The Arch and the Path: The Life of Leading Greatly Verdana is not your usual book on leadership: it depicts the arduous and joyful path leaders must take in order to guide succesful organizations. Great leaders of successful organizations, according to Shenkman, open people´s lives to more expansive and encompassing possibilities. Creative leading requires a commitment. It is not a commitment everyone will make. And once made, the commitment brings with it special demands. The life of leading is a response to those demands. If leaders are to sustain their efforts in their chosen role, learning the disciplines and practices of the life of leading is essential. As a mentor to leaders of successful organizations of all types, Shenkmanhas helped many aspiring exceutives to lead greatly. The Arch and the Path summarizes and crystalizes the many experiences those executives have had in becoming great leaders. According to Charles E. Hoffman, CEO and President of Covad Communications, Inc.,for leaders who aspire not only to success, but to affect people´s lives in important ways, "this book is essential reading."
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Dr. Michael Shenkman, President of the Arch of Leadership, a nationally-recognized leader mentoring firm based in Albuquerque New Mexico, is author of The Arch and The Path, the Life of Leading Greatly and two other books as well as numerous published articles. He developed the Arch of Leadership program after more than 20 years of consulting experience, extensive research, executive coaching and mentoring. He holds a Ph.D. from Boston College and a BA from Dickinson College.
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
A Reflective Approach to Leadership,
By
This review is from: The Arch & The Path (Hardcover)
This is as much a book about applied philosophy as it is creative leadership. A creative leader is one who takes a vision and transforms it into "practical action that entails collaboration and sustained effort." The vision starts when there is a conflict between the leader's values and a world that does not quite measure up.
The author symbolizes the skills and knowledge that a creative leader must have in the form of three arches, with each arch containing six parts. The arch is a framework for tying together eighteen related concepts - plus quite a few more - to explain the author's theory and practice of creative leading. The three arches are effectiveness, vision and organization, and leader's ethic. The art of collaboration revolves around actions that change attitudes, behaviors, and living conditions. A creative leader cannot exist without capable followers who freely choose their role. As one leader explains, "my real job is to help others make bridges for themselves, so they can get over the rough spots, the fears and disappointments that go with change. I help get them to the next creative, productive action - no matter how anxiety producing it is at the outset." Knowing that "change always exacts a price", a creative leader tries to calculate the best overall return for the price. An important tenet of this kind of leadership is that people will collaborate "when they feel their actions and lives embody important values." To convey those values, a creative leader must match words to deeds - a critical step in getting the culture to respond. Without a match, the results may be wasted energy, cynicism, and bad politics. Followers look to the leader's actions to assess their own values. If the leader's values agree with theirs, they stay. If not, they leave. Each of the four parts of this book opens with a vignette about a fictional developing leader and her mentor. Taken together, they read like an engaging short story that illustrates the ups and downs that a leader might face. Although the rest of the book has an academic feel to it with several concepts that you may have to reflect on for a while, the effort is worth your time. In recent years, we have seen plenty of bad - even criminal - leaders. This book helps to distinguish the real leaders from the charlatans.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Deep, innovative, new.,
This review is from: The Arch & The Path (Hardcover)
Michael Shenkman is a rarity among business writers: He thinks. Deeply. He is challenging, perceptive, innovative, aware.
If you're ready to have your preconceptions challenged, if you're ready to push your understanding of what you're doing and why, Shenkman's book is for you. Most management books are written to be read on airplanes. Their advice is platitudinous and tepid. And so commonplace as to be worthless. Akin to the best of Peter Drucker, Shenkman has the same Germanic thirst for true knowledge and insight. If you're a leader, and interested in understanding what leadership is and how you might improve your own leadership abilities, read Shenkman. I promise, you'll learn something.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The Arch and the Path,
By
This review is from: The Arch & The Path: The Life of Leading Greatly (Paperback)
The Arch and the Path: The Life of Leading Greatly by Michael Shenkman is a worthwhile read that surpasses its contenders in terms of content. The book goes one step further than others of the same genre in explaining what it takes to lead. While many leadership books read like how-to manuals, Shenkman does not let us off so easily and his version of a true leader warrants the fine-tuning and mastery of our mental and emotional capacities. His book delves into the realm of psychology, morality and ethics, teaching us that leadership has to be borne of good intentions and positive energies. More importantly, Shenkman never allows his arguments to become too abstract, constantly tying in his theories with concrete, real life instances. In this respect, one truly has to give credit to Shenkman for recognizing that many readers like being mentally engaged with what they read, and the book speaks to us in a manner that is as encouraging as it is thoughtful. It beckons us to take the challenge and become capable leaders, while reminding us that whatever revolution we undertake has to begin from within ourselves. Such wisdom is extremely refreshing for a book of this genre in light of the banality of most leadership books on the market today.
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