Inspirational Leadership: Destiny, Calling and Cause [Hardcover]

Lance H. K. Secretan (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0771576412 | ISBN-13: 978-0771576416 | Publication Date: October 16, 1999 | Edition: 1

Inspirational Leadership offers a radical theory of leadership based on the leadership practices of some of the greatest leaders of all time as well as many inspiring leaders of organizations today. The model of spiritual leadership proposed by this book contrasts to the theories of leadership widely practiced in modern organizations and in society. The book is divided into two parts. Part One explains the circumstances that led to our present intense hunger for a better way to lead others, for a way to inspire and ennoble them and their souls, for a way that all leaders can act toward every living and inanimate thing as sacred. History and mythology have much to say about leadership and Inspirational Leadership draws on this inheritance for some of its wisdom. Part Two explains the path to becoming an Inspirational Leader, which consists of a seven-step approach that has been followed by many of the greatest historical and contemporary Inspirational Leaders.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Lance Secretan has learned something that escapes most of executives: that their employees have souls. Even better, Lance shows would-be leaders how to create organizations with soul-and the results to prove it. -- John Brandt, Editor-in-chief, Industry Week

Lance Secretan is one of the most important leadership teachers of our time. he is changing the world by reawakning spirit and values at work, teaching the kind of leadership for which followers are yearning. Inspirational Leadership is a groundbreaking, visionary manifesto for leaders who want to make the world a better place by running the best organizations on the planet. -- Marianne Williamson, author, Enchanted Love

Lance Secretan's book shares a quality with the leaders it describes - contagious vision. It's nice to finally read a unique, well-rounded perspective on leadership. -- David Chilton, author, The Wealthy Barber

From the Author

Who isn't a leader? Mothers, brothers, sisters, friends, and strangers are all called upon at different times to lead. So are teachers, principals and students; nurses, doctors and clinicians; law enforcement officers, attorneys, defendants and plaintiffs; salespeople and customers; actors, musicians, poets and artists; atheletes, coaches, sports administrators and referees. Who of us during some point in our day is not called upon to display leadership skills? When I refer to leaders in Inspirational Leadership I mean it to include everyone - especially CEO's, presidents, senior executives and managers - but all the rest of us too.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 195 pages
• Publisher: Macmillan of Canada; 1 edition (October 16, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0771576412
• ISBN-13: 978-0771576416
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.1 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #791,252 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Dr. Lance Secretan lives his dream--"To change the world by creating inspiring organizations". He has dedicated his life to transforming companies, changing the lives of the people who work in them, and revolutionizing the way leaders can lead.

As an advisor to leaders, a speaker, retreat leader, teacher and coach, Lance inspires executive teams with new ways of thinking, which one Fortune 100 leader described as, "enabling us to move from the profane to the sacred". He is pioneering the integration of corporate life and spiritual integrity.

Lance is widely acknowledged as one of the most insightful and provocative leadership teachers of our time. He is the former CEO of a Fortune 100 company, university professor, award-winning columnist and author in 15 books about leadership and inspiration. Lance focuses on the connection between high performance and the heart, the mind and the soul and why the key ingredient is inspiration when we seek effective leadership. His teachings and writings on conscious leadership, are courageous, radical and ingenious and have been hailed as among the most original, authentic and effective contributions to leadership thinking currently available. Individuals, entire organizations, cities and states have experienced remarkable transformations through his unique mentoring, wisdom and approach. Thirty of Fortune's Most Admired Companies, and 13 of Fortune's Best Companies to Work for in America, are his clients. Leadership Excellence ranked him among the top 100 Most Influential Thinkers on Leadership in the World and Speakers in America ranks him among the Top Five Leadership speakers. Our experience is Lance's Retreats and Workshops are simply incomparable in terms of practice and immediate usefulness.

