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Would You Work for You?

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In today's turbulent world, we face a dangerous scarcity of effective leaders. The whole concept of quality leadership seems to be a foreign concept to many of the people charged with the responsibility of running organizations-whether those organizations are multi-national conglomerates, discrete departments, or a mom-and-pop store down on the corner.

Geist begins, aptly enough, by defining leadership and the interconnectivity of the leader, people, skills, and vision. Chapter two gets us right into self-awareness and the need to manage your own emotions more effectively. Management is logical; leadership is emotional. As we move through this chapter, we slide from one set of advice to another. Ten Steps to Develop Accurate Self-Perception is followed by topics like relationships and human behavior principles, trust, and self-control.

Chapter 3 explores the people aspect of the interconnectivity model. What are people looking for? What's the most effective way to deliver it to them? We learn how to meet employee expectations with praise, recognition, mentoring, work-life balance, and inspiration. Chapter four emphasizes skill development, beginning with the hiring process to be sure you have the right people on board. Team building, time management, delegation, conflict resolution, and decision making are addressed, providing insight into the fundamental skills that build leadership success.

Chapter five deviates from the four components of interconnectivity to address the all-important communication skills. The basics are all here-writing, speaking, reading, non-verbal. Chapter 6 returns to the model with a focus on the vision and how to move an organization forward. Innovation, change, culture development, and execution are discussed. A summary chapter reminds us that we're all still human, and that humanness is a vital part of leadership.

There is a series of "tough questions" at the end of each chapter, with some blanks for you to record your answers in workbook fashion. Insightful and inspiring quotations are sprinkled throughout the text. An index is included for later reference.

This is a good primer for supervisors or people without management experience. It's a broad and shallow survey of the myriad of concerns that face leaders. In the space available, Geist does not go into great depth in any of the topics; you'll find that penetration in other books. This is also not one of those books that will rock you to your very foundations and make you uncomfortable. It's a good starter book for people moving into leadership in corporate, non-profit, or civic organizations. The principles are universal, and essential for people moving up the leadership ladder.

This book is useful for anyone at any level of management or even for anyone thinking of management. Mr. Geist gives numerous examples of success stories & blunders by others. He uses humor effectively and has provided a quick and easy to read informative text.

Sam Giest has parlayed his years of experience as a successful Toronto sporting goods entrepreneur with his wit and vision as a motivational speaker. The result is a textbook/workbook that provides checklists, helpful hints and throught-provoking questions for both the newly minted manager as well as the veteran.
Geist liberally sprinkles quotes throughout the pages that help the reader focus on the topic at hand rather than being a distraction.
The author wants the reader to take an introspective look at the qualities of leadership and ask themselves if they would truly want to work for someone like them.
As he asks that key question in each chapter,Giest hopes that the manager/leader will undergo a metamorphasis that will make them more successful.
This book should be a required reading in college management classes.