like a living organism that needs to be analyzed with a holistic viewpoint rather that small unrelated manageable parts.  System thinking encourages leaders to understand the impact of their department or business unit on the system. Every decision made should be based on the holistic principle of System Thinking.


THE SEVEN LEARNING CONSTRAINTS
Like any other living organism, when it’s not working according to its purpose, it will show signs and symptoms. From Senge’s point of view, there are seven disabilities that most organizations suffer from and impair them from being effective learning organizations.


1. I am my position: When a staff members define themselves as the position they fulfill within the organization. If we use our jobs as a substitute for our identity, we run the risk of failing to understand the purpose of what we are doing for the organization or we perceive ourselves as having too much or too little power. Therefore one will fail to take responsibility or fail to think that all responsibility lies with them.

2. The enemy is out there: Failing to understand that external and internal problems are part of the same overall system; there are not isolated. When we fail on the inside, the competitors see it on the outside.

3. The illusion of taking charge: Confusing response to consequences of a challenge (reactive action) with working with problems (proactive reaction) by focusing on outside threats only without first discovering how we contribute to the current problem.

4. Fixation on events: Being focused on the short term, often prevents us from foreseeing long-term patterns of change that are the cause of the immediate circumstances.

5. The delusion of learning from experience: The idea that most staff members learn from experience is an illusion. More often than not, people do not experience the consequences of their decisions in the organization directly, especially when the systems are not in place to provide honest feedback.  

6. The myth of the management team: Management and leadership are not the same. A  good manager is not automatically a good leader. Management-minded people tend to not work together but rather fight over turfs and avoid doing anything that may risk them looking bad. Real leaders cross the line, take risks and compromise as long as the vision is moving forward.

7. The parable of the boiling frog: We tend not to be conscious of or are unwilling to notice threats that arise regularly which leads to an inability to react until it’s too late. Status quo is the godfather of anti-progress and anti-innovative culture. It grows slowly, painlessly until someone in the market beat you in your own game.  

The book ends with an explanation of how to integrate and apply the five disciplines to building a learning organization. As staff members practice the discipline of personal mastery, they experience gradual progress, analyze their own mental models and become more comfortable and identify new ways of thinking. A shared vision helps people see how their actions contribute to transforming and shaping their future. All five disciplines set the foundation for team learning, which allows staff members to build the type of results they desire, at a level beyond their individual capacities. Systems thinking underlies all four other disciplines to help everyone to see the big picture, their role in it, restructure assumptions and reveal causes and ways to leverage in complex situations.


THE BIG THREE – KEY POINTS
Keypoint #1: In a learning organization, people do not want to work according to the rules of the game but rather they feel responsible for the game.
Keypoint #2: To solve problems, we need a shift of mindset from seeing small parts to a holistic view, moving away from being reactive to being proactive.
Keypoint #3: Quit playing “power games” and be open and honest about what your real needs are.

One Last Thing
“Taking in information is only distantly related to real learning. It would be nonsensical to say, “I just read a great book about bicycle riding—I’ve now learned that.”
― Peter M. Senge, The Fifth Discipline

THE 21 IRREFUTABLE LAWS OF LEADERSHIP

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The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership was written out of many studies and observations John Maxwell has carried out on leaders in various sectors like business, politics, military, sport and most of all his personal leadership experience. He poured out his heart into this book by giving us 21 laws that can help you become the most powerful and effective leader. The principles of leadership do not change over time, only the application does. These principles or law brings consequences; people will either follow you or they will not. It will depend on your mode of application. These laws when applied in real life form the foundation of leadership.