Lance is a dynamic, thought-provoking and extraordinarily tech-savvy presenter who ignites individual clients, companies and audiences with his passion. His work results in reinvigorated work environments all over the world and his presentations result in standing ovations.
Lance is the author of numerous highly-regarded books that inspire people and organizations to look at their work in new and invigorating ways. In Dr. Secretan's latest book, The Spark, the Flame, and the Torch: Inspire Self. Inspire Others. Inspire the World, he teaches us how to become a more inspired person, how to be a more inspiring leader and how to be the change the world needs for a brighter future. He integrates experience and theory to show us how to fulfill our destiny and create inspiring organizations.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Moving Beyond Motivation to Spiritual Inspiration at Work, April 9, 2001

By 

Donald Mitchell "Jesus Loves You!" (Thanks for Providing My Reviews over 109,000 Helpful Votes Globally) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 100 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Inspirational Leadership: Destiny, Calling and Cause (Hardcover)

For many years, the best leaders have been articulating ennobling purposes that inspire people about their work. In the volunteer world, this has long been the key to attracting time and effort from people who have already put in a full day at their paying work. Increasingly, paying-work leaders have found this area to be the cutting edge of attracting and retaining an excited and effective group of people. Lance Secretan has articulated a process here whereby leaders can find these purposes and share them with colleagues at work. The book is helped by many heart-warming stories. On the other hand, the book is flawed by an incomplete process for extending noble purposes to all stakeholders of an enterprise. The book is also filled with typos and annoying errors that suggest a lack of commitment to the purpose being described here.

I really wanted to love this book, but Mr. Secretan's approach kept pushing me away . . . despite the fact that I think that having an ennobling purpose for work is the right way to go, and the way that I conduct my life. Here are a few examples of the problems I am describing. First, he uses many metaphors that didn't work for me (including astrology, parceners -- someone who shares an inheritance with others -- a legal term, and movie scenes that I didn't like when I first saw them). Second, the book itself doesn't seem to manifest its own message. For example, an inspiring leader is supposed to be serving the parcener. I didn't feel served in the book. I mostly felt lectured to and exhorted. Third, there is a distinct hostility towards quantitative methods, mission statements, planning, positive feedback, and many other standard business methods. Why can't these activities also serve an inspiring purpose? Fourth, there is a tendency to categorize people as fitting into the model or not. Life isn't that simple. Most of us have our moments when we inspire and times when we don't. Thomas Jefferson is cited as a role model, but there's not a word here about his role as a slaveowner. Surely, that's an example of the type of mixed-up people we really are.

I suspect that it is easier to articulate Mr. Secretan's message by describing one's own activities as a leader than by ascribing it others. It seems very derivative to refer to others in isolated examples. Mr. Secretan's examples of his own leadership style (especially bugging the franchisee to fill out reports for months) usually didn't make me feel like that's what an inspiring leader would do. His most positive example is hiring a passionate helicopter pilot, but not knowing what role the person was to pursue. Mr. Secretan and the man worked it all out fine, but many people wouldn't feel inspired by a leader who is that unfocused.

The book contains a seven step process:

1. Self-define the leader's destiny.

2. Define the cause that the leader wants to serve.

3. Help parceners find what calling they feel most aligned with.

4. Align the individual's calling with the organization's cause.

5. Serve parceners.

6. Focus people on what they do best.

7. Create an environment in which people are inspired by both encouraging each other and by the physical surroundings.

This list was good because it articulated a process of human interaction that would allow everyone to feel better, have more energy, and aid one another. Leaders do need to start with themselves, before they can help others.

I kept looking for customers, partners, suppliers, shareholders, and the communities the organization serves. They were mostly missing. The notion seems to be that if the parceners are inspired and supported everyone else will do well, too. That may be true, but I haven't seen it done that way.

What I have seen done is to create an inspiring purpose that all stakeholders were delighted to support. I think of Habitat for Humanity as a good role model of this approach, and that organization has been one of the most successful (by quantitative measures) of any I have studied. In fact, I was astonished to read a book about inspirational leadership that talks a lot about Medtronic, but not about Habitat for Humanity. Well, no book is perfect.

If you are interested in inspiring leadership, you can find better books to help you. As General Schwarzkopf once said, "Be the leader you would like to have."

After you read this book, make a brief list of the best leaders you have known. Where did their inspiration come from? How did they inspire you and others? What were the benefits? How could more have been accomplished? How could the leadership have been better?

Learn from the best . . . and extend on towards the limits of human potential!

5 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The New Story of Leadership, December 1, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Inspirational Leadership: Destiny, Calling and Cause (Hardcover)

This book presents a new story and vision for managers and leaders in the 21st Century. It is a simple read that provokes thought, questions, and most of all, change. I am a big fan of Lance's work, but this one really breaks new ground.