How do you build a great organization in a time of accelerating complexity and change? What are the specific things that leaders must do? In this fascinating book, entrepreneur and business consultant Eric Douglas draws on his work with large and small corporations, public agencies, and non-profit organizations to paint a clear picture of the specific practices that distinguish the high performers from all the rest. This is an indispensable guide for anyone in a position of leadership - or for anyone who aspires to be. It reveals both the fundamental systems at work in high-performing companies, as well as the specific day-to-day things that leaders must do to sustain high levels of success for themselves and their organizations.
Leading at Light Speed
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'This is a great book and a great read. It describes what moves us at our core as human beings and how leaders can create leadership throughout an organization. Perhaps most importantly, it shows how to succeed when we face mortal threats and fast-moving opportunities simultaneously.' --- David Muraki, Director, the California Conservation Corps
'In this original and thought-provoking book, Douglas shows how to run an organization with an emphasis on trust and innovation. His vision of aligning the core values, sharpening the focus, and accelerating the pace of change, all the while stimulating creative flow and spreading systems thinking, is a joy to read for its clarity and its grounding in real-world examples.' --- Anne Stausboll, CEO, CalPERS
'The fast pace and constant change of today's business environment present challenges to any organization, large or small. Douglas provides a roadmap for structuring an organization to flourish in this environment. Leading at Light Speed is an essential read for any leader intent on building a high-performing organization.' --- Marty McGartland, President and CEO, Natoma Technologies, Inc.
'I heartily recommend this well-written, wise guide book to successful leadership and innovation. It will be invaluable to everyone who aspires to lead a values-driven corporation or not-for-profit organization.' --- Dr. Robert L. Hendren, Professor and Vice Chair of Psychiatry, University of California, San Francisco
'In this original and thought-provoking book, Douglas shows how to run an organization with an emphasis on trust and innovation. His vision of aligning the core values, sharpening the focus, and accelerating the pace of change, all the while stimulating creative flow and spreading systems thinking, is a joy to read for its clarity and its grounding in real-world examples.' --- Anne Stausboll, CEO, CalPERS
'The fast pace and constant change of today's business environment present challenges to any organization, large or small. Douglas provides a roadmap for structuring an organization to flourish in this environment. Leading at Light Speed is an essential read for any leader intent on building a high-performing organization.' --- Marty McGartland, President and CEO, Natoma Technologies, Inc.
'I heartily recommend this well-written, wise guide book to successful leadership and innovation. It will be invaluable to everyone who aspires to lead a values-driven corporation or not-for-profit organization.' --- Dr. Robert L. Hendren, Professor and Vice Chair of Psychiatry, University of California, San Francisco
From the Publisher
Excerpt
Introduction
Leading at Light Speed
Let's start at the beginning, at the underpinning of leadership. When you look at a tall building, what you see are the visible spaces above the ground. The foundation upon which it rests is largely invisible. But the foundation has to be strong, otherwise the entire building will fall. Similarly, the foundation of effective leadership is largely invisible. But it rests on two behaviors. One is building trust. The other is generating what I call 'spark.'
Let's start with the foundation of trust. Creating trust may seem like an obvious part of a leader's job. What's not so obvious, perhaps, is how fundamental it truly is. Scientists have shown that our brains are hard-wired to respond favorably to those we trust. All of our emotions spring from trust - or the lack of it. That's been true for thousands of years. What has changed is how quickly our feelings of trust can shift. Thanks to the Internet and 24-hour news coverage, we are constantly mining new information to determine whom we can trust.
Now let's talk about spark. By spark, I mean inspiring people to innovate and create. As with trust, spark feeds an essential need. We respond positively to people who inspire our creativity, and negatively to those who don't. Spark is crucial if you're going to succeed in a world where change is constantly accelerating. But spark without trust can be damaging, leading to useless innovations and even destructive ones. Leaders must know how to inspire trust while at the same time sparking new products, new processes, and new practices. Southwest Airlines, FedEx, and Google are three examples of highly successful companies that have built high-performing organizations based on trust and spark.
In short, trust and spark tap into who we are as human beings. They are the keys to our fulfillment and happiness. They animate us, giving us the courage to do extraordinary things. All the rules and practices of leading at light speed can be boiled down to building trust and generating spark. Now let's dig deeper.
Introduction
Leading at Light Speed
Let's start at the beginning, at the underpinning of leadership. When you look at a tall building, what you see are the visible spaces above the ground. The foundation upon which it rests is largely invisible. But the foundation has to be strong, otherwise the entire building will fall. Similarly, the foundation of effective leadership is largely invisible. But it rests on two behaviors. One is building trust. The other is generating what I call 'spark.'
Let's start with the foundation of trust. Creating trust may seem like an obvious part of a leader's job. What's not so obvious, perhaps, is how fundamental it truly is. Scientists have shown that our brains are hard-wired to respond favorably to those we trust. All of our emotions spring from trust - or the lack of it. That's been true for thousands of years. What has changed is how quickly our feelings of trust can shift. Thanks to the Internet and 24-hour news coverage, we are constantly mining new information to determine whom we can trust.
