Inside-Out Leadership: How to Master the 4 Principles of Effective Leadership and Become a Leader Others Choose to Follow

By Bernard Desmidt

Inside-Out Leadership goes to the core of how to be an effective leader. Inside-Out Leadership powerfully demonstrates that leadership is not only something we do, but who we are. Unless we first master our ability to lead ourselves, we cant expect to master leading others. This book highlights the mindsets effective leaders adopt and includes the proven leadership approaches, processes and tools to help you master leading self and leading others to achieve sustainable organisational success. By reading and working through this book, become the leader others choose to follow.

How this book will help you to be a more effective leader:

Demonstrates how to apply the 4 Principles that underpin leadership effectiveness.
Provides a framework and model on how to develop a preferred leadership culture across the organisation and build an engaged environment.
Provides proven, practical and applicable tools on how to be a more effective leader and create voluntary followers.
Most importantly, by being a more effective leader, you will derive greater fulfilment, meaning and happiness in your life.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris AU
• Release date: Dec 18, 2012
• ISBN: 9781479741557

Bernard Desmidt

Specializing in leadership development, Bernard Desmidt is one Australia's leading executive coaches. With over 20 years' of executive leadership experience, in the financial services, manufacturing, IT, FMCG, retail, logistics and media industries in Australia, UK, USA and Asia.

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Copyright © 2013 by Bernard Desmidt.

Library of Congress Control Number:       2012920333

ISBN:         Hardcover                               978-1-4797-4154-0

                   Softcover                                 978-1-4797-4153-3

                   Ebook                                      978-1-4797-4155-7

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

To order additional copies of this book, contact:

Xlibris Corporation

1-800-618-969

www.xlibris.com.au

[e-mail]

502154

Contents

Preface

Acknowledgements

The Journey to Effective Leadership

Inside-Out Leadership

Principle 1: Know Yourself

         - Your Values

         - Your Strengths

         - Your Emotional Intelligence

         - Your Learning Style

         - Your Thinking Style

Principle 2: Discipline Your Thoughts and Actions

         - Be Proactive

         - Begin With the End in Mind

         - Put First Things First

Principle 3: Be Trustworthy and Humble

         - Trust Equation

         - Trust and Teamwork

         - Be Humble

Principle 4: Facilitate Learning

         - Being a Leader-as-Coach

         - Holding Others Accountable

         - Delegating

Effective Leadership in Action

Employee Engagement

Where to from here?

About the Author

Preface

Many books have been written about what leadership is and what great leaders do. But few books explain how to become a more effective leader. My purpose in writing this how-to book is to address this imbalance and help you become a better leader.

Over the past 20 years in my work as an executive coach, I’ve had the opportunity to develop leadership concepts, frameworks and processes that have helped hundreds of talented people fulfil their potential as leaders. This book focuses on how you can use and apply this knowledge in a simple but deliberate way to become a more effective leader.

Leadership is not only about what we do, it’s also about who we are. Experience has taught me learning about leadership begins with learning about self. You must master leading self before trying to master leading others. Inside-Out Leadership is a step-by-step handbook showing you how to master leading self and leading others.

Learning is about taking action. So the best way to use this book is as a guide and practical tool. Read the stories, reflect on the material, and think about how you can apply it in your current situation. Do the exercises and invest in your self-discovery.

I recommend that you read the book from cover to cover. Not necessarily at one sitting, but work your way through it. By doing this you’ll gain the most benefit, experience greater success in your career and achieve better results for your organisation.

Since we learn best with and from others, take the opportunity to share your insights as you work through this book. Make the commitment to try new ways of doing things. Invite feedback from others, listen to what they have to say, think about how their feedback can help you improve—then act on it!

I invite you to take the next step and start your learning journey. Begin by committing to working through this book and give yourself the best opportunity to become the leader you aspire to be.

May you flourish.

Acknowledgements

Firstly I’d like to acknowledge all the people throughout my career that I’ve been privileged to lead and fortunate to have been led by. Thank you for everything you’ve taught me about myself and how to be a leader.

I also want to acknowledge the many leaders and leadership teams I’ve had the opportunity to coach. Seeing you grow and flourish has been the most enjoyable and rewarding part of my working life.

As a lifelong student, I am indebted to many thought leaders who’ve made invaluable contributions to our understanding of the art and science of leadership. Never before has there been such a great volume of empirical evidence showing that effective leadership is as much about who we are, as it is about what we do.

I’d like to acknowledge the following leadership thinkers and authors who’ve greatly inspired me and influenced my thinking: Daniel Goleman, Jim Collins, Patrick Lencioni, Stephen Covey, John Zenger, Joseph Folkman, James Kouzes, Barry Posner and David Maister. In particular I’d like to acknowledge and thank Marshall Goldsmith for his invaluable contribution not only as the world’s most influential leadership thinker but also as one of the world’s preeminent executive coaches.

Most of all I want to thank my life partner and wife, Kim, whose unending love and unfailing support have inspired me to do what I find greatest meaning in: helping others realise their potential. Thank you for your love, patience, understanding and belief in me.

To Kerry, Lauren and Amy, I will remember and love you forever.

To my life long friend and mentor, Mark Davidson, I treasure the friendship and thank you for all your support and encouragement.

Finally, thank you to my two greatest friends and teachers, my children, Lee and Guy. You have made my life the blessing it is.

The Journey

to Effective Leadership

The highest courage is to dare to appear to be what one is.

(John Lancaster Spalding)

What do you do when your high growth company plateaus? That was the question keeping James awake at night. James was a commercially astute and passionate entrepreneur with a ‘whatever it takes’ mindset. His seven-year-old technology company had been a very successful start up. It had enjoyed average annual revenue growth of 30 per cent and had been written up in a leading national business magazine as a top performing company to watch.

Based on this success, ambitious plans were made to expand the business internationally and increase revenue exponentially. A significant investment was made in hiring additional staff and improving systems and processes to achieve the growth objectives.

However, circumstances conspired to stifle their growth. A combination of the global financial crisis and the investment in expansion caused things to change. Revenue trended downward for the first time in the company’s history and consequently profits started falling.

As the company failed to make headway towards its goals, things began to unravel. While the executive team were committed to the new strategic plan, it became apparent they were struggling to rise to the challenge.

Some team members started to feel vulnerable and sought to shift the blame on others, instead of addressing their own weaknesses, skill deficiencies, and mistakes. Inevitably, conflict began to arise within the team. Trust was eroded, resulting in filtered dialogue, guarded conversations, lack of commitment, and avoidance of accountability. As trust diminished, teamwork—both within the executive team and between each executives’ team—began to evaporate.

Other signs of stress started to appear. Important decisions were being delayed. As pressure to improve results mounted, the executives were spending more and more time in the trenches. Rather than coaching their team members and developing their talent, the executives were doing their jobs for them. Executive team members began to resent one another for not living up to expectations and allowing performance standards to deteriorate.

As a result of the dysfunctions within the executive team, discord manifested deeper within the company. Staff were confused by the executive team’s lack of a clear direction and conflicting and ever-changing priorities. Employee engagement started declining and staff turnover increased, putting more pressure on those who remained.

At this point James realised something had to change. The current situation was unsustainable and the consequences of maintaining the status quo were all too obvious. That’s when James and I met. After discussing the situation, James came to realise that the company would not be able to achieve its goals until the executive team began functioning as a more effective leadership entity.

From my experience, working with many executive teams