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Leadership: Best Advice I Ever Got

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Just this week, I got a nice e-mail from a 20 year-old college student who wanted to know what books I wished I had read when I was his age. As I answered his question (the Bible), I thought about how incredibly useful it would be to ask similar questions of those who are knowledgeable in various fields. That reminded me of Leadership--Best Advice I Ever Got.

Paul B. Thornton was inspired to develop this book after reading an article called "The Best Advice I Ever Got" in the March 21, 2005 issue of Fortune magazine. He contacted many leaders and leadership experts to find out their answers. Then, he compiled 137 responses in this fine book.

The advice in the book addresses important topics like:

1. What do you stand for?
2. What are your core values?
3. What is your mission?
4. What is your vision?
5. What is the best way to communicate?
6. What is the best way to influence others?
7. How can you enhance your presence?
8. What is a good leadership style for you?

Mr. Thornton kicks off the book with a definition of what leadership is: "Leadership is the process of helping individuals, teams, and organizations become more and achieve more than they ever thought possible."

"Leaders help people become more . . .
Confident
Principled
Knowledgeable
Skilled
Passionate
Determined
Integrated
Balanced

Leaders help people achieve more than success!"

To lead, he suggests that you have to have ideas, conviction, courage, confidence, decisiveness, connection skills, good communication talents, passion, enthusiasm, persuasiveness and an ability to execute.

Business CEOs quoted in the book include:

William H. Swanson, Raytheon
Klaus Kleinfeld, Siemens
Richard J. Faubert, AmberWave Systems
Anne Mulcahy, Xerox
Cordia Harrington, Tennessee Bun Company

Well-known authors quoted in the book include:

Bill Jensen, Simplicity
Robert Sutton, The Knowing-Doing Gap
Marshall Goldberg, The Art and Practice of Leadership Coaching
Margaret Wheatley, Leadership and the New Science
David Cottrell, Monday Morning Leadership
Oren Harari, The Leadership Secrets of Colin Powell
Ken Shelton, ghostwriter of The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People

The list is also seasoned with deans, people who have founded non-profit organizations, leadership coaches, sports coaches, professors and ordinary people with extraordinary insights.

In Part Three, Mr. Thornton summarizes his own advice on all of these areas to integrate the individual lessons.

Filled with enough epiphanies to transform almost every life on Earth, I highly recommend that you read, re-read and apply what you learn from this remarkable resource!

THE BEST LEADERSHIP ADVICE I EVER GOT is not one of those blockbuster business best-sellers touting some hot new management fad that every corporate hero wannabe latches on to and quotes from religiously (and annoyingly) until the NEXT business book hits the bookshelf. What it is, however, is one of those classic gems that the smarter-than-average business reader keeps within arm's reach of his desktop to read in a spare moment or when he needs an idea or inspiration. And that's just what readers find on every single one of the just over 100 pages of Paul B. Thornton's new book: Sensible advice from seventy-five business leaders (representing a wide cross-section of industries) on topics such as integrity, courage, focus, perseverance, and change. To conclude each of his chapters, Thornton briefly summarizes the broad lessons put forth by his subjects and challenges readers with a couple of questions to help personalize the information and to inspire action, but it is done quickly, succinctly, without being preachy or pedantic.

I share Paul B. Thornton's high regard for material that has recently been edited and then anthologized in Fortune: Secrets of Greatness. As Eric Pooley, managing editor of Fortune, explains in the Foreword to that book, he once had an off-the-record, one-on-one dinner with the CEO of a major investment bank who "really came alive when I asked him the most basic question of the evening: "How do you work?'" As Pooley met with other business leaders in the months that followed, he asked the same question and their responses resulted in a special issue called "How I Work." Now, in a single volume, the editors of Fortune magazine have assembled a wealth of information from a series of individual issues, which comprise the "Secrets of Greatness" series. The contributors offer what Pooley correctly characterizes as "great take-away... and I think you'll experience the same happy shock of recognition I did when sitting across from that master investment banker in the spring of 2005. Hey, his challenges are not so different from mine. I'm going to test drive some of his solutions."

Thornton conducted his own research among 135 people who shared the best advice they had received in helping them to become effective leaders. He added to their responses excerpts from among comments by Klaus Kleinfeld and Anne Mulcahy in the original Fortune article, "The Best Advice I Ever Got." Then Thornton added five chapters that comprise Part Three of his book. In these concluding chapters, he offers his own advice to those who want to become effective leaders. The result is the book I now review.

