Leadership Passages: The Personal and Professional Transitions That Make or Break a Leader (J-B US non-Franchise Leadership) [Hardcover]

David L. Dotlich (Author), James L. Noel (Author), Norman Walker (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 21, 2004 | Series: J-B US non-Franchise Leadership (Book 46)

Leaders face numerous critical crossroads in their careers, moments that can provide extraordinary learning and growth opportunities or ensnare them and prevent further development. The good thing about these passages is that they’re predictable, and with proper preparation, leaders not only can survive them to become stronger but can use these experiences to enhance their leadership, compassion, and effectiveness. This book lays out thirteen specific “leadership passages” based on research, interviews, and coaching of senior executives in such well-known companies as Johnson & Johnson, Novarits, Intel, GE, and Bank of America. For each passage, the authors describe what to expect, how the passage constitutes a choice point, and what effective leaders do to navigate and grow from the challenge. Some of the passages include: moving into a leadership role for the first time, dealing with significant failure for which you are responsible, derailing/losing your job, being acquired/merging, losing faith in the system, understanding the importance of children, family and friends, and personal upheavals such as divorce, illness, and death. The authors provide a wealth of practical tools and techniques to improve your leadership, along with real-life examples from recognizable leaders and breakthrough ways in which companies can use the concept of leadership passages to grow talent.

Editorial Reviews

Review

“…Leadership Passages has the answers…” (Business Executive, June 2005)

“…packs in more useable advice than most of its ilk…a useful book…” (Third Sector, 2 March 2005)

“…insightful…” (CA Magazine, 1st Dec. 2004)

“…a wealth of practical tools and techniques to improve your leadership…” (Strategic HR Review, Nov/Dec 2004)

Review

"Leadership Passages describes systematically that it is far more effective and compelling to build on both successes and failures, rather than trying to overlook or even ignore the valuable lessons that unavoidable adversity in both our personal and business lives can teach us."
--Daniel Vasella, chairman and CEO, Novartis

"If you want to succeed and have inner peace at the same time, then this book is for you."
--Ram Charan , coauthor, Execution: The Discipline of Getting Things Done

"Leadership Passages describes in direct, simple, and honest language how human beings become great leaders. Filled with wisdom, insight, and practical advice from three world-class coaches—reading this book is like attending and completing a senior-level leadership program, or spending a week with the best executive coach."
--Linda Clark-Santos, senior vice president, Talent & Organizational Capability of Washington Mutual

"Do careers stop when we are passed over, have a bad boss, or just blow it?  Not according to this book. Great leaders pick themselves up and move on, learning while they go forward. Leadership Passages show us how."
--Ken Blanchard, coauthor, The One Minute Manager and The Secret

"This breakthrough book on leadership development is filled with practical advice on ways to lead others and ways to learn from your life as well as your career. We all know that experience is a teacher, but Dotlich, Noel, and Walker show us why!"
--Joe Berardino, vice chairman, Sciens Capital Management LLC, and former chairman and CEO, Andersen Worldwide

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 240 pages
• Publisher: Jossey-Bass; 1 edition (September 21, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0787974277
• ISBN-13: 978-0787974275
• Product Dimensions: 9.5 x 6.3 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #91,810 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Something for everyone, June 26, 2005

By 

Thomas M. Loarie (Danville, CA USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Leadership Passages: The Personal and Professional Transitions That Make or Break a Leader (J-B US non-Franchise Leadership) (Hardcover)

Transitions are a part of everyone's life. And since the publication of Judith Viorst's "Necessary Losses," transitions has become and increasingly popular subject for authors.

Dotlich, Noel, and Walker in "Leadership Passages" cover thirteen common personal and professional passages (transitions) that they say make or break a leader...in fact, they can make or break any human, not just leaders. The authors based this book on their work as executives within major companies, business advisors and executive development consultants.

Passages are predictable and inevitable. Most will go through more than one. Since passages are intense, they can destroy one's spirit. At the same time, they represent an opportunity as those who successfully navigate these difficult currents of life will experience real personal growth. And if not handled with emotional and intellectual honesty, these passages lead to danger.

Most people, the authors have found, who move through life experiencing one success after another are shallow. They distinguish between the senior executive who has been strengthened and deepened by his/her passages and failure, from those who have not. The former are the most effective leaders.

"Leadership Passages" is filled with examples and covers the following transitions.
1. Joining a company.
2. Moving into a leadership role.
3. Accepting the stretch assignment.
4. Getting responsibility for a business.
5. Dealing with significant failure for which you were responsible.
6. Coping with a bad boss and competitive peers.
7. Losing your job or being passed over for the promotion.
8. Being part of an acquisition or merger.
9. Living in a different country.
10. Finding meaningful balance between work and family.
11. Letting go of ambition.
12. Facing personal upheaval.
13. Losing faith in the system

There is something in this book for everyone. This is a book that will have value at many points in your career. And these passages will test your resiliency, your ability to accept responsibility, your ability to reflect, seek support, develop and seek refuge, use a professional network, gain perspective, take risks, refine, and pass on your experience.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Packed with Knowledge !, March 14, 2005

By 

Rolf Dobelli "getAbstract" (Switzerland) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Leadership Passages: The Personal and Professional Transitions That Make or Break a Leader (J-B US non-Franchise Leadership) (Hardcover)

Authors David L. Dotlich, James L. Noel and Norman Walker connect the growing body of work about the emotional intelligence of leaders with the practice of executive coaching and leadership development. Where does emotional intelligence come from, and how can you stimulate its development in the next generation of leaders? The authors' answer is that growth is indivisible from pain and change. Any great leader fights personal and professional battles, and earns a few scars. The bottom line: what doesn't kill you makes you stronger. For individual leaders-in-training, the question is how to grow after being hit by life's curveballs. For firms, the question is how to incorporate executives' personal lives and career setbacks into their development as leaders. In this regard, the book bridges a gap in executive development literature. We very highly recommend it to those experiencing difficult transitions, and to human resource and development professionals.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Redefining Failure and Successful Leadership, November 18, 2004

By 

Sara Golier "Sara" (New York) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Leadership Passages: The Personal and Professional Transitions That Make or Break a Leader (J-B US non-Franchise Leadership) (Hardcover)

Leadership Passages offers a guided tour of real-world do's and don'ts, as it relates to the 13 most common passages most executives will face at some point in their career. The passages themselves are not surprising. They include things like dealing with a significant failure for which you are responsible, being part of a merger or acquisition, and coping with a bad boss or competitive peers.

What's different is the way the authors cast failure and seemingly negative events in a new, more positive light. The book maintains that these events are a critical part of truly successful leadership. I was encouraged to read passages like the following:
"(The) passages have an impact on leaders, just as they do on all of us. If you go through them with your eyes-and your mind-closed, you diminish your own development. If you go through them consciously and are open to the lessons they hold, you dramatically increase the odds of being a consistently effective leader."

"High-performing leaders are aware of their strengths and their weaknesses; they talk and think about their limitations and failures and try to learn from them. They see themselves as continuously learning, adapting, and responding to both positive and negative circumstances. Most important, they are highly conscious of their feelings and behaviors as they move through life."

I would recommend this book for any executive who is looking for new perspectives on professional development and is willing to invest the time and effort to confront both the highs and lows we all experience. I hope you find the book as thought-provoking and rewarding as I did.