Leaders Ought to Know (Hardcover)

Acknowledgments xi

Introduction 1

Can You Keep a Secret? 1

This Is a No Secret Zone 5

Ground Rules 7

1 Choosing to Lead 11

Born Leaders—The Myth 11

Your Most Important Professional Decision 14

If Japan Can, Why Can’t We? 17

Congratulations, You’ve Been Promoted! Now What? 21

The Doctor Is in, and the Patient Is Waiting 23

Accepting the Challenge 27

2 Offer Service, Take Action 31

Management 101 31

The Four Management Functions 32

The Four Resources to Be Managed 33

If Not People, Who Then? 34

The Six Management Objectives 36

“What Do You Think?” 37

Mario and Luigi 40

Commonsense Leadership 44

The Ability to Offer Service 45

The Willingness to Take Action 47

3 The Essential Element 51

The Essential Element 51

Leadership Begins and Ends with Followers 53

Three Primary Assumptions 55

The Leadership Lie 60

How Close Is Too Close? 62

Know Your Followers 64

Who Are You? 66

Yes, and Then Some 69

4 A Recipe for Respect 73

WWYFS 73

Respect Is as Respect Does 76

The Recipe for Earning Respect 78

Respect Ingredient #1: Consistency 79

The Wisest Man in Princeton, Kentucky 81

Respect Ingredient #2: Quality Decision Making 84

“Honey, How Far?” 84

Respect Ingredient #3: Interacting with Others 87

Wrapping It Up 90

5 Honesty and Other Truths 91

The Truth about Honesty 91

The Scheduler’s Position 92

Leadership Failures 97

The Honesty Game 99

Game Contestants 99

Objectives of the Game 100

Rules of the Game 100

Losing the Game 102

Winning the Game 102

Time Frame of the Game 103

The Zipper Factor 103

Brutal Honesty 108

6 Two Motivational Truths 111

What Supervisors and Managers Want to Know 111

Help Me Motivate My People 112

Motivational Theories Abound 114

Motivational Truth #1 116

Motivation versus Manipulation 119

Manipulation Doesn’t Pay—It Costs 122

Motivational Truth #2 124

Can We Have a Pool Table? 125

How Can They Sit There and Lie to Me Like That? 129

Is That All? 131

7 Why People Do What They Do 133

The Worst Motivational Speech 133

Giving before Getting 137

It’s More than Gratitude 138

The Cornerstone Concept 139

What, Not Why 143

Determining Individual Needs 144

Easiest or Shortest 148

Preparing for Unsatisfied Needs 150

Emotional Defense Mechanisms 155

8 Preventive Leadership 157

Practicing PM 157

Embracing PL 158

Do Leaders Really Think? 160

Six Thought Processes to Support Preventive Leadership 161

Explorative Thought—Asking Why? 161

Comparative Thought—Asking Why Not? 162

Predictive Thought—Asking When? 163

Creative Thought—Asking What If? 164

Deliberative Thought—Asking How? 165

Interactive Thought—Asking What Do You Think? 165

“I’m Moving to Alaska!” 166

Running from or to—and Why It’s Important 171

The Wisdom of Dumb Questions 174

Dumb Question #1: How Am I Doing? 176

Dumb Question #2: What Have I Screwed Up Lately? 176

Dumb Question #3: What Should I Be Doing Better? 177

Dumb Question #4: What Would You Like Me to Do about That? 177

How It’s Done 178

9 Fearsome Facts 181

Who’s Your Daddy? 181

Understanding Fears 190

Fearsome Fact #1: We All Have Them 192

The Fear of Rejection 194

The Fear of Failure 195

The Fear of Success 196

“What Means ‘Nervous’?” 197

Fearsome Fact #2: Unfamiliar Experiences Are Breeding Grounds for New Fears 199

Making Unknowns Known 201

Fearsome Fact #3: Unsuccessful Experiences Compound Our Fears 203

What It Means 205

10 Leadership Pitfalls 207

Seven Deadly Sins 207

Leadership Pitfall #1: An Elevated Sense of Self-Importance 209

“I Hope the Old Man Is Getting Some of This” 210

Leadership Pitfall #2: Practicing Favoritism 213

“I’d Rather Be Flat Broke” 216

Leadership Pitfall #3: Inability or Unwillingness to Control Emotions 219

When You Lose Your Temper 221

The Power of an Apology 228

Pursuing Leadership Success 229

11 Commonsense Success 231

Seniority, Experience, or Something Else? 231

Choosing Success 233

Too Many Choices? 234

A Professional Triple Threat 236

Knowledge and Understanding 236

Skills and Application 237

Personal Desire and Commitment 238

“I Should’ve Bought That Farm” 240

Commonsense Success Choice #1: If I Am to Fail, I Choose to Fail Aggressively 240

Commonsense Success Choice #2: To Hit a Home Run, I Must Swing the Bat 242

Commonsense Success Choice #3: Choosing Yes 245

Commonsense Success Choice #4: When I Mess Up, I Must Fess Up—Quickly 250

One More Foundational Concept 254

Conclusion 257

A Conclusion Isn’t a Conclusion 257

Congratulations to You 258

Leaders Are Readers—or Are They? 259

Leaders Are Doers—or Should Be 260

“I Wish Buster Was Here” 262