A few years ago, a colleague gave me Monday Morning Leadership by David Cottrell. Though I had no leadership aspirations at the time, I found myself breezing through the 100 pages- and learning and enjoying myself quite a bit. It's written in a unique style- a troubled manager ("Jeff") is at his wit's end, and requests help from a family friend ("Tony Pearce"), who happens to be an experienced consultant. Tony agrees to help him through 8 successive Monday morning mentoring sessions. After the fact, Jeff decides to pass on what he's learned, and writes this book about what he gleaned from Tony in those meetings. An interesting format to convey leadership tips- at times it's cheesy, but overall it works.
The 8 sessions focused on a variety of things, and each chapter had a lot of good advice in it. I won't recount everything here- but below is what I found resonated with me the most
Accept Responsibility
Leaders must accept total responsibility, no matter what. Leaders are not "one of the guys"- as leaders, they have certain responsibilities that others do not. "Even though your responsibilities increase when you become a manager, you lose some of the rights or freedoms you may have enjoyed in the past." The analogy used was apt- that of a leader being the driver of a car, and the employees the passengers. If the car goes off the road, you can blame the passengers for distractions/etc, but at the end of the day, it's up to the leader to keep on the course.
Remember the Main Thing
Make sure your people know your group's main objective(s). People often have different perceptions about that- (frequent, repetitious) communication of the main thing is good. When your team is asked to do something that's not part of "the main thing," shield them from the request and stand up for them. "One of the main things for a leader is to eliminate confusion."
Have Integrity
Be on time, and demand that others do as well. Tell the Truth. Do the right thing, even when it hurts- your team will be watching and depending on you. Don't get disheartened- "When it comes to leading people, there is no problem that is unique to you."
Meet Your People's Needs
"People quit people before they quit companies"- people get more fed up with their immediate manager not meeting their needs. Recognize and reward superstars, and make sure performance reviews don't shade reality and make bottom-performers feel better- encourage all to succeed, and "raise the top." Don't sit in 'management land' all day- "You have to escape management land and get in touch with your people." Talk to them- find out what they need.
Manage Your Time
Time is your responsibility- use it wisely. Cut meetings down to be as efficient as possible. Don't check your email constantly- only a few times a day. Batch like activities- return all phone calls in a row, for example. Limit interruptions.
Learn
Be a life-long learner. Read at least 10 minutes a day. As mentioned above, no problem is unique- learned from those who have come before. Get out of your comfort zone.
As I said, this one-sitting read is well worth your time.
Rating: A
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