Now let's talk about spark. By spark, I mean inspiring people to innovate and create. As with trust, spark feeds an essential need. We respond positively to people who inspire our creativity, and negatively to those who don't. Spark is crucial if you're going to succeed in a world where change is constantly accelerating. But spark without trust can be damaging, leading to useless innovations and even destructive ones. Leaders must know how to inspire trust while at the same time sparking new products, new processes, and new practices. Southwest Airlines, FedEx, and Google are three examples of highly successful companies that have built high-performing organizations based on trust and spark.
In short, trust and spark tap into who we are as human beings. They are the keys to our fulfillment and happiness. They animate us, giving us the courage to do extraordinary things. All the rules and practices of leading at light speed can be boiled down to building trust and generating spark. Now let's dig deeper.
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Read and Then Lead at Light Speed,
By
This review is from: Leading at Light Speed: Build Trust, Spark Innovation, and Create a High-Performing Organization (Paperback)
Do you want to have a successful business? Of course you do. But it's harder than ever in these trying times. We live in an interconnected world where change is happening so fast that it's hard to stay on top of it all. It's essential that you have strong, capable leadership steering your company through the complex, ever-changing maze of today's business arena, and Eric F. Douglas' new book "Leading at Light Speed" is THE map to steer by.
Mr. Douglas, founder and president of the Sacramento, CA. management consulting firm Leading Resources, Inc., has written a sparklingly clear, dynamic, engaging, and comprehensive leadership guide for building and sustaining a successful business organization with trust and "spark." He lays out his approach in ten chapters detailing what he calls "ten quantum leaps in behavior and approach that can help people lead in a light speed world." Those "quantum leaps" are: "ALIGN THE CORE VALUES" : Leaders must determine and distill the core values necessary for their organization's success and rally everyone within the organization around those values. "SHARPEN THE FOCUS" : Leaders must communicate precisely how the organization is to fulfill and measure fulfillment of its values. "LEAD THROUGH OTHERS" : Leaders must choose the right "players" in the organization and make sure they work well together and are on top of their games. "MANAGE DECISIONS WELL" : Leaders must design systems which facilitate good decision making or "decision management" within the context of the organization's core values. "ACCELERATE THE PACE OF CHANGE" : Leaders must introduce effective "learning loops" to help people adapt quickly to the challenges of rapid change. "STIMULATE THE CREATIVE FLOW" : Leaders must find ways to help people overcome their fears and the stifling effects of "group think" to step outside their comfort zones, take risks, and engage in creatively productive thinking. "SPREAD SYSTEMS THINKING" : Leaders must encourage and help people throughout the organization to engage in systems thinking that enables them to meet customer expectations. "COMMUNICATE IN 12-D" : Leaders must build effective systems for communicating inside and outside the organization. "START WITH YOURSELF" : Leaders must and can learn to develop the exemplary qualities of honorableness, passion, good humor, humility, curiosity, communicativeness, and adeptness at dealing with the challenges of leadership that are essential to effective leadership of successful organizations. "HELP PEOPLE ASSUME RESPONSIBILITY" : Leaders must learn to ask "powerful questions" that empower themselves and others within the organization to rapidly make decisions and take responsibility for them. Business books are often abstract, dry, and hard to read. But Eric F. Douglas' "Leading at Light Speed" applies the latest advances in cognitive science and systems theory to compelling examples from the business world and the author's own professional experience and presents them in such clear, entertaining, and persuasive prose that you'll be glad you read this book, and your you'll be even happier when you business blossoms after you put what you've learned into effective practice. In the author's concluding words: "To lead at light speed, you need to make ten quantum leaps in how you think, act, and orient yourself as a leader. These quantum leaps are vitally important. They will raise the leadership capacity of everyone around you -- including yourself. They will create systems of communication and thinking that are not intuitively obvious. Paradoxically, it means slowing down while you implement these practices. But once you do, you will be maximizing your impact as a leader. The organization will start moving faster and with more productive energy than ever before. If you take the time to apply them, you will find yourself harnessing the full power of leading at light speed."
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A great book that emphasizes teamwork and core leadership qualities,
This review is from: Leading at Light Speed: Build Trust, Spark Innovation, and Create a High-Performing Organization (Paperback)
As employees grow more cynical about how their managers run their businesses, "Leading at Light Speed" offers business leaders a chance to regain their leadership and promote teamwork to assuage some of that cynicism. Emphasizing core values to bring to the work place, the lessons are easy to understand and implement in this well-written book. With "Leading at Light Speed" it is time to stop trying to be the leader and start becoming the leader.
4.0 out of 5 stars
Leading of Light Speed,
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This review is from: Leading at Light Speed: Build Trust, Spark Innovation, and Create a High-Performing Organization (Paperback)
Enjoy very much, I will recommend it to anyone. I will pass on to anyone who might need it more refence.
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Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Index | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Index | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
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