  1. LAW OF THE LID:  The law of the lid states that leadership ability is a determinant of a person’s level of effectiveness. This means that your effectiveness is determined by your level of leadership. When your level of leadership increases, you become more effective. An increase in effectiveness directly affects the level of success.
  2. LAW OF INFLUENCE:  Leadership is different from every other subject matter such as management or entrepreneurship. The true definition of a leader is determined by the level of people he has influenced. Your followers are the proof that you are a leader, nothing more or less.
  3. LAW OF PROCESS: Maxwell explains five different phases of leadership growth. He also explains that what sets a leader apart from their followers is their ability to learn, develop and improve their skill.
  4. LAW OF NAVIGATION:  A true leader is a leader with foresight. Leaders chart the course for their team because they have full vision of where they are going, understand the challenges and risk and also understand the right set of people needed to achieve the vision.
  5. LAW OF ADDITION: This law defines the ability of a leader to add value by serving others and making things better for them.
  6. LAW OF SOLID GROUND: The foundation of leadership is trust. Trust is built when a leader is consistently competent and displays remarkable character. Character conveys potential and builds respect.
  7. LAW OF RESPECT: In this book, Maxwell explains six ways leaders gain respect and how to access and improve your level of leadership. Leaders tend to stand out while others follow because they are perceived to be stronger.
  8. LAW OF INTUITION: We relate and see people based on who we are so leaders also see things with leadership bias. Maxwell explains in detail various ways a leader can apply their leadership bias and how to improve their leadership intuition.
  9. LAW OF MAGNETISM: You attract who you are. It’s as simple as that. People are drawn to others with similar characteristics like attitude, ability, leadership ability, energy level, etc.
  10. LAW OF CONNECTION: The key to connecting with people is by relating to them as an individual even if they are in a group. There is a need to connect with people emotionally as a leader before you can move them to action. Maxwell shares a bigger picture of how you can connect with yourself and others.
  11. LAW OF THE INNER CIRCLE: Your inner circle is the group of people you turn to for advice, support and assistance. These people must be chosen intentionally. They must be people who display excellence, maturity and good character in everything they do.
  12. LAW OF EMPOWERMENT:  The important thing in empowerment is believing in people. Most leaders refuse to empower others due to three key reasons: resistance to change, desire for job security and lack of self-worth. In this book, John Maxwell sheds more light on how to improve your self-worth and empower others.
  13. THE LAW OF THE PICTURE: Exceptional leaders understand the irreplaceable role of vision. A vision shows the picture of what is to be achieved. Therefore, for a leader to communicate it effectively, he/she has to model the vision by setting the right example and showing the way. This act of modeling gives the followers credibility, passion and motivation to carry on with the vision.
  14. THE LAW OF BUY IN: The secret is people buy into the leader first before buying into the vision. They listen to people who they trust, believe in and feel they are credible and worth going along with.  When followers buy into the leader and the vision, then they are ready and willing to follow such leader through any challenge and success.
  15.  THE LAW OF VICTORY:  A Good leader must take responsibility for all actions, be creative and transfer his success and passion to his followers. Failure or quitting is not an option on a leader’s list.  Maxwell wrote ”one thing victorious leaders have in common is that they share an unwillingness to accept defeat.” As a result, they take responsibility for the success of the team and do what it takes to lead the team to victory.
  16. THE LAW OF BIG MO: Momentum is a leader’s best friend. An organization or team with momentum can successfully pass through any obstacle, and momentum is a determining factor between winning and losing. It makes you unstoppable. In this book, Maxwell shares several characteristics of the Big MO and how to access where we are.
  17. THE LAW OF PRIORITIES:  Don’t just get busy, get productive. The heart of the law of priority states that leaders understand that activity is not about accomplishment. This means prioritizing requires leaders always to think ahead, to know what is more important and how it all relates to the vision. Maxwell discusses the Pareto principle and other key factors that help in setting a priority list which are Requirement, Reward, and Returns.
  18. THE LAW OF SACRIFICE: This law gives a glimpse of what leadership life is.  A leader might be looking glamorous on the outside, but the secret behind his true leadership is that he has sacrificed and still sacrificing. The hidden secret behind success is the sacrifice. And a true leader does not only sacrifice but also put others ahead of him.
  19.   THE LAW OF TIMING: Leadership is not only about how to lead but discerning the right time to take action. Maxwell summarizes his statement by saying “taking the wrong action at the wrong time leads to disaster and the right action at the wrong time leads to resistance while the wrong action at the right time leads to a mistake”. This shows that leadership ability goes beyond leading.
  20.   THE LAW OF EXPLOSIVE GROWTH: You can attain explosive growth when you choose to lead leaders and not followers. To lead leaders, you have to focus on the strength and not weaknesses, treat everyone differently and invest quality time into others rather than spending time together. Maxwell summarizes this law by saying leaders who develop other leaders experience incredible multiplication effect in their organization that can be achieved in no other way.

