Customer Reviews

The Offsite: A Leadership Challenge Fable (J-B Leadership Challenge: Kouzes/Posner)

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I LOVED "The Offsite" and could hear Robert's voice with every word. His enthusiasm for what he does and more importantly, how he does it, resonated throughout the book. It brought back very fond memories of the hard work and good learnings I enjoyed as a participant in Mr. Thompson's workshops/offsites. I can't tell you when I last read a book on leadership that I couldn't put down. His stuff is for real, not dry textbook material. The "in person" Robert is just like the book -- only better!! ENJOY!!

If you've ever had a 360 review, this book is for you. I saw one reviewer dismiss the book's insights as fluff, but I suspect he's never gone through the process of confronting honest feedback from colleagues--it's emotional and you can't skip the feelings involved. The author describes how leaders deal with the complicated feelings that come up in their stressful work, and he never loses sight of the big message. I found the book moving, insightful, and really helpful in sorting out my own feelings about my professional role. Plenty of people spend $10,000 at an offsite to find out what you can learn in this book--no kidding.

A great read! I couldn't put it down!!! Anyone familiar with The Leadership Challenge and the LPI will enjoy this fable. The story breathes life into the five practices and the value of the LPI.

Robert Thompson is an engaging storyteller and he offers pratical applications (brainstorying) that we can immediately use. His depth of characters represent folks we all work with every day. We all have our versions of Gwen and Joe. His insights into their personalities show how TLC can develop strengths and character in anyone to become a better leader.

As with all good fables, Robert Thompson's story of a corporate retreat provides vivid examples of important points. In The Offsite, he uses appealing characters to demonstrate each of five practices that will help any leader better engage and inspire their teams. It is also a great way to reinforce the learning in the leadership challenge.

Robert H. Thompson says that the fictional characters in his book, The Offsite: A Leadership Challenge Fable, speak to him in his mind: and I believe him.

As Thompson weaves the overbearing burned out salesman, budding young executive, motivational speakers, and even a gardener into his fable based on the seminal The Leadership Challenge by Jim Kouzes and Barry Posner, he gently guides the reader on a quest to be better than they currently are, not just in leadership but in life.

Thompson writes from his experience as a speaker, workshop leader, executive coach, and one of the founders of The Leadership Challenge Workshop. He incorporates The Leadership Challenge's highly acclaimed five practices into the lives of everyday people struggling in their sense of leadership identity not to mention their personal lives.

Thompson's characters invite you to care about them, understand their motivations, their fears, and their uncertainties. As a third-person observer you not only read the conversations: you know their thoughts. While not groundbreaking for fiction, it is revolutionary in the world of leadership.

Numerous times one has heard the methods employed, meetings held, and the outcomes of successful leadership - but how many times have the individual's innermost thoughts been exposed?

This book could be implemented as a model for churches seeking to help transition their congregations to new models. Churches that seek to move from event-based "attractional" models to service and "externally-focused" models must have lay leaders and staff convinced that a shared vision helps everyone achieve more for the Great Commission.

In application, one realizes that the offsite meeting itself is not the target Thompson is aiming at in his work. Thompson provides a framework for instituting positive change in any leaders' life at any level in the organization.

In Joe's transformation (which includes elements similar to the Apostle Paul's Damascus Road experience) a glimpse is offered that titles mean little for authentic leadership as he steps down from Vice President to a seemingly insignificant role. At this significant moment of transformation, Joe cries out, "Just give me another chance, I'm just a fake. I can see that now" (134).

Whether Aesop or Thompson, fables end with a moral to the story. Thompson teaches that servant leaders who listen and model authenticity find the success everyone else is desperately seeking.

This is a lesson pastors desperately need to hear in multiple formats including the use of fiction to drive home the point. I found this book to be easy to read and hard to put down.

For me this book is the icing on the cake of the excellent The Leadership Challenge and should be read by anyone willing to challenge themselves to greater leadership.

This book was easy to read and I learned quite a bit. It is the type of learning where you get to the point exactly the same time the book does. Good story.

There are times when it's just more interesting to read a fictional book that you can learn from rather than another "leadership" instructional book. Robert Thompson does a fabulous job of creating characters and situations that are so real that you can relate to them and learn from them, and be entertained at the same time. Just a great read!!

Lyn St. James

Being a student of management and leadership can be fun but you need the right teacher. Spencer Johnson gave us "Who Moved My Cheese?" and "The One Minute Manager" among others. Patrick Lencioni educated us with "The Five Dysfunctions of a Team." Now, Robert Thompson joins the fable tellers with a precious look at who leads and who follows. We have all met aspects of the personalities Mr. Thompson has created. But, the author helps us understand these folks. This understanding enables us to capitalize on our most important resources-each other.

The Offsite presents an excellent and unique training opportunity for you and your team. I've used it at two departments (State government) and found it to be very successful. The book is an easy read with a great story that takes you on a personal journey. The characters in the book are believable and you will relate with at least one or two of them. We used the book as an opportunity to build trust and strengthen our team. Rather than a formal/structured approach we took a very casual approach and simply read chapters then held discussions around the chapters (similar to a book club). If you take this approach, I encourage you to start with your management team first, then roll it out to your staff. Hopefully, your management team will be inspired to facilitate discussions with their staff - great team builder and communication tool. This book keeps your interest. It is entertaining and delightful. I encourage you to read it, even if you don't plan on using it as a training/development opportunity. You will get something out of it - you may even learn a thing or two about yourself.

So many business books read like textbooks. No so of The Offsite: A Leadership Challenge Fable. I have read it many times now and always find something new to reflect on or a new thought about one of the characters. The Offsite is a business book that is truly enjoyable to read. For that reason, I had my entire team engage with the concepts in the book. Watching leadership attributes soar and communication channels open were two of the results. The Offsite provides timeless, practical advice and that it comes from someone I have studied under makes it even better. As you can tell, I do recommend the book highly and strongly suggest you check it out as well.