At the outset, I need to point out that the 137 contributors offer no head-snapping revelations concerning leadership; indeed, much of the advice they received - and share - is so familiar that it now seems obvious and simplistic. Have a clear and bold vision, work hard, stay focused, be patient but persistent, get others involved and help them to develop their own strengths, etc. (The last time I checked, Amazon and Borders offer 40,889 books on the subject of leadership.) The value of this book is derived from advice that, more often than not, offers reassurance of what most readers probably know already rather than from the provision of new insights. The material is anecdotal and personal as contributors reflect and reminisce. A number of contributors cite leadership by example (e.g. parents, other relatives, coaches, clergy, and senior-level executives as role models) rather than leadership by admonition. The names of most of the contributors were previously unfamiliar to me.

Here are two excerpts. First, comments by Xerox CEO Anne Mulcahy when recalling advice she once received from Albert C. Black, Jr. "When everything gets really complicated and you feel overwhelmed, think about this way: you gotta do three things. First, get the cow out of the ditch. Second, find out how the cow got in the ditch. Third, make sure you do whatever it takes so the cow doesn't go in the ditch again."

Another company CEO, Donald W. Mitchell, recalls asking Peter Drucker to identify the best single measure of corporate performance for improving stock price. "Young man, there is no single measure of corporate performance that is any good. You should use all of them...and try to find more."

Thornton concludes the final chapter with his own advice: "Perhaps the most important competency for leaders is to keep unfolding - becoming more and more authentic, principled, focused, clear, and influential. Even after achieving great success the top leaders are open to new ideas. They keep discovering and reinventing their leadership message and style.

"Be the Leader, Make the Difference!"

Had Thornton eliminated repetitions among the contributions and required those who provided advice to place it within a more fully developed context, I would have rated this book higher. As is, it is certainly worth reading. Presumably several readers will obtain advice that can help them to become more effective leaders, and, to help others to do so, also.

Those who find this book valuable are encouraged to check out the aforementioned Fortune: Secrets of Greatness as well as two books written by Tom Butler-Bowdon: 50 Business Classics and 50 Self-Help Classics. I also strongly recommend Michael Ray's The Highest Goal and James O'Toole's Creating the Good Life.

In March of 2005, author Paul Thornton discovered an article written in Fortune magazine entitled "The Best Advice I Ever Got." The article inspired Thornton to write this book. This work is a compilation of over 130 leaders who contributed the "best advice" they received in their careers which helped them to become effective leaders.

Leadership-Best Advice I Ever Got is organized into three parts. In part 1, Thornton provides a clear personal definition of leadership. He states, "Leadership is the process of helping individuals, teams, and organizations become more and achieve more than they ever thought possible." Part 2 is the heart of the book and provides individual leadership advice the contributors received from parents, family and friends, colleagues and associates, bosses and company leaders, mentors and coaches, religion and spiritual influences, national leaders and personal experiences. Each of the chapters in this section end with a summary to help the reader remember some important ideas. In part 3, Thornton offers his own advice for those who desire to lead others. Many of the excellent points he provides in these final chapters encapsulate his leadership philosophy from previous books he has written and published.

The individuals who provided their life experiences to this book are varied in background, avocation and degree of influence. If you have been examining the study of leadership development you will find many recognizable contributors like Marshall Goldsmith, Ken Shelton, Paul Hershey and Tom Brown. Yet, among these prominent individuals, you will also find sage leadership advice from lesser know leaders who are guiding people and organizations everyday, and are now developing the leaders we will see tomorrow!

Imagine if you were given the opportunity to spend a long relaxed evening with some of the most creative and innovative leaders in the world today. Among them were leaders from every level of society and every kind of organization. Throughout that enjoyable fellowship you were able to glean advice that would normally take a lifetime to learn. Your invitation has just arrived! Leadership-The Best Advice I Ever Got by Paul Thornton is one of the most helpful and educational books ever written on the topic of leadership counsel and wisdom. Many prominent and lesser known modern leaders will share with you their own nugget of truth that forever molded and changed they way they lead. Don't miss the opportunity to take your knowledge of leadership to the next level.

In gathering together a wide range of leaders and thought leaders (CEOs, coaches, consultants, presidents, professors, politicians,
and religious leaders) Paul Thornton has put together a delightful read. I've come in contact with some of the 136 people who offer their advice in his book and his quotes from them are right on! Paul also does a great job defining leadership at the very beginning of the book and one of the great questions he asks (and that any leader should ask) is, "Am I helping individuals and teams to achieve their best performance?" The last section of the book brings home the practical aspect -- he talks about the process by which leaders see what's possible, then describe what's possible, and finally pursue what's possible. This is an inspiring read, one in which you can dive in at almost any point to get some sound leadership advice when you feel high-centered. It's always good to have books like these on the shelf so you can return to them over and over!

You can open up to just about any page of this book and find great advice and ideas. I admit to liking compilations. My suggestion is to read the book with a highlighter and mark the ideas you like. You will get lots of them. Then, go to work putting them to use. Thanks for creating a great little book with LOTS of ideas.

Shep Hyken, New York Times and Wall Street Journal bestselling author of "The Amazement Revolution"