 

  1. LAW OF LEGACY:  This is the final law in this book. The law of legacy states that a leader’s lasting value is measured by succession. What do you want to be remembered for? Maxwell summarizes the life of a leader by saying that “achievement comes when they do big things by themselves. Success comes when they empower followers to do big things for them. Significance comes when they develop leaders to do great things with them. Legacy comes when they put leaders in the position to do great things without them.” He ends the chapter with the thought, “our abilities as leaders will not be measured by the buildings we built, the institutions we established, or what our team accomplished during our tenure. You and I will be judged by how well the people we invested in carried on after we are gone.” This is the greatest challenge of  a lifelong pursuit of leadership, but it is also the only thing that will matter in the end.

Undoubtedly, you are eager to know other laws of leadership. The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership not only explains the laws but include several tips on how to apply the laws. Do not hesitate to feed on the richness of this innovation.

KEY POINTS

Key point #1: Leadership is built on trust and compounds over time

Key point #2: Leaders attract who they are.

Key point #3: Leaders must learn, grow and develop.

 

One Last Thing

“Leaders Who Attract Followers . . . Need to Be Needed

Leaders Who Develop Leaders . . . Want to Be Succeeded”

― John C. Maxwell, The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership: Follow Them and People Will Follow You

Good To Great

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Jim Collins, an established management consultant, identifies and evaluates the factors and variables that allow a company to transition from merely good to truly exceptional in his classic,  Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap and Others Don’t. “Great”is a very subjective term, but Collins successfully defines it by a number of metrics, including financial performance, the highest the market average sustained by several periods of time. Using this particular criteria, Collins and his research team exhaustively cataloged the business literature and finding a handful of companies that matched their predetermined criteria for greatness.  

Throughout the book, Collins addresses different components that build the bridge that guides the transition from good-to-great. Among these components, we find management, operational practices,  personnel, behaviors and attitudes that are both effective and yet mutually incompatible to the good-to-great transition.

Using the criteria described above, Collines selected the following eleven companies: Abbott, Fannie Mae, Circuit City, Gillette, Kimberly-Clark, Kroger, Nucor, Philip Morris, Pitney Bowes, Walgreens and Wells Fargo.  The most crucial factor in the selection process was a period of growth and sustained success that far outpaced the market or industry average.

Collins  begin the process of identifying and explaining the unique factors and variables that differentiate good and great companies. One of the most significant differences in the quality was the leadership in the firm. Collins goes on to identify the followings five levels of leadership:

  •    The highly capable Individual: Leaders who contribute using their skill, know-how and good habits.
  •    The contributing Team Member: Leaders who are able to use their expertise and knowledge to help their team succeed.
  •    Competent Manager: Leaders who are capable of organizing the team to reach pre-determined objectives efficiently
  •    Effective leaders: Leaders who are able to create the commitment from their team to pursue a clear and compelling vision vigorously. They are also able to build a high-performing team
  •    Lastly, the Great Leaders: leaders with all the abilities of the four levels plus a unique combination of will and humility. It is the combination that makes them a great leader.

An actual level 5 leader often has a long-term personal sense of investment determination and profound humility.

Collins went further to identify the nature of leadership. He specifically states that getting the right people takes precedence over strategy, vision and almost everything. The “who” must be put before the “What.” The most valuable asset of a company is not the people but the right people. It is not just the quality of leadership that is essential to be great but the quality of the people in the team. Collins gave three principles that will help you maximize your most significant asset to become great.

