Customer Reviews

The G Quotient: Why Gay Executives are Excelling as Leaders... And What Every Manager Needs to Know (J-B US non-Franchise Leadership)

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When I first saw this title on HBR's recommended reading list I thought it was going to be a "gay good," "straight bad" manifesto disguised as a business book. But since I'm gay myself I nonetheless found myself compelled to read it even against my better judgement. Now I know why HBR recommended it.

Snyder delves way beyond gay issues and presents a business leadership book with more weight to it than most. I found myself shaking my head in ackowledgement many times throughout this book as well as having light bulbs turned on. Snyder's research led him to connect severaltrends that have led up to the leadership crisis in this country and that effects everyone with a job.

"The G Quotient" does for business leadership what "The Tipping Point" did for understanding how we are effected by change. My fear is that straight types will assume like I did this is a "gay good," straight bad" book and pass it by. It's anything but. This book deserves to be read by a wide audience and if it is, it will be a tipping point of its own in terms of establishing a new type of business leadership. Five Stars.

In his book, "The G Quotient," Kirk Snyder identifies what he calls the "reconstruction of contemporary employees." I found this part of the book to be very enlightening for understanding why so many people today are dissatisfied with not just their jobs but with their bosses. He uses this "recalibration" as the back-drop to a very timely book. Not being gay, I thought I might not relate to the subject matter as much as someone who is gay (or even works for someone gay), but that wasn't the case. This book sheds a lot of light on who makes up todays workforce, what they are all about and most importantly, how much they have to offer. If you are frustrated and tired of not getting a chance to show your stuff at work, this book will help tremendously.

Author Snyder has succeeded where so many others have failed. Who knew? Respecting and engaging your employees increases productivity and company loyalty. Well researched, this book is a must read for middle managers all the way up to top-level executives. As a heterosexual woman who has worked for three different Fortune 500 companies, Snyder focuses on what the managers profiled in his book are doing right--letting their employees know they are "making a difference." Managers practicing "The G7 = Heaven" for their employees. Bravo, Snyder!

Kirk Snyder has written a remarkable book that is changing the way corporations think about diversity and the essential qualities of executive leadership. At a time in business history when the interplay of operational complexity, rising market volatility and sharpening competitive conditions has created a myriad of choice -- and concomitantly higher risk -- for corporations seeking to drive the bottom line higher, openly gay men and women are increasingly prized as decisionmakers. Yet while many LGBT professionals are now freely sharing insights about the strategic direction of their firms as division heads, as of early-2008, there is still no openly gay or lesbian CEO of a Fortune 500 company.

The G Quotient examines what underlies the perspective of gay executives -- and reveals in the process how G-style leadership is not necessarily an intrinsic quality of this group, but rather is a complex of human attributes that companies can harness across all of their employees to drive innovation, a culture of collaboration and other essential ingredients to corporate growth.

For those heterosexual managers who have lost their forebears' brittle and nervous response to seeing gay people on the job -- and are more interested in capitalizing upon the ideas emerging from their gay employees' heads rather than dwelling upon the preconceptions in their own -- this book, named by Harvard Business Review as a top business tome, is a must-read.

While definitely a new twist on an old subject, this is considerably more than just another book about leadership. Here, Snyder carefully documents the evolution of what he calls "G Quotient Leadership" and why it matters to all of us. Extremely comprehensive, this book foreshadows where the "art" of leadership is headed more than most.

Anyone who might think this is a business book just for gay professionals is way off target. As a straight executive who manages a variety of diversity initiatives for my employer, I was pleasantly surprised by Snyder's mainstream approach to presenting this book's timely findings. Given that gay executives are more apt to practice what Snyder has identified as a "new leadership paradigm" makes justifiable and sociological sense after reading the Introduction and Case Studies.

