Resources for Leaders

Vol. #4  4/14/03, Deanne G. Bryce, editor,

The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People (Stephen Covey)

The Fifth Discipline Fieldbook (Peter Senge et al.)

Leadership and the New Science (Margaret Wheatley)

First Break All the Rules (Buckingham & Coffman)

Good to Great (Jim Collins)

ReaderStrength: What did you read in those books that helped you?

MB: Just about everything in The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People helped me simply because it was probably the first real leadership book I read, and because of my situation at the time (being disorganized and ineffective). Some of the real key learning points for me were exercising control and making choices about my use of time, and not letting my environment and others control me. I think the Roles & Goals and Quadrant II Time Management approaches to personal management are outstanding and I’ve used them ever since I learned about them.

In The Fifth Discipline Fieldbook, one of the disciplines, Personal Mastery, has some common themes with Covey’s first three habits so realizing those similarities reinforced them for me. One specific exercise for creating a personal vision (as part of Personal Mastery) is to repeatedly ask yourself,

"And what would that bring me?"

for each goal you have in different areas of your life. This is a powerful exercise because it reveals the underlying desire for each of your goals. 

Another discipline that is mentioned in this book is Systems Thinking. It has really helped me to focus more on the organization or system that I am a part of as I try to lead others or myself through it. I have learned that systems do strongly influence behavior and if I really want to lead, I need to be aware of an organization’s systems, processes, and culture in order to have a positive influence.

Leadership and the New Science: This book also helped me to focus on systems in and around organizations and learn about chaos theory. Like The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People and Good to Great, this book reinforced that there are certain universal principles that govern us and our organizations, and trying to short-cut or break those principles will lead to failure. 

Good to Great:

• The Hedgehog Concept

• Discipline

• First who, then what
  The Hedgehog Concept is a concept designed to simplify an organization’s business (and decision-making) to the intersection of three circles: What you are deeply passionate about, what drives your economic engine, and what you can be the best in the world at. This helped the great companies, researched by Collins, focus and simplify their business, which helped them be successful.
  Discipline was a theme that ran throughout the book – disciplined people, thought, and action – which I really connected with since my discipline is one of the key reasons for any success I’ve had.
  First who, then what means that the great companies first decided who were the right people for the organization and THEN decided what the organization’s strategy and direction would be (rather than the other way around). I think that sounds easier than it is in reality.

ReaderStrength: What books have you read that help you in your work as a consultant who develops other leaders?

MB:  The Ladder of Inference exercise in The Fifth Discipline Fieldbook is a very effective and different communication tool. It’s different because it focuses on our thought process during communication, not so much on the words, tone and body language part of communication (which are often over emphasized).  We all make observations and quickly climb this ladder of inference, making conclusions about people or ideas that are often inaccurate. So this exercise causes people to analyze their thinking process which, in my experience, is the main reason for poor communication. I’ve used this tool with groups I’ve led, including a nonprofit board, and have trained leaders to use it as well. 

Again, a lot of The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People has helped me in my work of developing other leaders. I’ve also found books like First Break All the Rules and Good to Great, that are based on research, to be helpful while consulting and training. It’s surprising to me that many of my clients do not read leadership or business books and I think they appreciate an educated or informed perspective, especially when it’s well researched. Now, I certainly don’t consult or train "from the book." I tend to reference books mainly if I’ve successfully used concepts in them, if I’ve had similar experiences, or if I think a particular concept could apply to my client. When 2 or 3 books have similar themes it helps reinforce the concepts for me and others with whom I’m working. 

If you have any leadership questions or comments for Mark, he can be reached at mborowski@wi.rr.com or 262.513.8608

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