  1.    When in doubt, don’t hire – Keep looking
  2.    When you need to let go of the wrong people, act right away. But do not overlook the possibility that the right person might be in the wrong position.
  3.   Put your best people on your biggest opportunities.

Another defining characteristic of the companies Collins defined as great is simplicity. Collins used the metaphor of the hedgehog to illustrate the principle that simplicity can sometimes lead to greatness.

Equally, Collins shares that the simplist way to transform from Good to Great is often not by doing many things well, but instead, by doing one thing better than anyone else in the world. Usually it takes time to identify that single thing that you can be great at, but those who do successfully identify it are often rewarded with singular success. Collins suggests using the following three criteria to expedite the process to find it: 1) Determine what you can be best in the world at and what you cannot be best in the world at; 2) Determine what drives your economic engine; and 3) Determine what you are deeply passionate about.

Good to Great has become a classic in leadership and business. If you are in a leadership position or planning to do so, grab a copy and be ready to move from Good to Great.

THE BIG THREE – KEYPOINTS

Keypoint #1:   Companies need to create a climate where the truth is heard.

Keypoint #2.    Good to great companies are motivated by inner compulsion of excellence for its own sake.

Keypoint #3.    Always confront uncomfortable truths head-on, but never lose faith that you’ll work it out.

 

One Last Thing:

“Good is the enemy of great. And that is one of the key reasons why we have so little that becomes great. We don’t have great schools, principally because we have good schools. We don’t have great government, principally because we have good government. Few people attain great lives, in large part because it is just so easy to settle for a good life.”

― Jim Collins, Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap… and Others Don’t

So Good They Can’t Ignore You

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In this book, Cal Newport contradicts a long-held mindset about following your passion. He believed there is more to loving what you do than just following your passion. To discover this and back up his point, he set out on a quest by spending time with a Venture capitalist, organic farmers, writers, freelancers and other passionate individuals that derive great satisfaction in what they do.  In this quest, Newport identified strategies used and pitfalls avoided by these individuals in developing their career. Passion comes after you have invested in becoming excellent at something valuable not before you attempt something. Aligning your career with your pre-existing passion does not matter. “So Good They Can’t Ignore You” will change your perspective about your passion, career, happiness and developing a remarkable lifestyle.”

 

Steve Mark likes to say “be so good they can’t ignore you” irrespective of your level in your career. Whether you are just starting up, or you are a professional trying to move to the next level, your target should be to master your craft to the point where people can’t help but notice you. Being passionate about what you do is a great goal but following your passion will not get you there. There are two fundamental problems attached to following your passion:

 

Firstly, it assumes that people have a pre-existing passion they can identify and use when making career decisions. However, most people end up feeling lost because they have no idea about what they want to do.

 

Secondly, there is an assumption that says if you like something you will really like doing it for a job. “We don’t have an established evidence that is true,” Newport says. People passionate about their work has little to do with whether their job matches their pre-existing passions.  The bottom line is let your passion follow you in your craft and become someone that can’t be ignored and not to follow your passion. Try something interesting to do, find a skill and career path to pursue and if you are stuck at a crossroad, flip a coin. Make your skill valuable by reaching a high level of expertise. For example, many people look down on a linguistic major for being impractical. You can be very good at a particular type of writing; it will make you stand out. People who are passionate about their work develop the passion over time after building their skill to the point that they became rear and valuable.

 

To become so good at what you do, you need to master that skill through deliberate practice. Once you have chosen a career path, the next step is to master the skills in it to become irreplaceable. “You don’t have a leverage until you become so good.” Says Newport. Look out for simple and common mistakes that show up every day when working on your skill and don’t stop getting better. Many people build their skill to a stage that they become so comfortable and they stop improving on it. It is a deadly risk. To avoid this, push yourself beyond the comfort zone and continuously practice your skills just the way athletes, musicians or artists would.

 

Finally, you have to be good at something before big things start to happen. Don’t stop building on your skills. Be so good that you can’t be ignored.

 

The Big Three – Key Points

 

Key Point #1: Do not follow your passion. Let your passion follow you and learn how you can grow your mindset around your passion.