I found the chapter on "Ten things every manager needs to know" about why 1,000 employees reporting to gay executives in some of the largest companies around are more engaged and better contributors provided the most valuable ideas about inspiring todays workforce. If you are a manager/executive of any race, creed or gender and looking for new insight about the how's and why's of worker disenchantment (and how to turn it around) you will likely find value in Snyder's well reported research.

Snyder's research looks at management and leadership from a new angle. For me, what I found most impressive was how the book never strays far from the reality of what it means to be part of the globalized workforce. No matter what your role, Snyder offers "fresh perspectives" about how to be a better manager, leader, employee, etc. There are many new trends highlighted here that impact everyone no matter if you are gay, straight or somewhere in the middle. It's a solid business book that makes much practical sense for all levels of management.

As a gay male execuitive I have a built-in bias to beleive that the author's theory is correct - but I approached the book with skepticism. I thought the premise of the book was interesting and wanted to see if he had the evidence to support it. The author was very clear in his explanation of how he ended up doing the research and writing the book. I think his theory was well supported by the details. This book is interesting reading for any executive - you don't have to be gay, but may just want to understand why these men, at this time, are excelling as leaders. If you are short on time then, like most business books, however, if you read the first and last chapters and get the gist. The chapters in between, in which he discusses specific examples of the executives he studied, are interesting reading when you have more time.

The best boss I ever had was a gay man. He taught me so much about managing people - gay and straight. He was a great role model and helped me become a good manager. In fact, I mentioned this to some friends last night at dinner as we were were discussing this book. One straight woman said, "I wish all bosses were gay. They really get it!"

Snyder's book is informative and well written. Particularly helpful are not only the gay men who are interviewed, but their straight employees who state how much they appreciate and are loyal to their gay male managers. While not a historical or sociological overview, Snyder has well crafted a book that helps explain things that I, as a gay man, have done throughout my entire career. Creativity, thinking outside the box, empathy, connectivity, and intuition (yes, even in the business world), are shown to affect not only morale, but the bottom line.

This book is a must for ANY executive (gay or straight) to help them understand how their differences can lead to greater leadership ability. The days of the white, straight, male dominance of management are over as people from varied background (racial, gender, sexual orientation) take over the leadership reigns.

After reading the book and applying the seven leadership principles that Synder talks about, I feel even more confident in my own abilities and unique talents.

In his new book, The G Quotient, USC professor Kirk Snyder makes a convincing argument that "because gay executives understand what it's like to have their own value as human beings questioned, they are particularly attuned to the needs of today's empowered employees for respect and value."

G Quotient leadership is not limited to gay men, though it arose from their behavior. It is "based on three fundamental (learned) skills that gay men have developed: adaptability, intuitive communication, and creative problem solving." Because gay men identify themselves as "different" early in their lives, he argues, they develop the ability to adapt their verbal and non-verbal communication in order to fit in with those around them. They also learn to sift through a lot of information in order to predict the responses of those around them--for example, "Does that tough guy over there want to make out with me or beat me up?"

Snyder uses an interesting metaphor to compare the careers of gay and straight people--the moving sidewalk at an airport. Those on the sidewalk--in this case, the straight people--are able to relax while moving forward, focusing on conversations, cell phones, and so on--not really paying attention to where they're going or how they're going to get there. A straight person is brought up with the idea that life will move forward like that moving sidewalk--education, marriage, family--without having to determine the direction.

Gay people, on the other hand, he puts in the pedestrian area next to the moving sidewalk. We must focus on where we're going and how we're going to get there, avoiding obstacles and making decisions. This lifelong experience gives us skills in creative problem-solving.

Snyder indicates seven principles that form the basis for The G Quotient, the ability of the gay managers he studied to motivate their employees to success. Each is clearly defined, with real world examples at companies such as Mitchell Gold + Bob Williams, Disney, PepsiCo, and Morgan Stanley, as well as in government and education. Though the book is a little dry and academic, it's a valuable resource for anyone interested in good business practices.

Neil Plakcy, author of Mahu Surfer: A Hawaiian Mystery (An Alyson Mystery)