Leadership Briefs: Shaping Organizational Culture to Stretch Leadership Capacity

By Dick Daniels

How to shape a leadership development culture, stretch your own leadership capacity, and accelerate the development of emerging leaders.

• Language: English
• Publisher: BookBaby
• Release date: Feb 4, 2015
• ISBN: 9781483549378

Book preview

LEADERSHIP BRIEFS © Dick Daniels, The Leadership Development Group. Except as provided by the Copyright Act (1978) no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means without the prior written permission of the publisher.

ISBN: 978-1-59298-901-0

eISBN: 978-1-4835493-7-8

Library of Congress Control Number: 2014920791

Print book first edition

Printed in the United States of America

First Printing 2015

18 17 16 15 19     5 4 3 2 1

Cover and Interior Design: Kendal Marsh

To order visit www.theLDG.org

or call [phone]. Reseller discounts available.

Contents

PREFACE: Success and Failure

INTRODUCTION: The Magic of Leadership

PART ONE: THE ENGAGING WORK OF DEVELOPING LEADERS

CULTURE: Leadership Friendly Places to Work

1. Five Questions for Leaders and Followers

2. Culture Planning

3. Reengineering Organizational Culture

FORMATION: Building Leaders from the Outside–In

4. Want to Be a Leader?

5. What Is Your Leadership Capacity?

6. Developing Leadership Capacity

7. Accelerating Leadership Development

CHARACTER: Building Leaders from the Inside–Out

8. The Leader’s Core

9. The Trusted Leader

10. Emotionally Smart Leaders

11. The Social Graces of Memorable Leaders

PART TWO: THE RELENTLESS WORK OF LEADING WELL

STRATEGY: The Intuition of Leadership Judgment

12. Strategists of Change

13. Getting From Here to There

14. When Leaders Look for the Silver Bullet

LEADING: The Daily Agenda

15. Own Your Leadership Identity

16. Leading in Different Ways for Different Times

17. Two Sides of Leading

18. The Point of Creativity in 31 Leadership Polarities

19. A Leader’s Most Valuable Asset

20. Leadership by the Numbers

21. Executives Execute

22. When Do You Stop Leading?

TEAMS: Collaboration and Cross-Functional Alignment

23. The Delicate Dance of Team Chemistry

24. Dealing With Differentness

25. Counterintuitive Conflict

26. Chipping In

FOLLOWERS: Engaged and Growing

27. Leadership Assignments and Followership Assignments

28. The Heart of a Leader

29. Facilitating Team Process

30. Delegating Developmentally

31. Holding Team Members Accountable

32. The Gotcha Moments

33. The Emotional Flow of Employee Disengagement

COMMUNICATION: Everyone Knows Almost Everything

34. Getting the Word Out

35. The Power of Thought-Provoking Questions

36. Leadership Conversations

37. Four Declarations of Every Leader

ETCETERA: Behind the Scenes

38. Formulas for Succession Planning

39. Executive Compensation Policies

40. Recognition, Reward, and Celebration

EPILOGUE: Paying the Personal Price of Leadership

LEADERSHIP DEBRIEFS

FIVE STRATEGIES TO BUILD YOUR LEADERSHIP CULTURE

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

What People Are Saying About Leadership Briefs

"Leadership is not just a state of mind. It’s a state of action. In Leadership Briefs, Dick Daniels gives you actionable ideas of how to be a better leader and a better role model for future leaders."

— CRAIG LEIPOLD, Owner, Minnesota Wild NHL hockey team

"Yet another book about how to be a good leader? Hardly. Dick Daniels has captured the joy and the pain of being an effective leader and how to channel both those emotions towards a higher performing team and organization. Leadership Briefs is about connecting your own experience with best practices and keen observations. Use this as a handbook not as bedtime reading."

— DR. MATT KRAMER, President and CEO, St. Paul Area Chamber of Commerce, St. Paul, Minnesota

"There are many books on leadership. Here is the one you need to read. Why? From my studies and experience, it is truth, it is concise, and it elaborates enough to bring understanding. If you wish to improve your leadership skills in the economic sphere, the governance sphere, the sphere of your beliefs, or all three, you will be thrilled about how much you learn from Leadership Briefs."