 

Key Point #2: To become so good at what you do, you need to master that skill through deliberate practice. You don’t have a leverage until you become so good.

 

Key Point #3: Push yourself beyond your comfort zone and continuously practice your skills just the way athletes, musicians or artists do.

One Last Thing

So Good They Can’t Ignore You Quotes Showing 1-30 of 224

“Passion comes after you put in the hard work to become excellent at something valuable, not before. In other words, what you do for a living is much less important than how you do it.”

― Cal newport, So Good They Can’t Ignore You: Why Skills Trump Passion in the Quest for Work You Love

THE OUTLIERS

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The Outliers is structured around a series of case studies, cultures and time periods that are all related to same theories and thesis. According to Malcolm, success has nothing to do with high intelligence, level of genius or innate ability. Instead, success is based on prior investment of hard work, creativity, time, support and opportunity. Gladwell says it is that simple. Your culture, legacy and environment also play a part. He backed his point using various case studies of triumph and success. When an opportunity presents itself, you must be prepared and ready to maximize on it. That is not the point where you begin your preparation. Your prior preparation will determine if you will seize the opportunity or lose it. There is no shortcut to mastery. You must put in the work.

Below is a quick summary of the six key points Malcolm Gladwell takes us through:

Opportunity: Success rarely comes to those who struggle to break from the norm. There must be at least a glimmer of talent in you to achieve success. Opportunity gives you the chance to access coaches and tools that you need to build your skills. Those tools prepare you for a more robust opportunity. Gladwell considers remarkable individuals in this section such as Bill Joy, Robert Oppenheimer, Bill Gates, and an unsung intellectual Chris Langan.

Timing: Timing is crucial and critical to success and opportunity. When and where you are born can influence your opportunity. 14 of the 75 richest people in history were born between 1860’s and 1870’s when the industrial revolution was taking off. Also in 1935, there were fewer babies born, roughly 600,000, which means a smaller class size. During this period, there were greater chances of getting into college, good sports team or even getting a good job in better firms.

Upbringing: The quality of the upbringing a child receives also influences his/her success. Parents that are more involved in their kids’ lives provide them with opportunities that lead to the child’s success. This can include enrolling them in summer school, taking them to museums and assisting with their homework. Kids that do not have parental care or affection tend to lose more opportunity.

10,000 hours: It typically takes 10,000 hours to become a master of something. You must invest that amount of your time.

Meaningful Work: You must invest hard and meaningful work to get the best out of it. Meaningful work makes you want to put in more hours. For instance, immigrants value and practice hard work. Sociologist Louise Farkas confirmed this while studying the immigrants family tree. He found out that the offspring became professionals and successful. She concluded that in spite of their humble background, they have been trained to value and practice hard work.

Legacy: Value drives legacy. Our values are passed down to us from generation to generation which directly affects our current behavior. Dutch psychologist, Geer Hofstede, did an analysis on different country’s cultural tendencies. He identified different dimensions such individualism, collectivism, uncertainty, avoidance and power distance index. Gladwell believes the society of one’s ancestors has a tendency of determining one’s practice and preference, even in the present day.

The Big Three – Key Points:

Key Point #1    Success has nothing to do with level of genius or IQ. It has more to do   with hard work, culture, society, and opportunity

Key Point #2    Success comes to those who are ready to become a master in what they do.

Key Point #3    To be successful you must be ready to seize opportunities.

 

One Last Thing

“Practice isn’t the thing you do once you’re good. It’s the thing you do that makes you good.”

― Malcolm Gladwell, Outliers: The Story of Success

 

Crucial Conversations

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Crucial Conversations focuses on how to handle disagreements and high stakes communication.  Crucial conversations are what is keeping you away from achieving your desired results. This book is written on the understanding that when you are stuck in any situation,  it is this crucial conversation that is keeping you away from achieving your best result. When you learn how to manage conversations effectively and efficiently, you can accomplish your desired outcome. This book also focuses on how to hold such a conversation in a positive state when surrounded by highly charged emotions.

DEEP DIVE INTO THE BOOK
Kerry and Co. listed seven essential models to manage and hold a crucial conversation efficiently and nicely.

1. Start with the heart: Stay focused on what you really want. Understand that the only person you can directly control is yourself before going into any conversation. You have to manage your mindset and emotions. It is challenging to change others but easier to improve oneself. Therefore, it is essential to pay attention to your motive when you find yourself moving towards silence or violence.

2. Stay in Dialogue: Learn to look. When conversations turn crucial,  failing to see what’s going on at the moment is why we often miss or misinterpret the early warning signs. The sooner we notice that we are not in dialogue, the quicker we can get back to the discussion. To avoid turning a healthy conversation into unhealthy, you must :

 

  • Learn to look at the content, the context and the conditions
  • Look for signs when things become crucial
  • Learn to watch for safety problems
  • Look and see whether others stakeholders are moving towards silence and/or violence
  • Be self-aware of possible outbreaks of your style under stress


  1.  Make it safe: The safer people feel around you, the more of an open conversation they will have with you. This can be done from an authentic place of compassion and curiosity. We need them to tell us everything and sometimes listen to them from the beginning. The more you listen, the more their emotions will subside, the more open they become and the more willing they are to listen to us. The opposite is also true. The more significant the fear, the more likely they will either close down or fight back. Closing down can take the form of masking (where they pretend to agree or pretend they are listening), avoiding or withdrawing. There are four paths of powerful listening: Ask, Mirror, Paraphrase ad Prime.

    4. Don’t hook by emotions: A crucial conversation is highly charged by emotions. The very first thing you must do is to name that emotion. Is it anger? Frustration? Hurt? Disappointment?  Emotions must be understood very nicely. So how can you engage in an honest conversation without closing them down? This requires a mix of confidence. Five tools to use are:
     1. Share the fact
     2. Tell your story
     3. Ask for the other person’s story
     4. Talk tentatively
     5. Encourage testing

    5. Agree on a mutual purpose: It is essential to find a mutual objective. There are four skills to get back to the mutual purpose.
     1. Commit to seek mutual purpose
     2. Recognize the purpose behind the strategy
     3. Invent a mutual goal
     4. Brainstorm a new strategy

    6. Separate facts from the story: We choose what story to tell ourselves and when a particular story drives us in the wrong direction, we can choose to tell a different story.
    Skills for mastering our story:
    1. Act: notice your behavior
     2. Feel: Get in touch with your feelings
     3. Tell a story: Analyze your stories. What story is creating these emotions?
     4. See/hear: Get back to the facts. What evidence do I have to support this story?

    7. Agree on a clear action plan: the ultimate goal of a conversation is to take action. If action is not taken, all healthy talks in this works will lead to disappointment and hard feelings. Reaching the point of shared meaning does not mean we will have a successful outcome. There are some pitfalls such as a lack of making a decision, making a wrong decisions or no action made to follow the decision.

    To help overcome these pitfalls, there are four questions to determine which way to go.

1. Who cares. Don’t involve people who don’t care.
 2. Who knows. Who has relevant expertise to help to make a fruitful decision?
 3. Who must agree. Who are the people who could block the implementation later on if  involved in the decision making now?
 4. Wow many people must be involved. Try to include as few people as possible.

In conclusion, if people learn the skills to handle crucial conversation at any moment, it will make their life more smooth and successful. At any given point in our professional or personal life, we need to have serious and crucial conversations with people who will have a different mindset, values and emotions. The wisdom and techniques in this book make it doable.

THE BIG THREE – KEY POINTS
Keypoint #1: The safer people feel around you, the more open of a conversation they will have with you.
Keypoint #2: The only person you can directly control is yourself.
Keypoint #3: A useful story creates emotions that leads to healthy actions during any dialogue.

One Last Thing
“The mistake most of us make in our crucial conversations is we believe that we have to choose between telling the truth and keeping a friend.”
― Kerry Patterson, Crucial Conversations Tools for Talking When Stakes Are High