— ALBERT H. QUIE, Former Minnesota Governor and Congressman, Minnetonka, Minnesota

"In short order, Daniels covers a broad array of leadership solutions! Leadership Briefs is on target and gives actionable strategies for becoming a trusted leader. Daniels’ principles will help leaders become more successful."

— DAVID HORSAGER, Best-selling author, The Trust Edge, Speaker, Consultant, CEO, Horsager Leadership Inc., St. Paul, Minnesota

"Over the years I have greatly appreciated the work of Dick Daniels and his Leadership Development eLetters. The content has been profound but presented in an easy-to-reference and easy-to-read format. Each letter has been intensely practical. More than leadership ideas and philosophy, Dick provides insightful and tested principles and practices that work. In addition to taking them to heart, I have passed on the letters to leaders in other organizations. I am excited about Leadership Briefs."

— DAVID VEERMAN, Chief Creative Officer, Livingstone: The Publishing Services Division of Barton-Veerman Company, Wheaton, Illinois

"Countless books have been written about leadership as a theory or a series of ‘doing’ strategies. Finally, in Leadership Briefs, we have a book that captures the essence of leadership and speaks to the leader’s inner core. Honour, character, as well as mind, heart, hands, and feet are the hallmark of successful and sustainable enterprises of the future. Packed with practical strategies for developing leadership capacity and effectiveness, Leadership Briefs encourages a culture that mirrors the characteristics of an exemplary leader."

— JOSIE THOMSON, Master Certified Coach, Neuroleadership & Change Expert, Executive Director, JosieThomson.com, Brisbane, Australia

"Leadership in the military is forged through a series of crucible events from the moment one enlists or is commissioned and lasts until one retires from service. Leadership Briefs is significantly applicable in helping understand the dynamics of leadership and the challenges of being an effective leader at any level within a military or civilian organization. Leadership Briefs provides a useful framework for anyone to better understand their leadership capability as well as the importance of creating a culture where their leadership style is most effective."

— MAJOR AARON D. KRENZ, Minnesota National Guard, Cottage Grove, Minnesota

"In Leadership Briefs, Dick Daniels has created a wonderful guide for leaders to immerse in solutions for the issues before them. I highly recommend this book. You will enjoy the reading!"

— KARIN SEBELIN, Leadership Expert for Empathy and Trust, Mentor, Mentee-Mentoring for Leadership Development, Friolzheim, Germany

I could have used this book 30 years ago—and saved myself and my team members from unnecessary leadership pain! Every chapter begs to be discussed and implemented in a weekly staff meeting. The chapter on delegation is worth the price of the book. I’ve already borrowed his memorable outline: Think, Talk, Act, and Ask. Brilliant!

— JOHN PEARSON, President, John Pearson Associates Inc, Author, Mastering the Management Buckets, San Clemente, California

Practical and People-centered are the words that describe Leadership Briefs. This work is comprehensive and it puts a human face on the subject. It is your personal guide on how to lead as if people matter, including such important topics as corporate culture, character building, and developing emerging leaders. I recommend reading a brief per day. And when you finish, you will need to start all over again."

— DR. RICHARD L. GATHRO, Director, Washington DC Program,

Pepperdine University

"The humility concept within Leadership Briefs is fantastic and empowering. It starts with the premise of leaders learning through mistakes. How true for us all, yet how uncomfortable. Each leadership topic is succinctly defined into one page that packs in action-oriented content. This book covers the spectrum of leadership development including elements I never considered having an impact on my organization. The digestible format allows for consuming the content at your own pace, keeping it truly brief or diving much deeper. I’m planning to read this a few times."

— MARK MORSE, CEO and Chief Creative Officer, MorseKode, Minneapolis, Minnesota

"Leadership Briefs is like good wine. Dick has been around long enough to see all the fads, flows, and flaws of leadership. His ideas are well balanced, mature, and integrated with a deep awareness of leadership in an emerging world. It’s a nice pairing of philosophical and practical and is written in a very digestible form. Thank you!"

— DR. THEO GEYSER, Cultural Architect, InVia, Cape Town, South Africa

"‘Keep your arms straight and your knees bent.’ You can learn to water ski the hard way or take advice from an expert. Leadership Briefs is a handbook of tips on doing leadership well. Why not do it the easy way and take tips from those who do it well? Thanks, Dick Daniels, for compiling these ideas for us!"

— STEVE SAINT, Founder and President, ITEC, Dunnellon, Florida